Plays Well With Others: Chickpea Soup With Bamboo Shoots

Some people have a natural ability for putting things together.  You’re bound to know at least one of those people. Maybe it’s your neighbor who can assemble an IKEA bookcase without reading the directions or your co-worker who can mix patterns and prints with fashionable flair.  You know the type, right?  Their natural talent for combining things is enviable.  Michel is one of “those people” too.  His talents for music and painting allow him to put interesting concert programs together or to create mesmerizing images from pigments he makes himself.  It won’t surprise you to know that he creates imaginative dishes with the same innate ability.  Michel knows which ingredients play well with each other to make good food.  A person can have the most outrageously expensive kitchen amenities and watch Food Network around the clock but still not know how to make an edible meal.  If you’re interested, here’s a link to a recent Mark Bittman article about our “celebrity chef” culture and why isn’t doing anything to help us understand how to make better-tasting food. 

Mark Bittman: Not Enough Cooks in the Kitchen

And here’s a little video humor from The Onion for those of you—Michel included—who find pretentious menu items annoying.  The language in the video is a bit salty (see what I did there?) but you’ll get the point.  Michel says those chef-types “drag the food up and down Bardstown Road” before they bring it to the table.  He prefers a simple approach with wholesome, straightforward ingredients that taste good.   

Chickpea Soup with Bamboo Shoots

A slow-cooking recipe for a nice day at home (3 hrs. +/-). 

Makes enough soup to last for days. 

You will need a 3-quart saucepan and your favorite soup pot and these ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups dried chickpeas
• 1 carton vegetable broth
• 1 can bamboo shoots, drained and rinsed
• 1 dried chipotle pepper
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro—remove leaves from stems, chop stems/leaves separately
• ½ red onion, chopped

dried chipotle peppers

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 6 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

cardamom 

star anise

• 2 star anise
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 2 tablespoons ground coconut

coconut

• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1 ½ tablespoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon tamarind paste
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground dried lemon grass
• Optional: dried pepper leaves (from Vietnamese market)

pepper leaves

Pot #1

In a 3-quart saucepan:

• Put dried chickpeas in enough water to cover plus 2-3 inches on top.
• Add salt, cardamom seeds, and whole dried chipotle pepper.
• Bring to a boil and reduce to medium heat. 
• Continue to “vigorously boil” for 2 ½ hours or until chickpeas are really soft and water has been reduced to the same level as chickpeas.

Pot #2

Everybody in the pool.

• Heat sesame oil in your favorite soup pot.
• Add onion, garlic, ginger, and chopped cilantro stems.
• Stir until onions become transparent and garlic “gets fragrant.”
• Add cumin, star anise, pepper leaves, fish sauce, tamarind paste, lemon grass, and coconut.
• Stir while you add a carton of vegetable broth. 
• Bring to a boil.
• Taste for seasoning.  Add a little salt if needed but be careful because the chickpeas have salt in them.

Quick trip back to Pot #1:

• Discard cardamom and chipotle pepper from chickpea broth.
• Add cooked chickpeas and bamboo shoots to soup pot mixture.

  

Continue to cook over medium heat until chickpeas are very soft.  Just before serving, add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil to give the soup an impromptu, “broken” quality.  Sprinkle with chopped cilantro leaves and enjoy--but don't eat the star anise.