Cuttlefish ball and seaweed soup with rice vermicelli
Cuttlefish paste from the wet market shaped into bouncy balls and simmered with seaweed in a clear, sweet broth over rice vermicelli — warming and never greasy.
- 25 min
- Serves 2
- Simmer
- Medium
Why it suits you: Blood-stasis types have sluggish circulation, with a dull complexion, purplish lips and painful periods, and as Chushu's weather turns, keeping the blood flowing matters. Cuttlefish nourishes blood and promotes menstrual flow, seaweed softens hardness and disperses accumulations, and ginger and pepper warm and move qi. A clear, low-oil broth makes it a light, warming lunch.
Method
Prep 15 min · Cook 10 min- 1Mix the cuttlefish paste with the Shaoxing wine and a pinch of pepper, stirring in one direction for 3 minutes until sticky. Tear the laver into pieces, wash the lettuce and chop the spring onion and coriander.
- 2Bring the stock, water and ginger to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Squeeze the paste up through your fist, scoop off balls with a wet spoon into the broth and simmer until they float.
- 3Cook the vermicelli in a separate pan of boiling water for 3 minutes until soft and divide between bowls. Dip the lettuce in the broth for 10 seconds and lift out.
- 4Add the laver to the broth for 30 seconds, season with salt and pepper, ladle over the vermicelli with the balls and scatter with spring onion and coriander.
Cautions
- Cuttlefish is fairly high in cholesterol, so don't eat it too often if you have high blood lipids; avoid it if seafood disagrees with you, and skip it during heavy periods.
Chef's tips
- Stir the paste in one direction until sticky before shaping for the bounciest balls; add the laver last, as it falls apart if boiled too long.
The TCM view
Cuttlefish is salty and neutral, nourishing blood and yin and promoting menstrual flow — the Bencao Gangmu records that it 'benefits people and promotes menstruation'. Laver is sweet, salty and cold, resolving phlegm, softening hardness and draining water, helping to disperse stagnation; ginger and white pepper are pungent and warm, moving qi and helping the blood flow; rice vermicelli is sweet and neutral and strengthens the spleen.
