Vegetable Manchow Soup

                            

Vegetable Manchow Soup is one of the most popular soup recipes from the Indo-Chinese Cuisine. It is a delicious, hot and spicy vegan soup loaded with healthy goodness of vegetables. Piping hot bowl of this vegetable Manchow soup topped with crispy fried noodles is difficult to resist, especially on a chilly winter night.  Finely chopped seasonal vegetables are simmered in a wholesome vegetable broth, seasoned with Asian flavors( sauces and spices) to make this soup. Apart from vegetables, I have added mushrooms also. With an easy recipe, you can serve this vegetable Manchow soup as an appetizer before the main course or as a light meal.

                                    

What is Manchow Soup ?

As per Wikipedia, Meghalaya is the origin of Manchow soup. It is dark brown soup prepared with a variety of vegetables, scallions, chicken, thickened with broth and cornflour and flavored with generous amount of soy sauce, chili pepper, salt and garlic. Manchow soup can be both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. One can find Manchow soup in Indo-Chinese restaurants and street carts across India.

Manchow soup is one of the soup dishes that can be relished hot and warm during chilly winters and monsoon season. A bowl of hot and spicy manchow soup is very comforting when the weather is cold. It is home remedy for common cold and flu. The garlic and pepper in the soup has a soothing effect on sore throat and aids in digestion as well. 

                                     

What Goes into my Vegetable Manchow Soup ? The Ingredients

• Vegetables: This Manchow soup is loaded with winter vegetables like carrots, baby corn, french beans, spring onions, bell pepper and cabbage. You may use any seasonal non-pulpy veggies of your choice in this soup.
• Mushrooms: I have added finely chopped button mushrooms which are a good source of protein and fiber. I often add finely chopped tofu or Paneer as well. 
• Vegetable Broth :  Homemade vegetable stock/broth is the best as it makes the soup nutritious and flavorful. If vegetable broth is not available, plain water can be used but the taste of the soup will be different.
• Cornflour Slurry: The soup is thickened with vegetable broth and cornflour slurry (cornflour paste with water). I have used very little cornflour as we prefer our soup to be thin. If you like a thick soup, add more cornflour.
• Soy sauce: Use good quality soy sauce. I use it sparingly as my family does not like the soup to be on the tangier side. 
• Green chili, ginger and garlic paste: Do not skip this as it adds a lot of flavor and makes the soup spicy.
• Vinegar: Use rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar.
• Black Pepper: Freshly ground black pepper gives a wonderful flavor to the Manchow soup.
• Salt: Use it carefully as soy sauce and store bought vegetable stock also has salt in it.
• Oil: Use sesame seed oil for best taste.
• Fried Noodles:  Usually Manchow soup served in Indian restaurants and street carts is garnished with fried noodles which adds a lovely crunch to the soup. Boiled Hakka Noodles are deep fried and then added to the soup just before serving or else they get soggy. I did not have Hakka noodles so i used Maggie instead. I just boiled the Maggie noodles, drained it, dusted it with cornflour and the deep fried it until crisp. Adding fried noodles to the soup is optional. It tastes great without its addition too.

                                     

Variations to the Manchow Soup:

• Finely chopped Tofu or Paneer may be added to the Manchow soup to add the protein element in it. 
• Ketchup may be added to the soup. In that case the Manchow soup will taste more like the hot and sour soup as tomato ketchup will make the soup tangy.
• Add chicken broth and shredded chicken pieces to this soup to make it a Chicken Manchow Soup.
• Chili sauce can be added if you can tolerate the heat.

                                     

Dietary Notes:

• Vegetarian Soup
• Vegan (egg and dairy free)
• Healthy and delicious meal option
• Kid friendly
• Winter Food
• Home remedy for common cold and flu

Related Event: 

It is raining Winter Warmer recipes on our Facebook gourmet group, Healthy Wellthy Cuisines. It is a group of passionate food bloggers who share their culinary skills fortnightly depending upon a pre-determined theme. Swaty who blogs at Foodtrails.com was our hostess for the 97th theme and she suggested that we share soup recipes that are relished hot and warm during the Winter season. This healthy and flavorful Manchow soup loaded with winter veggies is my contribution towards the theme. meanwhile, do check out Swaty's blog for some healthy and del;icious recipes from around the globe. I have bookmarked her Lemon Coriander Amla Soup and Apple Rasam to try out soon. In case you are interested to know what my fellow bloggers have shared under this theme, click on the links below.

