Instant Pot Cabbage Soup for the Soul!

TGIF! It’s been a long week, but the weekend is finally here!

Woohoooooo! That means I can take a small break from homeschooling, to catch up on ummm... house work... hmmm... In reality, since the COVID-19 crept up on us at the start of 2020, week days are really no different from weekends. At least not in my home.

I actually allowed my kids take a break from homeschooling today, to help me FINALLY take down all the Christmas decorations (as well as hang laundry - aren’t I an awesome mama?!), get them packed up in boxes and put away in the attic. Our family tradition has always been to keep the Christmas deco up until epiphany. But my eldest daughter has now convinced me to change the tradition and keep them up an extra 10 days for her birthday. The house feels so empty and solemn now, particularly as it has been raining all day... so what better way to celebrate the end of a dreary day and week, than to chow down on some hearty Soup!! 

As many of you probably know, Japanese miso soup (a soya bean paste based soup) is practically as much a staple as rice is for the Japanese. It’s eaten with almost every meal, with the exception of meals that already contain soup, like ramen or udon.  And in Hong Kong and China, soups are almost (some really are) medicinal, aiding in balancing out one’s Yin and Yang. 

While living in Shanghai, my friends and I would go out to restaurants at least 3-4 times a week, and aside from usually sharing one meat/fish, one vegetable, one tofu and one cold dish, we ALWAYS ordered a soup. It was just the thing to do when eating out in a group. 

All this to say, I’m HUGE soup fan, always have been and always will be. So I decided it would be suitable to write my first blog post here about one of my favourites - Cabbage Soup! 

So let’s get to it! 

NOTES:

FIRST: The title reads Instant Pot, but you can very well make it in a normal pot. The Instant Pot simply speeds up the cooking process, and at the same time allows you to take down Christmas decorations in peace without having to check on the pot every 5 minutes. If you too are a soup lover, I highly recommend getting an Instant Pot! I use it almost daily! 

SECOND: if you are a vegetarian/vegan, you can easily omit the bacon and replace the chicken broth with a vegetable broth or simply add salt only. 

THIRD: Fun facts about CABBAGE - it’s been said that fresh Cabbage juice is often used / prescribed by some doctors to treat, heal and prevent stomach ulcers! Definitely helpful during stressful times like these! And it contains high levels of vitamin C, fiber, as well as other vitamins and nutrients. 

RECIPE: Serves 5

INGREDIENTS:

3-5 cloves of garlic 

1 medium-sized white onion (peeled and chopped roughly)

1 stalk of celery (peeled and sliced thinly)

2 medium-sized carrots (peeled and chopped into small cubes)

4 slices of bacon (sliced thinly width-wise)

1 tbsp olive oil 

950 ml chicken broth (or vegetable broth)

1 (400 gram) can of chopped tomatoes

1/2 cabbage (around 500 grams - thinly sliced)

1 tsp black peppercorn 

1/2 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

End: adjust salt to taste

METHOD:

1) Turn on the Sauté mode on the Instant Pot / alternatively, heat up a soup pot over medium heat. 

2) Drizzle in olive oil, and wait until well heated.

3) Sauté the onion, garlic, celery and carrots until well coated in oil, and until the onion is slightly translucent.

4) Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, bay leaf, black peppercorns, salt and cabbage and stir well for about a minute. 

5) On the Instant Pot, cancel the “Sauté” mode, and push the “Soup/Broth” mode, so that it is on high pressure with the timer set for 20 minutes. Please take into account that there is an automatic pre-heating time required prior to the actual starting time of cooking under pressure. Again, just push the button stated above and let the pot do the rest. The valve on the lid of the pot should be pointed to “sealing”.

In a regular pot, allow the soup to simmer over low-medium heat for around 40 minutes, for the cabbage to properly absorb the flavours - stirring from time to time. 

6) Once the Instant Pot signals the end of cooking, it will beep. Turn off the Instant Pot by pushing the “Cancel” button, and using a long wooden spatula (or anything long enough to prevent steam burn injuries from occurring), turn the valve from “sealing” to “venting”. The steam will be released for a good 1 minute or so. Make sure to keep your hands or anything else away from the valve while releasing steam. 

7) Once all the steam has been released (the little red thing - don’t know exact name - next to the valve will fall back down flat in the lid), open the lid, and serve in soup bowls, accompanied by some nice crusty bread and butter, or by itself. Add salt to taste. 

Bon Appetit mes Amis! Xoxo Pia