My mom’s tomato soup ( sup merah )

When i was younger , sup merah , or as i called it now , tomato soup , was one of my favorite . I didn’t get to eat them too often , mom used to make them for special occasion only , such as birthdays , christmas or new year , those kind of things . I wonder why she didn’t make this more often , but now come to think of it , probably because back then , it was too much work to make this kind of soup , although now , and esp. over here in States , everything is made easy for us . Back then probably my mom had to grate the tomatoes in order to get enough juice for a big pot of soup , then boil the whole chicken probably to get the meat , and not to mention extra trip to a good deli to get smoked ham and smoked tongue , and chopping all the vegetables .. Well that would take time ..

But to relive my mom’s special soup .. for me it didn’t take too much time at all . I did not need to grate a whole kilogram of tomatoes to get their juice , instead i used ready to use canned tomato juice , chopping carrot and celery wasn’t much of a big job either , as for the chicken , i don’t need to use a whole chicken , i used leftovers ham that we had over new year ,i put them in the freezer and i have been  using it for minestrone , fried rice and finally the last batch , would be going to the soup .

This soup is really nice , rich and sweet , served with homemade french baquette or throw in some croutons would make soup pretty filling . Here is the picture and the recipe .

Ingredients :

1 big can of tomato juice , store brand would work just fine

1 lb of boneless chicken breast or thigh

4 hot dogs

8 garlic cloves

4 shallots

3 medium carrots , chopped

2 stalks of celery , chopped

1/2 bag of frozen green beans or fresh if they’re in season

1tsp. nutmeg or more , adjust to your preference

chicken cubes

lots of sugar

water

cornstarch to thicken up the soup at the end .

1. Boil chicken until it’s done , throw in the hot dog , and let it cook while you prepare the vegetables .

2. In a different pot , heat oil , add shallots , garlic and nutmeg , cook 1-2 minutes , add the rest of the vegetables , cook 5-7 minutes , add about 3/4 of the tomato juice from the can , and add about 2 full ladles of chicken broth , throw in the chicken cube , ham , hot dog ,diced meat , into the pot . Add sugar , salt and pepper . Let it cook for a while , adjust the taste .

3. Add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the soup

You can serve this just as it is , or with bread , or with kue sus kering ( tiny choux pastry ) like this :

The recipe is just like you make choux pastry , except make small balls , very small ones , and bake at 425 F for about 15-17 minutes . They should be dry and crunchy for the soup.