Beautiful Indonesian Soup with Chinese Cabbage (Ideal for Vegans)

Anticipating a special friend coming for lunch—a Vegan–but preoccupied working on THE LAST CHAPTERS of our novel…what to make him?

I found a soup in my Kitchen Garden Cookbook that looked possible. Our guest’s wife is Japanese so clearly Asian flavors would suit.

Hadn’t made the soup since preparing the book (early 1995). How had it escaped me?

Friends and readers and strays who’ve wandered in, I am here to tell you this is One Beautiful Soup.

Beautiful, delicate, yummy. I served it with warmed ciabatta rolls—was prepared with cold hard cider (only 6.9 percent, but our guest and Bill demurely opted for water). Dessert was luscious big fat strawberries with their stems—“Fingers, please!” and luscious small chocolate vegan cupcakes from New Leaf’s bakery.

The prep—slicing, shredding, chopping–took an easy and pleasant half-hour…these are lovely vegetables to work with. Cooking was another 20 minutes or so, and it was fun, lots of stirring, keeping an eye on things.

Friends old and new, I am also pleased to tell you that the only change in taste since my preparing this recipe for publication thirty years ago is that I doubled the tomatoes and chilies. Turned out to be understandable enrichments. Times are not so simple as once they were. Eh?

The old girl’s work is holding.*

Beautiful Indonesian Soup with Chinese Cabbage **(Ideal for Vegans)
(5-6 servings)

2 tablespoons olive or avocado oil
1 medium-large red onion, fairly finely chopped (about 1 cup)
4 large garlic cloves, minced (about 1-3/4 tablespoons)
2 large ripe tomatoes, chopped medium-fine (about 4 cups)
1-1/4 pounds (8 cups) young Napa, Bok Choy, or Michili cabbages, thinly sliced crosswise in fine shreds
1 long thin mild green chili,***seeded and sliced in slivers
1 long thin mild red chili,*** seeded and sliced in slivers
2) 13.5 ounce cans unsweetened coconut milk (best quality)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2-3 small limes, halved
Cilantro for garnish, optional

Prepare the vegetables. If you have a wooden spoon with a flat end—like a paddle—this is the tool to use for stirring.
In a heavy 4-quart-or-so soup pot over medium-high heat, warm the oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until softened, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally, then mix in the chilies and sauté another minute. Add the cabbage and use the wooden paddle or spoon to mix everything up. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then blend in the coconut milk. Simmer uncovered, still stirring occasionally, until the cabbage is tender-crisp, about 10 minutes—don’t overcook to soft! Remove from the heat and blend in 1 to 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice—needed for point.

Now taste for salt and freshly ground white or black pepper. Serve garnished with leaves of cilantro and a thin round of lime.
And be pleased.

*The Kitchen Garden Cookbook is the companion book—i.e., other half—of a major opus I wrote about How to Grow Everything You’d Like to Grow then How to Cook It (The Kitchen Garden, Bantam Books).
**Any crisp but tender mild cabbage or lightly pungent green may be used.
***Don’t want to name the varieties as chili heat varies according to growing conditions—ask your greengrocer which are mild. But maybe you don’t want them to be mild! Most important are the deep green and bright red slivers in the composition…