Asian Soup with Salmon and Kale

I had a glimpse of how it is to be on the TV series Masterchef. I mean the moment when participants open a Mystery Box, they can see ingredients and quickly have to decide what they are going to cook. Some of them play it safe and make something they have done before, others take a risk and play it by the ear or – rather in this context – by their taste.

In my case, my Mystery Box was my fridge and the kitchen cabinets before shopping was done when there are still many - but often odd - ingredients not necessarily meant for a specific meal. Additionally everybody was getting hungry so I didn’t have all the time in the world to think what to cook and then cook it. My first idea was the safe one: stir fry. But then I thought that even though I love stir fries, I should go for something different. So I cooked this healthy soup instead.

I included in it ingredients that are typical for Asia: ginger, chilli, soya and fish sauce. White wine might not be the obvious choice, rice wine would probably be better but I didn’t have it then. Overall the combination of flavours in the stock works really well and addition of salmon, noodles and kale makes it a complete meal a whole family can enjoy on a busy weekday evening when nobody has hours to cook and nobody wants to wait for hours to eat!

INGREDIENTS (for 4 portions):

400g skinless and boneless salmon fillet cut into 2 cm cubes,

1 tsp sesame oil,

1.5l vegetable stock,

5 tbsp white wine,

2 tbsp soya sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce,

chilli flakes,

3 tsp grated ginger,

150g kale thorn into small pieces (without stems),

150g bean sprouts,

100g Chinese/wok noodles.

METHOD:

1. Put the salmon cubes into a bowl, add the sesame oil, stir well and let it marinate until you need it.
2. Heat up the vegetable stock, add the white wine, soya and fish sauces, chilli flakes and ginger.
3. When the spiced stock is boiling, add the Chinese noodles (you may break them into smaller pieces so it will be easier to eat the soup), bring to boil, add the salmon and kale and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Serve the soup with bean sprouts.