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DIAL-IN DINNER #1:
TOMATO TEOBOKKI SOUP BY ALBERTA
Date: 7th October, 2020
Main ingredients: Tomatoes, Ginger & Tteobokki (Korean Rice Cake)
East Asian cuisine adores meat, all kind of meat, from chicken, beef, pork, lamb, fish and even rabbit and horse. From the historical perspective, meat normally served with a celebration purpose: kill a chicken and steam a fish (殺隻雞，蒸條魚), or, butcher a chicken to worship god (劏雞還神). Meat on the table often relates to a joyful event and this tradition still maintains in east Asia. I moved to London in 2018 to pursue higher education in art and humanity and more than half of my course-mates were either vegetarian or vegan. Although I often cook vegetarian at home, I would not claim myself as one. I still remember it vividly when my course-mate explained why she is a vegan, ‘growing up in poverty forced me to be a vegan, simply because our family couldn’t afford meat’. I was surprised, but more importantly I was ashamed of my unaware privilege position and lifestyle I grew up from. As we have entered the anthropocentric era, we are more aware of the cost of climate change and how it’s affecting all living organism. Veganism/Vegetarianism is an ideology, where it believes a better future for our earth against climate change. I would not go deep into the topic of climate change as this will be intensive hours-long talk. Perhaps, we can all try our best to make a difference through food.
The temperature has dropped dramatically in London, and I am slowly unpacking my winter clothes. People often link October with Halloween, as for me, it has to be the SOUP!!!!! (excuse my excitement)!!!! Who does not want a bowl of soup during a chilly day? It is like a warm hug, works well for those who are quarantining by themselves. First, soak the frozen rice cake (Tteobokki) in room temperature water. You would not want an icy taste in your soup (but if you have a freshly made rice cake, please ignore this step). Then, as usual, we have to prepare some ingredients, 5 cloves of garlic. Trust me, there is never too much garlic. You can add more if you want, just make sure you’re not meeting anyone special after this meal. After you mince the garlic, eyeball the among and mince the same among of ginger. We are going to cook the garlic and ginger together, so don’t bother putting into separate bowls. Wash some lettuce and tear them into bite-size pieces. Yes, tear! I rarely cut my lettuce since it softens up once cooked. Then get four to five tomatoes and chop it up. If you’re lazy, you can just get a canned tomato, remember it has to be unseasoned.
Heat your pot, add some oil, throw in the minced ginger and garlic and let it sizzle until you can smell the heavenly flavour. Throw in the chopped tomato and start stirring. Once the tomatoes cover with hot oil, switch to low heat and add salt and pepper. The low heat and slow cook method prevent tomatoes to be burned, it also allows them to release juicy. Mixed the tomato occasionally until it becomes semi-purée then add two rice bowl of water and switch back to high heat till it boils. Then add a bit of vegan oyster, soy sauce and Chinese cooking wine. In the meantime, beat an egg and set aside then patiently wait for the soup to boil up. Once the soup is boiling, it is time to have a taste, feel free to add more seasoning if needed. Add rice cake and cook till according the package instruction. Count down to the last 30 seconds and add the beaten egg into the soup while slowly stirring it to make the ‘egg flower’. Switch off the fire and add your preferred garnish. WAH-LAH! A warm tomato rice cake soup is ready to give you an autumn hug.