Chin Corn Soup
Serves 6
INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces golden hominy or dried broken corn
Water for soaking and cooking
8 ounces dried small red beans
1 tablespoon salt
About 8 cups leafy greens, such as chard, collard, or amaranth
Pounded sauce/salsa for serving (see below)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. In two separate bowls, cover the hominy and the beans with 2 inches of water and soak overnight at room temperature.
2. Drain. Add both to soaked ingredients to a 6 quart (or larger) pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Bring to boil. Lower to a gentle simmer and cook stirring occasionally, until the hominy and beans are cooked through, about 1½ hours.
3. Check halfway through and, if necessary, add more water to the pot to ensure the hominy and beans stay covered.
4. To check for doneness, cut a kernel of hominy in half and split a bean in half. If either is still chalky in the center, keep simmering.
5. When the hominy and beans are done, stir in the salt and greens and add a little more water if the soup is too thick: as thick as oatmeal would be too thick, but the soup should not be watery. Simmer for 10 minutes more until the grains, beans, and greens are fully integrated. Taste, adding more salt if needed.
The soup will taste bland, but it will come to life when eaten with the salsa (recipe below).
While soup is simmering make the pounded sauce.
Recipe from Burma Superstar, by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy
Pounded Sauce/Salsa
INGREDIENTS:
4 Roma tomatoes
2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno pepper, coarsely chopped, seeds removed
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup coarsely chopped cilantro
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Preheat broiler. Line a rimmed baking sheet or pan with aluminum foil and place the tomatoes on the foil. Broil until the tomato skin starts to blister, 3–4 minutes. Rotate the tomatoes and broil for another 3 to 4 minutes or until most of the skins have blistered. (Alternatively, you could char the tomatoes on a grill.)
2. Coarsely chop the tomatoes.
3. In a mortar with a pestle, mash the ginger, garlic, and chile together into a coarse paste. Add the salt and cilantro and mash some more.
4. Add the tomatoes and continue to mash until a chunky salsa forms.
5. Taste, adding more salt if needed (the sauce should taste assertive enough to bring flavor to the hominy and beans).
6. To serve, ladle the soup into bowls and serve the sauce alongside. Heap a generous spoonful or two of sauce on top of each bowl of soup, and continue to add sauce as you eat.
Recipe from Burma Superstar, by Desmond Tan and Kate Leahy
Myanmar Recipes 2020
