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INGREDIENTS

4 litres (16 cups) water

2–3 pieces dried kelp

(kombu), cleaned

according to packet

instructions

4–5 dried shiitake

mushrooms, rinsed

lightly to clean

1

/

3

cup red lentils,

soaked for at least

30 minutes in warm

water

1 carrot, chopped into

1-cm long pieces

1 corn, chopped into

3 parts

1 potato, peeled and

cubed

1 stalk celery, chopped

into 5-cm lengths

1-cm knob ginger, sliced

2 tsp salt, or to taste

A dash of ground white

pepper

METHOD

1.

Place water, kelp and shiitake in a pot. Bring to a boil over

medium-low heat and remove kelp just before water begins

to boil.

2.

After the water comes to a boil, keep at medium-low heat

and add lentils, carrot, corn, potato, celery and ginger.

3.

Increase heat to medium-high, return mixture to a boil and

simmer half covered for at least 40 minutes. Use a spoon

to skim away any foam or impurities that gather on the

surface.

4.

Season with salt and pepper before straining soup into

another large pot. Let cool completely before storing in the

refrigerator. This can be kept for up to 5 days. To keep for

longer, portion immediately and freeze.

NOTES

•

Portion the soup and freeze in silicone bags or soft plastic

containers. This way you can push out a block and plop it right into

the pot when needed.

•

For variations, you can use other veggies like radish, tomato, napa

cabbage, snow peas, leek or onion. Sometimes my mother even

adds an apple to sweeten the stock naturally.

•

I don’t recommend using fresh shiitake mushrooms here as dried

ones have a more concentrated flavour.

•

Traditional Chinese vegetarian clear soup has soybeans, but I used

red lentils because of convenience. Soybeans have to be soaked

overnight in advance and take much longer to cook. But feel free to

try out different beans to find what works for you.

•

Various bean pastes like miso or

tau cheo

can be used to salt this

soup instead. Experiment to find your favourite combination!

clear soup

Makes 2.5–3 litres