British soups might lose their charm once you’ve nailed the recipes at home, but Asian-inspired concoctions offer a more thrilling culinary adventure – and they’re surprisingly simple to whip up. Cornwall’s culinary maestro, Rick Stein, has traded in the usual vegetable broths for a more striking mix of crab and sweetcorn.
In his cookbook Food Stories, Rick shares his insights: “It’s the first dish I ever ate at a Chinese restaurant – in Peterborough, in 1964 as it happens. It’s also a world classic but is so often ruined by tasteless crab and gloopy cornflour.” He adds: “I thought it would be interesting to restore the dish to its simplicity and reliance on good fresh ingredients.” The key to this mouth-watering recipe lies in a handful of fresh components, though the broth primarily relies on pantry staples.
Method
Kick off with chicken stock in a saucepan, infusing it with ginger, spring onions, and peppercorns. Bring it to a boil and let it bubble away for 20 minutes to allow the flavours to meld.
As the broth settles, tackle the sweetcorn cobs, chopping them on a board and deftly slicing off the kernels with a large, sharp knife. Introduce the sweetcorn to the stock and let it simmer for five minutes.
Carefully check the crab meat for any shell bits, preserving the flesh in the largest chunks feasible. Then, blend the cornflour into a smooth paste using a splash of cold water, whisk it into the soup, and let it cook for another two minutes.
Add the crab meat, ginger, spring onions, soy sauce, and the rice wine or sherry, then season the soup with salt and some pepper to taste. Allow it to simmer for one minute.
Next, stir the soup, remove the spoon, and gradually pour in the beaten egg white until it creates long, thin strands within the soup. Let everything simmer for approximately 30 seconds before serving.