Shrimp and Radish Soup
As autumn begins and the summer heat fades, it's a good time to add more soups to the menu to ward off seasonal dryness. Affordable white radish is ideal for soup at this time of year.
When stewed with pork ribs or spine bones, use large radish chunks so they hold their shape during long cooking; the result is a rich, savory broth with tender, juicy radish. For a quicker soup, slice or shred the radish and simmer briefly to mellow its pungency and bring out a subtle sweetness in the broth.
White radish is rich in protein, calcium, vitamin C, and other nutrients. Eaten raw, it stimulates the appetite; cooked, it is gentle on the stomach and aids digestion. At home, I often pair radish soup with dried shrimp, dried small shrimp, silver fish, or sliced fatty beef — all simple and delicious.
Today's version uses whole shrimp, pounded into patties and lightly coated with starch, giving the shrimp a slightly crisp texture quite different from eating them whole.
Ingredients
white radish
1/2
large shrimp
8
lettuce leaves
2
black pepper
2 g
salt
0.5 g
cornstarch
30 g
Instructions
1
Step 1
Prepare the large shrimp and white radish.
2
Step 2
Peel the shrimp, remove the heads, keep the tails, and devein along the back.
3
Step 3
Slice open the belly of each shrimp with a knife (without cutting through the back), and remove the vein from the belly.
4
Step 4
Gently pound the shrimp with the back of a knife so the meat spreads out into a patty shape, then sprinkle with a little black pepper.
5
Step 5
Pour the cornstarch onto a plate, hold each shrimp by the tail, coat both sides of the patty with cornstarch, and shake off the excess.
6
Step 6
Arrange the cornstarch-coated shrimp patties on a plate.
7
Step 7
Cut the white radish into thin slices.
8
Step 8
Place them in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil over high heat — this step can be done while preparing the shrimp patties.
9
Step 9
When the radish slices are soft and tender, add the shrimp patties to the soup one by one and cook for 30 seconds.
10
Step 10
Add one or two lettuce leaves for color and fiber (bok choy hearts can be used as a substitute); sprinkle with an appropriate amount of salt and turn off the heat.
11
Step 11
Shrimp and radish soup — fresh, sweet, nutritious, and a great appetite booster!
