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Chinese Spinach in Superior Broth
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Update (Nov 2013): First posted in Apr 2010, now updated with new photos & improved recipe.
I am calling this dish “spinach in superior broth” (上汤菠菜/苋菜) only because that is how our restaurants & zi char stalls name this dish.
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With a fancy name like that, of course the eateries charge premium for this dish, when the home-cooked version is actually inexpensive (under S$3!). What makes the home-cooked version “superior”, in my humble opinion, is the home-made ikan bilis stock which is natural and free from artificial flavourings & MSG. I love this dish thoroughly because it is both a vegetable and a soup dish in one. I make ikan bilis stock once a week and keep it in the fridge, so I have an instant soup base to whip this dish in a jiffy whenever I want to.
There are actually many variations for this dish – such as with wolfberries, salted eggs or a thicker soup (simply thicken the broth with cornstarch solution). Use your creativity to adapt this recipe!
Yum! I love century eggs! :P
單看這上湯已經被誘惑了，想ä¸åˆ°è‹‹èœé‚„å¯é…上皮蛋，心癢癢也動手試一試。 ^^
Never tried to add century egg in soup before. This is a delicious soup and I must bookmark it. Thanks for sharing!
We eat a lot of Chinese spinach at home. Just blanch and toss with shallots oil, fried shallot and oyster sauce. Your version is usually the dish we ordered in the restaurant. Since you have made 10 attempts to come out with this recipe, I believe this dish must be super tasty. Yum! Yum! Looks homey, hearty and healthy too! ;)
I love your version with fried shallot and shallot oil! haha 10 attempts mostly because of my stupidity :D
Delicious and healthy!! Which I really need it :)
I can’t say I’ve ever had a century egg, although I have heard of them. I’m not sure if my Western palate could handle it. Heh. Plus I hate to admit it, but I didn’t know silver fish was also an actual fish, I only know it as an insect. ;)
But all that aside, if you put a bowl of this in front of me I would definitely try it. It looks awesome!
kudos for being sporting enough to try it! I can totally understand your fear of century eggs, I mean it was one of the foods they serve on fear factor! I will gladly serve you a version without the century eggs :)
Opps I may have scared you further with silver fish heheh. After yours and another reader’s comment, I have changed the name to white bait which is a more accurate name for the fish. I had no idea that silver fish is actually an insect :P
Looks good, I never have spinach cooked in this way before. What to do, no restaurant here ever serve spinach as a veggie dish on the menu.
Maybe it’s a South East Asian dish. It’s easy to replicate it at home ;)
Healthy and delicious!
This soup is certainly superior, in more ways than one. But if you don’t mind NC, I’ll skip the century egg, and get a ” fresh” one instead :lol:
I’ll happy to serve you a plate of this without the century eggs. Not everyone in Asia dare to eat this as well ;)
Hi Wiffy, this is one of my favorite dishes to order at my local Chinese restaurant too. I love it. Yours looks AWESOME, so I’m going to bookmark it and try it this week after I visit the organic market…Thanks, Stella
This is something we will order each time we eat out. I just love to drink the soup. I am going to cook this once I get the right spinach from the Asian store. The spinach from the supermarket is different too and it is meant for salad.