Real African Dishes: [MC-AllEthnic-Recipes] China Moon Vegetable Infusion (Asian-Flavored Veg Broth)

* Exported from MasterCook *

                      China Moon Vegetable Infusion

Recipe By     :
Serving Size : 12    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Condiment                       LowCal (Less than 300 cals)
                LowerCarbs                      LowFat (Less than 10%)
                Vegan

Amount Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
4              large garlic heads -- rock-hard (complete bulbs)
5              large dried Chinese black mushrooms -- (to 6)
2          teaspoons corn oil -- or peanut oil
2                     yellow onions -- thinly sliced
4                     carrots -- thinly sliced
10            pieces fresh ginger -- quarter-size coins, smashed
6                     scallions -- fat-sized, cut into 1-inch nuggets and smashed
2              small green serrano chili pepper -- to 3, halved lengthwise and smashed
1         Tablespoon fragrant black peppercorns
1 1/2    Tablespoons Szechwan peppercorns
12              cups cold water
1              stalk lemongrass -- fat-sized, cut into 2-inch nuggets and smashed

Preheat the oven to 350F. Move a rack to the middle position.

Roast the garlic heads on a baking sheet, root side down, until very soft,
30 to 40 minutes. Don't worry if a bit of brown bubbles volcano-like from
the top. Let the garlic cool until you can touch it, then smash the heads
lightly to expose the pulp. It will ooze a bit over the knife or mallet;
no matter, just scrape the pulp back onto the cloves.

While the garlic is roasting, cover the mushrooms with 1 cup cold water.
Weight the caps down with a saucer and let soak until soft, about 30
minutes. Cut the caps with the stems intact into thick slices. Strain and
reserve the soaking liquid.

Heat a heavy non-aluminum stockpot over high heat until hot enough to
evaporate a bead of water upon contact. Add the oil, swirl to glaze the
bottom of the pan, then reduce the heat to low. Add the garlic, mushrooms,
onions, carrots, ginger, scallions and chilis. Stir to gloss the
vegetables with the oil. Cover the pot tightly and let the vegetables
sweat until they are very soft and soupy, about 20 minutes. Don't rush the
process; the longer they sweat, the better the stock will taste. Lift the
lid occasionally to stir the vegetables and ensure against scorching,
tilting the lid at an angle so the condensation slides into the pot.

Add the peppercorns, water and reserved mushroom-soaking liquid. Stir to
blend, then bring the mixture to a lively simmer over moderate heat.
Adjust the heat to maintain a weak simmer and cook, uncovered, for 45
minutes. Add the lemongrass and simmer 15 minutes more.

Stain the stock through a large, fine-mesh strainer and let the solids
drip their juices into the stock. Discard the solids. For a clearer stock,
clean the strainer, line it with a double layer of wet cheesecloth, and
strain the liquid again.

Makes 12 cups

MENU SUGGESTIONS: Vegetarians might season this stock to taste with
mushroom soy sauce, kosher salt, and Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt and
garnish it with scallion rings and chives. It would be a fine partner for
our Vegetarian Spring Rolls (p. 349) or Buddha Buns (p. 372), or the soup
could be further embellished with glass noodles and Fried Ginger Threads
(p. 29) and a generous helping of wild mushrooms sliced paper thing.

SEASONING STOCKS & INFUSIONS: It is a general rule of good cooking
everywhere to season the stock or soup only just before you serve it. The
same rule applies to our Chinese-style stocks and all of our soup
infusions.

Why? Basically it is to allow for flexibility and to avoid a concentration
of salt. Let's say you refrigerate the stock or infusion, and then don't
watch carefully when reheating it and discover it has boiled partly away.
If you had seasoned it in advance, your dinner would be ruined. But as it
is, you can simply taste the soup (it may be yummy for the reduction, or
it may require a bit of water to make it palatable) and then blithely
proceed to season it as you wish.

The China Moon style of seasoning stocks and infusions bound for the soup
bowl is a 2-part process: The first step is to add kosher salt to the hot
mixture until the flavors of the meats and vegetables come to the fore.
The liquid should not taste salty! One is simply adding kosher salt to
push the other tastes forward. Only then, as a final flourish, add Roasted
Szechwan Pepper-Salt to taste. This is a salty piquant seasoner and a
little goes a long way. Were you to have added it in the beginning, you
would have added too much. Like lip gloss after the lipstick, it's a last
step only, designed to add a little shine.

More soup seasoning advice: Do the tasting when the liquid is hot, but
not yet simmering. If it is too hot, you won't be able to really taste the
flavors, and you may burn your tongue besides. Also, taste with a spoon,
ideally a porcelain Chinese type with a deep bowl. Cooks who taste with
their fingers or a wooden spoon are often tasting what was last on them.
Using a deep, clean spoon means that you can swirl liquid over your tongue
and really taste the full flavor range.

Stocks or infusions that are part of sauces should never be seasoned. They
are simply one part in a sauce of many components, and whatever seasoning
is done, is done to the whole.

China Moon Roasted Szechwan Pepper-Salt
     1/4           cup Szechwan peppercorns -- any thorns or twigs
removed
     1/2           cup kosher salt

Combine the peppercorns and salt in a heavy skillet and toast over
moderate heat, stirring, until the salt turns off-white, about 5 minutes.
Adjust the heat so the peppercorns do not burn, but expect them to smoke.

Remove the hot mixture to a food processor and process for 1 full minute
to obtain a fine powder. Alternatively, grind the mixture in a spice
grinder. Sieve it to remove the peppercorn husks. Store the mixture in a
clean dry bottle, sealed airtight.
Makes 1/2 cup (8 one-tablespoon servings)

Cuisine:
"Chinese"
Source:
"China Moon Cookbook by Barbara Tropp, 1992"
S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):
"May 2013"
Yield:
"12 cups"
                                    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 159 Calories; 2g Fat (8.9% calories
from fat); 7g Protein; 33g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg
Cholesterol; 30mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2
Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 902261 0 0 0