Choy Keok (Hot And Spicy Sour Mustard Green Soup)

sinfully delicious pot of spicy and sour soup

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a medley of tender mustard green and fatty skin meat

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submerged in an additive oily flavorsome spicy-tangy soup

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irresistible tender flavorful infused mustard green

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boldly flavored with spicy hot dried chili and sourish tamarind slices

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delicious tender succulent fatty flavorful infused meat

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Choy Keok (Hot And Spicy Sour Mustard Green Soup)

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Ready : 1 hr 30 mins[ Prep : 10 mins † Active : 20 mins † Simmering : 1 hr ]
Serves : Pair with other dishes as in a Chinese dinner or by itself
Generic : Boil/Simmer
Difficulty : Easy Printable Recipe

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First thing first, Chinese soup is well documented for their respective medicinal benefits. These soup dishes are usually specially designed with Ingredients to nourish a specific part/function of our body. However, what is presented here – is NOT your typical Chinese long-simmer healthy soup!!! So, if U R not prepared for some sinful indulgent, stop here now..😂 and go look at something else! Seriously, this is a soup that made up of fatty leftovers and gravy – usually prepared after some huge celebrations when there are plenty of leftovers. Instead of throwing everything away to wastage, the Chinese came out with this ingenious soup dish that will gobble up any leftovers – in fact, the more leftovers the merrier and the more flavorful the soup will be. Pretty sure this is of Hakka origin but the Hokkien might dispute this claim – however, the Hakka version is definitely much more flavorful and oily, well…at least the version that The VianD grown-up with. Sound kinda disgusting, isn’t it? 😂😂😂Well, in a certain way.., yes, but – believe me, if U are a fan of spicy hot sour soup, this is soup dish to die for!
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Dubbed as Poor Man’s Food – “Choy Keok” in Cantonese, literally means “leftover food”. So, it is no surprise that the main ingredient for this dish is “leftover food” (especially fatty meat/bones/gravy) plus a certain leafy green vegetable called “Kai Choy (Mustard Green)”. The flavor of Kai Choy is true to the mustard family – pungent, peppery and reminiscent of wasabi mustard with a more robust depth when cooked. After boiling for a period of time with sourish “Keping Asam Gelugur” – which is a type of “Dried Tamarind slice” and lots of “Dried Chillies”, the final product is an infusion of tender vegetables, fatty meat and a helluva most appetizing oily sinfully delicious “hot and spicy sour soup”!!!

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   IngredientS

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–• Mustard Green – Lots of them. There are two types of Kai Choy, use both if U can (just for contrasting texture). One being leafier than the other.
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• Lots of and Tamarind slices and Dried chilies (depending on urs preference of spiciness and sourness).
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• Leftovers – Lots of all kinds of leftovers and gravy. Seriously, all kind, except Seafood (who keep Seafood anyway?). If you don’t have enough fatty leftovers, adding Roasted Pig Leg/Face or Duck (if U like the meat) is perfect. U really do need the Fat/Oil, else it’s not “Choy Keok”..😂. Sorry, no “not so eye pleasing or appetizing” leftovers picture! 😅😅😅
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• Seasoning – Salt and Sugar. Absolutely NO tomato ketchup; Ewww 😱 !!! All to taste.
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** Note : Just a dash/pinch of everything, if U prefer a stronger intensity of an ingredient/spice flavor, simply add a little extra of that ingredient/spice – no rocket scientific measurement here. Always taste your Seasoning !!! The trick is NOT the exact measurement, the trick is “to taste the Seasoning” and get ur preference balance of flavors !!!

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   InstructionS

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①

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Preparing the Mustard Green
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• Start by thoroughly soak and wash the Mustard Green – cut into about 2-3 inches wide or even bigger as they will wither quite abit. Set aside.
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②

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Preparing the Dried Chili and Tamarind slices
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• Clean and soaked both for abt 10-15 mins, just to get rid of any impurities.
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③

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Some add-ons
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• While The VianD has decided not to post any images and spare you the displeasure sight of all the leftovers, here are some of the favorite additions. Just make sure everything is chopped-up into slightly bigger bite-size.  Noticed most are fat and skins? 😋 Well, these are the essence of this recipe! Ooo.., discard the Duck head (might be too gross looking for most…🤣), just use the Neck.

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Preparing the Soup
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• Get a BIG pot of water boiling. Start by adding the Tamarind slices and Dried Chili first and let it simmer about 30 mins, just to give them a head start of diffusing their respective flavors. Then add the chunks any of the above (Step 3). Again let it boil for 10-15 mins. Basically, U add the tougher Ingredients first, according to the time needed to get their flavors or soften. Then add the stems of the Kai Choy and let it go for another few mins. Follow by the leftovers and the Kai Choy leaves. Bring to a bubbling boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer for at least an hour or till everything soften and the Kai Choy turned kinda yellowish. Mustard Green tend to be a little peppery bitter if not cooked through properly. Btw, This big pot of goodies was distributed, among relatives and friends.

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Serving
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• This pot of sinfully delicious “Choy Keok (Hot And Spicy Sour Mustard Green Soup)” go extremely well with plain white rice or simply eaten by itself (if U don’t mind the somewhat over-powering flavors).
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