Under The Squash Vines

Canh Dưa Chua:  Fermented Mustard Greens Soup

Ingredients (all are approximate): 

• Approx 16 oz of fermented mustard greens. This includes the garlic and onions inside the mixture. Rinse thoroughly, drain, and squeeze out the excess brine liquid. This is to reduce the saltiness. Cut into smaller pieces with kitchen scissors.

• 2 Roma tomatoes, cut into quarters. Remove the seeds.

• 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms 

• 1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning granules or to taste. You can also use salt or MSG.

• Sugar to taste .

• Ground black pepper to taste.

• Optional: your favorite protein. I use fried tofu.

Instructions: 

1. In a soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of oil on medium heat.

2. And all the vegetables and sauté for 2 minutes.

3. Add the mushroom seasoning granules and sauté for another 2 minutes.

4. Add protein and water (as much as you like for soup). Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add sugar to taste.

5. Turn off heat and sprinkle with black pepper. Serves with rice or baguette.

6. Serve with rice or baguette.

The Story of Fermented Vegetables Soup

Fermented vegetables soup - Koreans have Kimchi Guk (kimchi soup), and Vietnamese have Canh Dưa Chua (pictured here, aka fermented mustard greens soup). 

Both of these comforting dishes have one thing in common: they blend the salty and sour tastes of the fermented vegetables - that are always reliably found in the back of our respective cultural fridges - with a balancing sweet component, to create simple and yet delightfully umami soups that for sure can melt the coldest heart on a frigid winter day.

The key is to always have a jar of fermented vegetables in your fridge. And that’s the spirit embedded within these dishes from two vastly different cultures: always be prepared for times of food scarcity - because those times were too common back then.