Mushroom Bok Choy Soup

It was a nice November evening. Not too cold but a pleasant nip in the air. I felt like making something which was warm and hearty. And I remembered I had those beautiful bok choy in my freezer waiting for me to pick them up and use it in something.

Bok choy is a superfood vegetable.This was the first time I had ordered bok choy from the online grocery store. I had seen it many a times while scrolling through the vegetable list but would always wonder how to incorporate it in my food. Finally decided to get it anyway and then think about ways to cook it.

When it finally arrived, the mild-flavored, juicy green bok choy looked like an invitation to experiment in the kitchen. The recipes on the net claimed they paired up perfectly with earthy mushrooms. Fortunately I also had some fresh mushrooms in the fridge. I felt I was in the mood of some nice warm soup.

It was perfect - a nutritious, comforting and flu fighting brothy garlic mushroom bok choy soup for a cold Pune evening. It is a healthy, easy, quick recipe to feel good all year long. You can either leave it as a vegetarian soup or add chicken, shrimp or other vegetables and make it a loaded one.

Preparation Time : 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Bok Choy - 1 head, leaves separated
• Ginger - 1/2 inch minced
• Garlic 2 fat cloves minced
• Onion - half fine chopped
• Mushroom - 2 or 3 chopped
• Chicken (*optional for non veg variant) - 1/2 cup, chopped
• Green chilli - 1 chopped
• Star anise - 1 small or 2 petals
• Olive oil/ Refined oil - as required
• Dark soya sauce -1 tsp
• Chilli flakes optional for garnish
• Sesame seeds optional for garnish
• Spring greens optional for garnish
• Chicken or vegetable stock - according to amount of soup required for 2
• Salt as per taste
• Sugar a pinch

Procedure: 

1. Mince the ginger, green chilli and garlic. Chop the onions. Separate all the leaves form the bok choy head. You can also substitute green chilli with bird's eye chilli to make it extra spicy.

If you are making a non veg soup, clean and chop the chicken into small pieces as well.

2. In a wok heat oil and a little butter. Throw in onion, garlic, ginger, green chilli, chicken (if non veg) salt, sugar. 

3. Saute till onions are transparent or slightly browned in edges and the chicken turn white. 

5. Add stock and fold in everything nicely

4. Add star anise

Tip: This is a nice touch which I learned from the famous restaurant Malaka spice. They have a special mutton soup in which they add star anise and it changes the entire dynamics of the flavor

5. Adjust salt sugar. Add soya sauce and cook for about 3 4 minutes till rolling boil

6. Add the mushroom and bok choy

7. Cook till mushroom and bok choy are done.  The bok choy should be a little tender, shiny, and bright green, it will take around 2 to 3 minutes.

Serve in a soup bowl. Garnish with dry chilli flakes, sesame seeds, green spring onion