Seaweed Soup

Wakame seaweed can be found at most Korean and Japanese markets. It has a decent amount of calcium and works well in soup.

See-wee Soup, as I called it growing up, is the ultimate comfort food. When it was cold outside, I'd ask my mom to make some. We'd eat it with leftover rice and homemade kim chee. My version is a little different from my mom's as I use seafood and store-bought chicken stock. The key is to use a stock that is not full of seasonings but mostly just chicken and water.

The resulting broth may seem a little bland but the kim chee should take care of that!



Ingredients

2 qt. low sodium, preferrably organic, chicken stock
2 qt. filtered water
1.5 lb. chicken parts: meat, bones and skin. Rinsed well.
1/3 oz. wakame seaweed, cut into smaller pieces, soaked and drained
1/2 c. brown and/or white rice
2 T. fish sauce
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 t. sesame oil
8-12 lrg. shrimp, peeled and de-veined
4 oz. firm tofu, cubed
2" piece fishcake, thinly sliced

Accompaniments

Kim chee and other Asian pickles
Chopped green onion
Sliced hard-boiled egg



Add chicken stock and water to a large stock pot. Bring to a boil. Add chicken parts and bring to a boil again, then turn down to medium low. Do not cover. Skim off foam. Cook until chicken in done. Remove chicken to cool.

Add rice, fish sauce, garlic and sesame oil to the broth. Cover pot. Cook until rice grains start to open up/break apart. Meanwhile, when chicken is cool enough to handle, remove meat and discard bones and skin. Shred chicken into bite-size pieces.

Into the broth add shredded chicken, seaweed, tofu, shrimp and fishcake. Cook for five minutes. Ladle into bowls. Serve with accompaniments. Serves 6-8.