Cabbage soup and fried danggit (rabbit fish)

Rarely do I run out of meat broth. I normally simmer pork and beef bones in my largest pot, divide the broth into portions then I cool and freeze them, taking out only what’s needed. Last Tuesday, however, after deciding that we’d have wonton noodle soup for lunch, I realized there was no broth in the freezer. I took out two chicken leg quarters instead and simmered them for an hour. The broth consumed, the question was what to do with the chicken meat. Unable to decide, I put the chicken quarters in a covered container and placed them in the fridge.

That night, I parboiled four large pieces of pork spare ribs. Now, the thing about buying spare ribs in this country is that you don’t always get premium cut ribs. You buy the whole rack so you get a few good cuts with the long curved bones but you also get the part with large bones that’s no good for broiling or grilling but excellent for making broth. I scooped the three good cuts from the broth, cooled them a bit and brushed them with hoisin sauce. Then, I broiled them in the oven until the hoisin sauce formed a crust and we had the broiled ribs for dinner.

What happened to the fourth piece of rib? I continued simmering it in the pot. The following day, the pork meat was shredded along with the chicken meat in the fridge and they became the cabbage soup in the photo which I served with fried fresh, not dried, danggit for lunch.

Sorry but I am unable to give measurements. This cabbage dish is something that resulted from bits and pieces of a lot of things. But I can describe how I made it.

I strained the broth and set it aside (for a description of how I make homemade broth, click here). In a large pot, I sauteed six cloves of garlic, a finely sliced onion, four diced tomatoes and a chopped red bell pepper. I poured the broth in, seasoned it with patis (fish sauce) and finely ground black pepper.

Then, I shredded half a head of white cabbage as though I were making cole slaw. I added the cabbage to the broth and threw in the shredded pork and chicken as well. After that, it was just a matter of boiling, simmering and waiting. After the soup boiled, I lowered the heat, covered the pot and simmered everything for about half an hour during which time, I fried the fish.

By the time the fish were nicely crisp and golden, the soup was ready. We had lunch in the garden under the mango tree.