Brothy Soup with Shrimp and Bok Choy is Ron’s favorite soup. He rarely asks for anything specifically – he just happily eats whatever I serve. But I’m often lacking in inspiration, so I really appreciate some help with deciding WHAT to cook; when he asks for brothy soup, I happily oblige. I’ll worry about what’s for dinner tomorrow, tomorrow. Today we’re having brothy soup.
This Brothy Soup with Shrimp and Bok Choy is incredibly aromatic. The star anise is absolutely the star of the aromas filling your kitchen. The scents wafting into the rest of the house entice your loved ones to join you in the kitchen, crowding you at the stove – is it soup yet?
The magic actually happens after you take the soup off of the heat. The fermented miso paste and fish sauce are added at this point to avoid killing the beneficial elements that make this Brothy Soup with Shrimp and Bok Choy so healthful. Then you gently poach the shrimp and finish the rice noodles in the covered pot of hot broth. When you take the lid off, the steam will kiss your face – an aromatic facial for the cook!
The condiments are up to you. Ron loves soy sauce and sesame oil. I like handfuls of mint and cilantro. Some sriracha is nice too.
Brothy Soup with Shrimp and Bok Choy
Ingredients
- 1 3-inch piece ginger
- 5 large scallions
- 1 medium sweet onion
- 1 head bok choy (approximately 26 ounces before trimming)
- 12 ounces shiitake mushrooms
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 pound raw shrimp (medium, 41-50 per pound)
- 1 4-ounce slice of ham
- 1 T avocado oil
- 2 quarts chicken broth
- 2 quarts water
- 2 cups fresh mung bean sprouts
- 3 star anise
- 1 T sugar
- 8 ounces rice noodles
- 5 T miso paste
- 2 T lime juice
- 1/3 cup fish sauce
- sriracha, tamari, and toasted sesame oil (as condiments)
Instructions
- Prep the veg – Grate the ginger. Peel and slice the onion. Slice the scallions lengthwise, then mince. Wash and trim the bok choy, separating the ribs from the leaves. Chop the ribs into 1-inch pieces. Destem the mushrooms and slice them. Tear the mint leaves from the stems and give them a rough chop. Separate the cilantro leaves from the stems – a single chop across the bunch will do – no need to be fussy about it. Give the cilantro leaves a rough chop. Mince the cilantro stems. Set aside.
- Clean the shrimp and chop the ham – Clean and devein the shrimp, removing the tails. Chop the ham into small pieces.
- Sauté the ham and onions – Heat the oil in your soup pot and then stir in the mushrooms, ham, and onions. Cook, stirring often, until the mushrooms and onions have softened.
- Make the soup – Pour in the stock, water, bok choy ribs, cilantro stems, sprouts, grated ginger, and stir anise, and bring the soup to a boil. Turn down the heat to medium and add the bok choy greens, scallions, and sugar. Cook until the greens are wilted. Add the rice noodles, and cook for 2 minutes, then take the pot off of the heat.
- Finish – Whisk the miso paste with a bit of the broth and add it to the soup pot. Then stir in the shrimp, fish sauce, and the lime juice. Cover and let sit for 5 minutes, until the shrimp are opaque. Serve with copious amounts of mint and cilantro on top, and sriracha, tamari, and sesame oil alongside as optional condiments.
INGREDIENT NOTE: I use bok choy in this recipe from the grocery store, but in the summer I’ll use whatever Chinese white cabbage is coming out of the garden – baby bok choi, pak choi, bok choi sum. Any similar chinese-type cabbage is wonderful, but I wouldn’t recommend using napa cabbage. The flavor would be similar, but I really like the ribs of the bok choy in this soup for the crunch.