Tibetan Vegetable Soup Recipes

VEGETABLE THUKPA

Steps:

• Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rapid boil. Cook egg noodles at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite, 7 to 9 minutes. Drain, rinse, and drain again. Set aside.
• While egg noodles cook, heat mustard oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions; fry until light brown, about 5 minutes. Add chiles, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, cumin, and turmeric; saute for 1 minute. Add bell pepper and mushrooms and stir-fry for 6 minutes. Add broth, tomatoes, yogurt, ajwain, soy sauce, bay leaf, salt, and pepper and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add egg noodles and simmer for 3 more minutes; stir in spinach, cook for 1 or 2 more minutes. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

THENTHUK

Steps:

• Slowly add about ½ cup of water to 1 cup of all-purpose flour in a bowl.
• Mix the flour and water very well by hand and keep adding water until you can make a smooth ball of dough. Then knead the dough very well until the dough is flexible, 3-5 minutes. You want it both solid and flexible enough to stretch rather than break when pulled.
• Roll the dough between your hands to make a thick rope shape, and break that long piece into 4-5 shorter pieces of the same thickness.
• Put oil on your hand and roll the pieces between your hands again so they won't stick together.
• Put the 4-5 pieces of dough in a plastic bag or in a pot and put a lid to cover the dough so it doesn't dry out. Let rest, covered, for 15-20 minutes, so it can become flexible and easy to pull.
• If using daikon, peel and chop it. Cover the chopped daikon with water and add 1 tablespoon of salt. Soak the daikon in this salty water, stirring around with your hand, then rinse well. Tibetans say this takes the strong "radish smell" away.
• Chop the onion, ginger, garlic, and tomato.
• Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil on high heat until hot. Turn down heat to medium high and stir fry onion, ginger, and garlic for 2-3 minutes until the edges are a little brown. Raising the heat back up to high, add tomatoes, and cook covered, or about 3 minutes.
• Add bouillon and soy sauce. At this time, you can add the daikon, and cook, still on high, another 2-3 minutes.
• Add two and a half cups of water to the pot. Bring the broth to a boil, stirring occasionally. While the soup is cooking, chop ½ cup of cilantro, two green onions, and 2 cups of spinach (or as much as you like).
• When the broth starts to boil, you can add the dough. Take a wedge of dough and roll it between your hands so it gets a little longer. Flatten it with your fingers. Then pull the dough off in little flat pieces as long as your thumb and throw them in the pot.
• When all the noodles are in the pot, cook it for an additional 3-5 minutes to cook the noodles. After that, you can put in the cilantro, green onions, and spinach. They don't need to cook, really, so you can serve the soup immediately.