• Herbal Rasam by Narmadha
  
• Beet Carrot Soup by Sasmita
  
• Tomato Shorba by Jayashree
  
• Indian Spiced Carrot Apple Soup with Turmeric by Vanitha
  
• Creamy Mushroom and Sweet Corn Soup by Swaty
  
• Tom Yum flavored Mushroom and Coriander Soup by Preethi

Preparation Time: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients for the soup: Measurements used 1 Cup = 240 ml

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 4-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 inch ginger
• 2 green chilies
• 1/4 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1/4 cup finely chopped button mushrooms
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/3 cup finely shredded cabbage
• 1/3 cup finely chopped french beans
• 2 tablespoon finely chopped bell pepper
• 1 tablespoon spring onion greens for garnishing
• 2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• Pinch of sugar
• Salt to taste
• 1/4 cup fried noodles for garnishing (optional)

Method: 

1. Take 1 tablespoon cornflour in a bowl and add 1/3 cup water to it. Make a lump free slurry. Keep aside. Finely mince the ginger, garlic and green chili. Keep all the ingredients (sauce, vegetable broth, spices) handy. Heat a large wok or sauce pan and add oil to it. Once the oil is hot add the minced ginger garlic and green chili. Saute it for few seconds on low to medium flame. 

                                     

2. Add Onions and saute it for 1-2 minutes or until the onions turn translucent. Next, add the finely chopped carrot, french beans, cabbage, mushrooms and bell pepper. Saute the veggies on medium to high flame for around 2 minutes. The veggies should retain a little crunch in them.

                                     

3. Next, lower the flame and add the soy sauce and vinegar followed by the vegetable broth or water. Give a good stir and allow the soup to cook on medium flame.

                                     

4. When the soup starts boiling, add the cornflour water mixture and give a good stir to avoid any lump formation.  Season the soup with salt, pinch of sugar and black pepper powder. Add the green onion and let the soup cook for another 4-5 minutes. It will thicken a bit. In my case, as i have added only 1 tablespoon cornflour, the soup is fairly thin, the way my family loves to have it. Turn off the flame after 4-5 minutes.

                                     

               

5. Transfer the soup to individual bowls and garnish it with onion greens and fried noodles just before serving. Enjoy the healthy and flavorful vegetable Manchow soup with your loved ones!

         

Recipe Notes:

• Any seasonal non-pulpy veggies may be used in making this vegetable Manchow soup.
• I would recommend using homemade vegetable broth as it is preservative free and much more healthier and flavorful than the store bought ones. However, if you cannot source it or have it handy, use water instead. If using water, the taste of the soup will not the same though.
• To make easy one-pot vegetable stock at home, i simply add chopped veggies like carrots, cabbage, garlic, onions, herbs, bay leaf and black pepper( plus the stalks and trimmings of the veggies in my refrigerator)to a pressure cooker with 4 cups of water and cook for 2 whistles and then simmer for another 10 minutes. Strain on cooling. Discard the veggies and use the stock/broth.
• To make crispy fried noodles, simply boil 100 grams of Hakka noodles. Drain and tap them with kitchen towel. Sprinkle little cornflour and toss to coat the noodles with cornflour. Deep fry the noodles until crisp. Since, i did not have Hakka noodles handy, i used the Maggie noodles instead. 
• Add the fried noodles to the soup just before serving or else it will become soggy.
• Finely chopped panner or tofu may be added to the soup for the protein element.
• Ketchup may be added to the soup. In that case the Manchow soup will taste more like the hot and sour soup as tomato ketchup will make the soup tangy.
• Add chicken broth and shredded chicken pieces to this soup to make it a Chicken Manchow Soup.
• Chili sauce can be added if you can tolerate the heat.

Would Love To Hear From You !

I hope you would love to give this healthy and delicious Manchow soup a try this Winter Season. If you do so,  feel free to share your feedback with us in the form of likes and comments in the section below this post.

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See you soon with yet another healthy and delicious creation from my Kitchen. Until then take care and eat right !

Happy Cooking !

Happy Eating !

Regards

Poonam Bachhav

For more Winter warmers from this blog, check out the following

• Minestrone Soup

                             

• Detox Quinoa Vegetable Soup

• Spinach Soup

• Tomato Soup

• Sweet Corn Vegetable Soup

• Cream Of Mushroom Soup with Garlic Bread

• Pepper Rasam