Clear Chinese kailan flower soup

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 4 small Kailan (Chinese broccoli), with flowers, white or yellow
• 1 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 150 g sweet potatoes
• 20 g ginger
• 2 small garlic cloves
• 400 g water
• 8 g broth powder (mushroom bouillon, granular)
• n. B. Salt and pepper, black, freshly ground
• 2 tbsp sesame oil, dark

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 25 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Enriched with carrot and sweet potato pieces. Recipe from Canton, China.

Wash the fresh kailan, separate the leaves and flowers, including about 5 cm of the stem, from the stem. Cut off about 2 cm of the bottom of the stem. Peel the area from the 3rd leaf down. Separate the thin leaf stalks from the leaves along the midrib, halving the large leaves lengthwise and crosswise. Cut the leaf stalks into about 2 cm long pieces and cut the peeled stems crosswise into about 8 mm thick slices and set them aside. Wash the carrot, trim both ends, peel, halve lengthwise, and cut crosswise into about 5 mm thick slices. Wash, peel, and halve the sweet potato lengthwise. Remove the wooden part running down the middle (a kind of string). In some sweet potatoes, this is difficult to see when raw. Halve the halves and remove about 5–6 mm of the pointed part. Cut the quarters into bite-sized pieces. Wash, peel, and finely grate the ginger. Squeeze the garlic. Bring the water to a boil, dissolve the mushroom broth, add the potatoes and ginger, and simmer for 23 minutes. After 10 minutes, add the carrots. After another 5 minutes, add the kailan stems and leaf stalks. After another 5 minutes, add the leaves, flowers, and garlic, and cook for another 3 minutes. Season the broth to taste. Ladle the finished soup into serving bowls. Add the sesame oil, serve warm, and enjoy. Note: Served with rice, the soup is a complete meal.