Long Cabbage (Wong Bok) Soup

Another simple and tasty soup for a simple meal.

Ingredients (Serve 3-4)

1. A handful of anchovies (Ikan billis), about 30
2. 5-6 leaves of Wong Bok cabbage
3. 150-200 grams minced pork
4. 2 tablespoon light soya sauce
5. 1 tablespoon sesame oil
6. ½ teaspoon sugar
7. 1 teaspoon corn flour
8. dash of pepper
9. Optional – fish balls, hock chew fish balls, frozen wonton etc
10. 1.5 liters of water
11. 1/2 teaspoon salt to taste
12. 1 table spoon cooking oil

Method

1. Wash the cabbage and cut into strips of about 3 cm. Set aside.
2. Prepare the minced pork by mixing item 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 thoroughly into the minced pork.
3. Rinse the anchovies and drain dry.
4. Heat up an empty pot using low heat, and while heated up put in the anchovies and toast to dry up.  When the water in the pot has dried up and the anchovies look dry and have a fragrant of toasted anchovies, put in the cooking oil and allow the anchovies to fry till fragrant.  Add in water and allow to boil.   Once boiled, cover and lower heat and allow it to boil gently for 30 mins.
5. You may choose to remove the anchovies from the stock or just leave it inside.  You may skip step 4 if you have ready stock, or you have anchovies powder to make stock.
6. Add in the cabbage and allow to boil till desired softness, about 10-15 mins is usually enough.
7. Put the minced pork from item 2 on a plate for easy manipulating the pork.  Using a table spoon, scoop out a small ball of meat (size if a thumb), and repeatedly roll it around on the empty part of the plate with the spoon until it forms a round ball, and let it drop into the boiling soup.  Repeat till all the minced pork are in the soup.
8. Add in other optional ingredients that you may like, ranging from fish ball, hock chew fish ball, frozen wonton etc. Allow to boil till the added ingredient are cooked. (minced pork takes abt 3 mins to cook in boiling water, fish ball will float when cooked).
9. Add salt to taste.