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June 25, 2020 9:00 am
Hototay is a Chinese soup dish made out of various meats and vegetables all combined to make a hearty soup perfect for rainy days. This easy to cook one-pot dish has a meaty savory stock as well as richness from the egg and crisp from the vegetable mix.
Asians are known for their thrift culture especially in terms of food. Hototay is a good representation of this culture wherein various meats and innards are utilized to make a satisfying and filling bowl of soup. Pork and chicken meats are the basic meats that goes into the Hototay Soup. An addition of chicken or pork liver to the mix gives a sharp shift in taste profile.
To complement load of meats in the mix, vegetables are incorporated adding volume and varying textures to the soup. Cabbage is used often as extenders in Asian soups and dishes. Its green color gives a refreshing look to a dish. Adding carrots also gives a good crisp and bite to the soup while its color contrasts well with green cabbage and light and dark brown meat. Mushrooms are also added for an extra meaty and umami.
Eggs are common in Asian soup dishes. Some have hard or soft boiled egg on top of a noodle soup while some opt for fried egg for some flavor add-ons. But for Hototay, eggs are beaten and poured in directly to the piping hot soup mix; acting as a thickener and providing a flavor explosion throughout the soup mix. Some even crack an egg on the soup mix and let it sit for a few minutes making the yolk whole while stirring the egg whites. This gives a rich and creamy mouthfeel to the soup.
Since chicken products are predominantly present in Hototay, adding Chickensavor™ helps round up the taste of chicken meat, chicken liver, and egg as well as the other meat and vegetables in the dish. It helps in amplifying the chicken flavor and aroma in the soup. It is also cost efficient since you only need one seasoning for this whole Hototay dish.
As mentioned, Hototay is a one-pot-dish making it a kitchen wonder in terms of ease of cooking. There are 2 ways in making a pot of Hototay Soup:
A simpler life hack for making the hototay soup is the timely dumping of ingredients in the pot of a savory soup stock. Just add water to a pot, season it, and dump all the meats in the pot. Let it boil for minutes and when it is nearly done, dump in all the vegetables. Let is simmer for a few minutes then add the beaten egg. With just these few steps, your Hototay Soup is already done.
A more flavorful way of preparing your Hototay Soup is through the Sear and Simmer method. First step will be searing your meats in a little amount of oil to lock in their juices making the meat moist to the bite. This also leaves meat traces at the bottom of your pan (usually the browning). To extract the flavors in the meat traces, deglaze the pan (pour in water) and let the meat simmer before adding the vegetables and egg. In this method, an added smoky and meaty flavor will be incorporated in your soup making it refreshing, relaxing, and filled with meaty-umami goodness.
Using simple and readily available ingredients with an easy-to-do method of cooking, you can whip up a comforting of a refreshing hot soup perfect for the weather. With varying textures from meats and vegetables and the different depth of flavors, you and your family will surely enjoy this Hototay Recipe.