Bowl of Malabar Spinach Soup
(click to enlarge)

Malabar Spinach Soup


Malaysia, Nonya   -   Chan Choy Tong
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4-1/2 cups
**
35 min
Prep		 This soup is delicious, but see Comments. Nonya are mostly descendants of Malaysian women who married Chinese merchants, and adopted Chinese cuisine, applying a Malay twist.

12
1/2
4
2
1
1/4
1
4
ar
oz
oz
oz
cl
T
t

c

Malabar Spinach (1)
Dried Anchovies (2)
Pork
Garlic
Oil
Pepper, black
Salted Duck Egg (3)  
Water
Salt (4)
Prep   -   (35 min)
  1. Soak ANCHOVIES in warm water for about 20 minutes. Break their bellies open and scrape out the black stuff inside (it can make soups sour). Cut into several pieces so their flavor will be distributed. Including the heads is up to you. Dry on paper towels.
  2. Rinse MALABAR SPINACH well. Remove leaves and tender tips from stems. Tear large leaves into smaller pieces. Keep stems separate. Use all stems that snap off cleanly, and some a bit larger if you need too. Cut stems diagonally, 3/4 inch at the thick end to 1-1/4 inch or more at the tender end.
  3. Chop PORK about 1/4 inch.
  4. Crush GARLIC and chop fine.
  5. Break Salted Duck Egg into a small bowl and break up the yolk into small pieces with a fork, it'll be quite stiff, while the white will be liquid. For Chicken Egg just scramble lightly.
RUN   -   (12 min)
  1. In a sauce pan Heat Oil over moderate flame and fry Anchovies for about 2 minutes. Stir in Garlic for 30 seconds, then stir in Pork and Pepper. Fry stirring until Pork has completely lost its raw color.
  2. Stir in 4 cups Water and Salt. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes.
  3. Stir in Salted Duck Egg and break it up moderately, like for Egg Flower Soup. Stir a little and simmer until Duck Egg is cooked through. For Chicken egg, just stir, but not too much.
  4. Stir in Malabar Spinach Stems and bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes.
  5. Stir in Malabar Spinach Leaves. Bring back to a boil. As soon as all leaves are wilted and with a cooked color, turn off the heat.
  6. Check Salt and serve hot.
NOTES:

  1. Malabar Spinach:

      [Mong Toi, Saan Choy]   12 ounces as sold should yield at least 8 ounces usable. The bunch used for the photo example yielded 11 ounces. Be careful not to overcook it - it can become slimy. If you need to use some stems that don't snap cleanly, cut them diagonally into short lengths. For details see our Malabar Spinach page.

  2. Dried Anchovies:

      Use the large dried anchovies (about 3 inches long). They are available in most Asian markets, especially Philippine and Korean. For details see our Dried Anchovies page.

  3. Salted Duck Egg:

      This needs to be RAW (read the label). Boiled Salted Duck Eggs don't work in this recipe, but raw can be harder to find, so some cooks just use a regular fresh chicken egg, The photo example was made with a Raw Salted Duck Egg.

  4. Salt

      The amount will depend on whether you used a Salted Duck Egg or a regular Chicken Egg. With Chicken Egg the soup will need about 1 teaspoon, with Salted Duck Egg about 1/2 teaspoon.

  5. Serving:

      Consumed alone and in excess, due to the mucilaginous nature of the Malabar Spinach, this soup can produce mild gastric distress. I suggest keeping servings to 1-1/2 cups or less. You can also place a bowl of steamed rice on the table to be spooned in as desired. As a soup course with other foods, not a problem.
  6. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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