Taro soup- Canh Khoai Môn Recipe- Dad’s Recipe
This taro soup is a homestyle comfort food that dad used to cook all the time at home when we were kids. Typically at our dinner table there was almost always a soup to accompany our meat/fish dish. This soup was always one of my favorites because of the soft, sweet, and unique taste and texture of the taro potatoes.
Though many other recipes don’t use tomatoes, the addition of that makes it more familiar for me but also adds a touch of orange/red color and a slight sweet tang to this tasty soup. My dad typically used pork spare ribs to flavor the broth but also simply used dried shrimps which I included both options below.
I know there’s a bunch of dill haters out there, if this is you, you can replace it with cilantro.
My mom’s recipe is slightly different, she uses a pescatarian broth of just dried and raw shrimp and she doesn’t use garlic, for my mom’s recipe, skip over to -here-.
Otherwise scroll down for my dad’s recipe below:
INGREDIENTS
1 lb pork spare ribs chopped into about 1.5 to 2" pieces
OR
If you want to go pescatarian- use 6 asian dried shrimps instead.
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 garlic cloves minced
6 cups water
10 taro potatoes peeled, washed, drained and cut into quarters (cubes)
1 large tomato (cut into 2" chunks)
1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt (+ more to taste if needed)
1 tsp fish sauce (or more to taste)
2 stalks spring onion - green part only, thinly chopped (reserve some for final garnishing)
1-2 sprigs dill (no stems, reserve some for final garnishing)
Garnish:
Dill
Spring onion
STEP 1:
PREPARE BROTH, CHOOSE OPTION (A) FOR PORK BROTH OR (B) FOR SHRIMP BROTH BELOW:
(A) FOR PORK BROTH RECIPE SEE BELOW:
1. Wash and chop pork rips into about 2" pieces. Put ribs in pot over
medium heat and add salt and black pepper. Heat pan on high heat, add
in 1 tbsp cooking oil, then add garlic and ribs and stir-fry for about
2 min.
2. Add 6 cups water and bring to boil (skim off the foam if using pork) add 2 dried shrimps.
(B) SHRIMP BROTH PREPARATION
1. Heat pot on high heat, add in 1 tbsp cooking oil, then add garlic
and cook until fragrant.
2. Add 6 cups water (use more if needed to cover potatoes) salt,
pepper, and bring to boil.
STEP 2:
DIRECTIONS CONTINUED…
3. After you get a nice rolling boil, add taro, tomatoes and salt/pepper/sugar and cook on
medium low heat until the taro is completely cooked through and
completely soft (take a potato out and bite into it, if it's still a
little hard inside, cook longer).
4. After potatoes are cooked, add fish sauce, green onions and dill
and let simmer for 1-2 min. Add salt/black pepper/or fish sauce to
taste if you need more salt.
5. Transfer to serving bowl and garnish with fresh chopped spring onion, and fresh dill.