For most of my soups, I like to use homemade soup stock rather than water. It adds flavour and loads of nutrients. I make it because I like my stock free of salt and fats. I haven’t found a store bought version that isn’t loaded with unwanted ingredients.
Soup stock is also great when you are fighting a flu, feel run down or just want a comforting, hot cup of broth. When drinking a plain bowl or cup of broth, I add a little salt and pepper and slurp away.
I often gather ingredients for stock at the farmers market or simply add what you have!
This stock is the result of being given two slightly tired bunches of kale from my beloved market stall. I include vegetables that need to be used, cut offs from scrubbed vegetables (but not peels) such as carrots, zucchinis, peppers, radishes (including greens), cucumbers, edible podded peas, parsnips, turnips, leeks, fennel, celery, the seeds and outer skins from pumpkins and butternut squash, the stems of leafy greens from kale, swiss chard, silverbeet, spinach or herbs, the skins after roasting tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. Onions, crushed cloves of garlic, ginger and fresh turmeric are all fabulous additions. Make it your own depending on what you have in the kitchen, garden or at your local farmers’ market.
Here’s my latest soup stock.
Ingredients
14 cups of filtered water
2 bunches of kale, leaves and stems, chopped, washed and spun dried
6 stalks (or 1/2 head) celery, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large red onion, peeled and chopped
6-12 cloves garlic, peeled and pounded
1-2 inch chunk of ginger, washed, grated or finely chopped
bunch of mint, leaves and stems, washed and spun dried
10 grams of dried Atlantic kelp
1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
1 tsp white peppercorns, crushed
1/2 tsp sichuan peppercorjs, crushed
Method
In a large dutch oven, add everything above except for the kelp. Add the water to the pot to an inch below the top rim. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer slowly. Add the kelp. Simmer for one hour.
Turn off the heat. Let it cool covered until it reaches room temperature. Strain through a sieve and press the juices out of the cooked vegetables. Throw the strained vegetables away. Store the stock in a large, glass container in the refrigerator. The sooner you use it, the better. I often make it the day before I plan to make a soup, curry, my No fish sauce or No soy sauce.
Alternately, it freezes well. Freeze in smaller containers and you can pull it out when you need it!