In My Crazy Kitchen: Cream of Gai Lan

I have been cooking for about 2 years now and I am starting to get the hang of it!  With Pinterest, Whole Foods App, President’s Choice App – The possibilities are endless!

It was exceptionally cold today so I decide I had to make soup. Shopping between the regular grocery store and Chinese grocery stores every week, you never know what you will find in my fridge.  I planned to make Cream of Broccoli soup but I ended up with my new favorite soup instead – Cream of Gai Lan.  For those of you who don’t know what that is, Gai Lan is a Chinese broccoli/kale.   I got 2 huge bags for $3 at the supermarket at Mott St.

Unlike the recent fad of ‘kale’ it is not expensive at all and Chinese people have been enjoying it’s nutritious properties for years!   So this kind of a fusion recipe if you will.  The result is absolutely scrumptious.  Also, if you avoid broccoli and brussels sprouts because of gas, give Gai Lan a nutritious alternative.

Very important step – Make sure you wash the Gai Lan very very very well. I forgot once and had to eat a lot of sand.  You can also add diced potato, sweet potato, mushrooms or carrots if you want. I added a left over oyster mushroom in there. You can see the little white/brown pieces floating in the picture above.

Here is what you need.

1. Melt 1 tbsp of butter in your pot, chop 1/2 an onion, crushed garlic

2. Stir everything around on high heat for 2 mins until you smell the onions getting fragrant

3. Cut up your cleaned Gai Lan into 1 inch pieces and throw it in there too

4. Add 2-3 cups of Pacific Foods Chicken stock

5. Cover and simmer on low for 20-30 mins

6. Pour in 1 cup of heavy cream and get your immersion blender ready

Get your immersion blender and go to town!  It will puree everything til you get a smooth soup.

Now the secret stuff. After you use your immersion blender, put in 2 – 3 heaping spoons of flour to thicken to you likeness and Braggs Sea Kelp Delight.  This stuff is what makes the soup taste totally heavenly. It is a blend of all the spices you can think of. This is probably the best $6 I spend in my kitchen. You can find this on Amazon or at Whole Foods. I think I got mine from Trader Joe’s.  I also added a pinch of salt. So three grinds on my Himalayan Pink Salt grinder and a tap!

Utter perfection.  I am so glad I didn’t have broccoli in the fridge or else I would have never invented the Cream of Gai Lan. Perfect lunch with cracker or sandwich 🙂  Try it out and tell me what you think!