Day 6: A Taste of Sour
Overindulged in the heavy meat and fish of Spring Festival? If you are already at a loss for what to eat next, why not try Yiyi Farm’s universal red sour soup. Boil fish, blanch beef, cook noodles, stir-fry vegetables, or even toss a cold salad — it lifts the flavour and whets the appetite. For something with more of a party feel, let it take centre stage: make a pot of sour soup hot pot. If the festive flavours have started to feel a bit much, let this tangy, fragrant hit rekindle your appetite!
Ingredients:
Red sour soup base, tomatoes, soybean sprouts, Chinese chives, celery, lard, scallions, ginger, garlic, May Chang (Litsea cubeba), sweet fermented rice, salt
Method:
1. Séaurée ginger and garlic in lard until fragrant.
2. Add the red sour soup base, scallion pieces, May Chang, sweet fermented rice, and fresh tomatoes.
3. Add water and bring to a boil, then add the soybean sprouts, Chinese chives, and celery as a base layer.
4. Season with salt. From here you can add any meat, vegetable, or staple ingredients you like.
Note:
A common mistake is simply diluting the sour soup base with water — you still need to stir-fry it first. All the vegetables in this recipe are essential for bringing out the fresh, savoury depth; the sweet fermented rice is optional.
More ways to enjoy sour soup? Click 👉🎻In the height of summer, go for a vegetarian sour soup to find out more. To order, follow @Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market
Time to sit down and eat! Here’s to the New Year — good food with a known origin.
Foodthink, together with the farming friends from Beijing Organic Farmers’ Market, presents their home-grown Spring Festival dishes recipe book.
In this recipe book, there are no measurements down to the gram or the minute, no elaborate or fussy techniques.
What you will find instead is a sure-handed confidence in the ingredients, and simple, heartfelt reminders delivered the way you would speak to family.
Thoughtfully grown ingredients do not call for overthinking — a brisk, easy method and just the right heat are all it takes.
Behind every dish in this recipe book stands a real person —
each farming friend knows exactly what makes their produce so good, and how to cook it in a way that does that goodness justice.
When a block of tofu can tell you its name, a hen can recount its life story, and a radish dares to tell you not to peel it — the good flavour follows naturally.
From the second to the seventh day of the new year, six farming friends’ Spring Festival dishes, one per day.
Day 2: Fragrant Steamed Free-Range Mountain Pork
Day 3: Super Stir-Fried Chicken
Day 4: Sauce-Braised Tofu
Day 5: Radish Sashimi
Grow with care, cook with a light heart, eat without a worry.
