Manchow Soup: Indo - Chinese Food

March 31, 2014



Indian-Chinese food is very popular in India, and is my favorite. I enjoying watching the street side food joint cooking noodles, fried rice,soups etc., in a wok over high flame.  In India we have adapted seasonings and cooking techniques of Chinese cuisine to our taste and style.  Here is a vegetarian version for Manchow Soup. This soup is  transparent and you can see all the vegetables. This soup thickens because of cornflour; no cream is added to it. Since soup is my dinner, I make it even more healthy by not adding fried noodles or boiled noodles to it. Its not that I do not eat noodles, love them but avoid them in my night dinner. Also, I have not add mono sodium glutamate (MSG) or ajinomoto in my soup. If you like MSG add it in your bowl of soup about 1/4 teaspoon).

Ingredients
1 Teaspoon chilli oil
1 Teaspoon Coriander chopped
1 Teaspoon Spring Onion Whites, chopped
1 Teaspoon Garlic, chopped finely
1 Teaspoon Ginger, grated
1/4 Cup Assorted Vegetables, finely chopped
2 Cups Vegetable Stock or 2 cubes of vegetable soup mixed in 2 cups water
1 Teaspoon Soy Sauce
1/4 Teaspoon Chili Sauce
Salt, Sugar, Black Pepper Powder to taste 
1 Teaspoon Cornflour
1/2 teaspoon Vinegar 

For garnishing
Spring Onion Greens, chopped
Chili Oil
Crispy Noodles

I used vegetables- 2 French beans, 1/2 a Carrot, 1Capsicum, 2 leaves of Cabbage and 3 tablespoons sweet corn kernels. I just put all the vegetables except the corn in the chopper and chopped them finely. They get cooked faster and the soup is easy to make. I even chop the white of the spring onions, ginger and garlic in the chopper.  These gadgets make our cooking a lot easier and less tiresome.

To make
Chili oil
Heat 1/4 cup  oil in a pan on high flame till smoking point, add to it 5-6 broken dry red chilies & switch off heat. Allow to cool. Strain use this ‘chili oil’ as and when required.  This oil does not turn rancid for 2 to 3 weeks.
Crispy Noodles
Boil a packet of Chinese noodles along with a tsp of oil & salt until just about 50% cooked. Let it drain completely on the strainer & spread them on dry cloth & let them dry for 15-20 mins. Then sprinkle some corn flour over them and deep fry in hot oil till just about golden-brown & crispy. Drain on absorbent paper & allow to cool. Use it to garnish soups or eat it as a snack. Can be stored in airtight container for a week. ( This I avoided to make the soup healthy). You can avoid this process totally, now in the stores fried noodles are available.

Method
Heat oil in wok on high flame, then add spring onion whites, garlic,ginger ,coriander, sauté few seconds & add the vegetables stir fry 2 minutes. Add vegetable stock, soy sauce, chili sauce, mix well, add salt, sugar and  black pepper powder to your taste let it boil.  Then add the cornflour paste ( mix cornflour in 2 tablespoon water ) and  cook, stirring continuously till it thickens. Finally add vinegar, mix & remove from heat.  Transfer to bowl, sprinkle chili oil on it, garnish with spring onion greens and crispy noodles, serve hot.  As I am writing this post, am enjoying the bowl of  Manchow Soup.  Do try this recipe and post your comments.




Labels:  Healthy, Pure Veg, Soup, Vegan, Continental Cuisine, Chinese, Manchow Soup 

1 comment:



  1. .You have made this perfectly..Will surely give it a try..Thanks a lot for this recipe. it tastes yummy too!
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