Anyone who knows me well can attest to the fact that my all-time favorite food is really just hot soup in any form. If I’m eating out and it’s on the menu, I’m getting it no matter how hot and humid Manila can be. In fact, every year that I’m at my parent’s house on my birthday, my dad will be making my one consistent annual food request—Arroz Caldo (a ginger-forward, garlicky rice porridge with chicken, scallions, 7-minute egg, and laced with obscene amounts of chile oil and calamansi). It’ll be the only thing I wanted in the world at the moment and it’s so, so good.
I also have a very specific requirement for eating soup—it has to be scalding hot or we’re not happy. I need to feel that burn down my throat. Sweat dripping from my forehead down to my eyes, mouth gasping for cool air. If it didn’t scorch, then it didn’t hit the spot.
Anyway, here it is—soup, stock, broth—whatever you want to call it. The first recipe we’re making together through this newsletter.
GARLIC AND HERB BROTH
(Serves 2)
This is a non-recipe which means this is as basic as it can be. All you need are alliums, whatever wilting herbs are in your pantry, salt, and water. I made a pot for two hungry people but feel free to double the ratio and make a big batch for future use. Freeze in a quart container and consume within 2-4 days. Thaw it out for stews, noodles, or sip it straight out of a cup. When reheating the broth, it’s a good note to add more fresh herbs and alliums each time you’re about to use it to brighten the flavors.
SOME TUNES TO COOK TO:
Made you a playlist to listen to while you cook! This wraps up in 52 minutes, which is the same amount of time it takes to finish this recipe. Your broth should be done by the time you finish all 12 songs.
INGREDIENTS:
2 whole heads of garlic
1/2 medium white onion (or the entire thing)
1-2 dried bay leaf
1 sprig of thyme
1 hefty bunch of cilantro (sorry if you hate it)
1 sprig of kintsay (or a stalk of celery)
a few whole peppercorns
salt to taste
4 cups of water
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Heat some oil in a pot (I use a blend of grapeseed and olive oil) until it’s shimmering. Cut your garlic heads in half, crosswise, and really brown it in your pot cut side down. Add in your onion and allow it to brown and perfume your kitchen. Don’t worry about the skins, it’ll add more color to your broth. Keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn. If it disintegrates, that’s completely okay.
2. When you can see that the alliums have browned nicely and gotten a little softer, add in your water and all your herbs and spices. By this time, your garlic and onion have mellowed quite a bit and no longer has that harsh, raw bite.
3. Lower the heat to a light simmer then you can take a step back for now for 30 to 45 minutes, occasionally checking to skim any foam that has surfaced and to stir to make sure nothing is scorched at the bottom. Any time you’re making stock, it’s important to simmer gently and skim the top to produce a clear broth (especially when making meat or poultry stock).
4. After 40 minutes or so, you’ll notice that your broth would have reduced by half and turned from a light tan to a nice golden hue (this is where the skins of your alliums helped with the color.) For good measure, I like to introduce more herbs into the broth at this stage to boost the brightness and flavor of your herbs. I may just add a few more cloves of crushed garlic as well to amplify the garlic, but this is totally up to your preference.
Spot my dog, Chandler on the right. Sniffing my jacket for the nth time that day.
5. At this stage is when you’d want to season your broth so you can control how salty you want it to be. If it’s for light sipping, I tend to mellow out the sodium. But if you plan on adding noodles like soba, udon, or glass noodles (OR WHITE RICE!!!) into this, I recommend going a touch saltier because you’re introducing starch that will definitely temper the saltiness.
A few seasoning ideas:
- soy sauce or fish sauce
- coconut aminos
- miso paste
- dashi powder
- MSG (Yes, I did mean Ajinomoto. Don’t give me that look.)
6. Once you’re happy with the taste, strain the broth through a fine sieve or muslin cloth and press on the herbs and alliums lightly.
7. Now you can use your broth however you’d like! I turned mine into an egg drop situation as you can see. Beat 2 eggs (or more!) in a bowl and add a pinch of salt. While it’s still gently simmering, whisk your broth to form a vortex and stream in the egg slowly so it forms into feathery egg clouds. Do not whisk or disturb the eggs for maybe 30 seconds so your broth won’t turn too cloudy. As for the discarded herbs, I don’t like wasting anything (except for the bay leaf) so I bloomed it in super hot oil and some chile flakes for a bit of heat. Drizzle your herb oil onto your *now* egg drop garlic soup and eat with toasted sourdough bread.
DO NOT discard your softened garlic bits. Take out the bulbs, and brown it in the smallest amount of oil with a bit of salt. Mix it in some softened butter and smear it on any kind of crusty bread before toasting lightly until crispy and golden brown.
F&B MAKERS DOING GREAT THINGS!
The Den is one of my favorite coffee shops anywhere in the world. They recently pivoted to an online store and it’s nothing short of inspiring. Help them keep the business afloat and shop HERE for coffee, retail, and more.
Celebrating 12 years of our beloved TodayXFuture through art and retail! Shop here until we can dance and drink at Futurist again.
I miss my Poblacion community the most and while a lot of my favorite bars have closed down because of the pandemic, I take comfort in the fact that we still have Annex House even just virtually (for now). Help keep them afloat and shop bar kits and bottled spirits here.
While you’re at it, donate to help feed minimum wage workers who lost their jobs due to the pandemic! Click HERE to learn more about PAGASA PH and their relief efforts.
This is the very first newsletter that I’ll be sending out to all of you and frankly I didn’t expect this many friends (and kind strangers!!!) to subscribe, so thank you. The world is never gonna be the same again, but I hope that you all have a roof over your head, and a meal to keep you warm and healthy. If you stick around for a minute, maybe this weekly project can morph into something really special.
- Trisha