Christie Brown spends a lot of the night At her restaurant Communion in the central district, she serves pork chops, catfish, and her signature black-eyed pea hummus snack plate. But outside of her job, “I make sure to cook at least two meals a week,” says the chef, who still feeds her teens at her home. “Often that means soup.”
A bowl of soup, spiced like pho and stuffed with brisket and rib chips, has been a staple at Communion since it opened in 2020. These are special examples of Braun’s decades-long blend of soul food and Asian influences near Seattle’s Chinatown International district. Off-duty, she easily mixes the same flavors with her expert hand, but she has a home cook’s perspective of using ingredients that are already there. According to Brown, the point of eating soup often is “so you don’t have to run out and have too much.”
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She builds the flavor base with homemade soups and pieces of meat pulled from the freezer. “Probably part of the pork”. Brown is cooking food from a recent trip to the butcher shop Beast and Cleaver in Ballard. Prepare each element separately instead of simmering the ingredients together in a pot. The whole process still takes her about 20 minutes, she says. That way, she can “savor everything to the last.” Even better, when Brown brings everything to the table, her family will be able to fix their own bowls.
material
- meatmix and match beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, etc.
- brothabout 4 cups, see sidebar (commercially available is also OK)
- leafy vegetablescollards, bok choy, or Chinese broccoli
- onion
- garlic
- vegetables, carrots are great.Brown believes mushrooms are essential.
- noodlesrice or shirataki
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seasoning
(Use as much as you have in your pantry.)
- chili paste
- Bragg liquid amino, or soy sauce
- sesame oil
- chopped chili pepper
- rice vinegar
- Ginger
- seaweed flakes
- bay leaf
- salt
- white pepper
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Making soup is not complicated
“For two weeks to a month straight, we save bones, carcasses, onion skins, garlic skins, celery ends, etc.,” says Brown. She hides it all in the freezer in either a ziplock bag or a tall plastic container like the ones restaurants use for takeout soup. Once Ms. Brown has the required amount of frozen soup elements, she transfers them to a pot, covers the collection with water, and simmers. A few hours is fine, but if you’re making large batches, brown soup may cook overnight on low heat. When it’s ready, strain the liquid to make a soup, or put it in the freezer and roll it out when you need it.
step
- Make a marinade. Brown tosses chili paste, a few crushed garlic cloves, Bragg liquid aminos, sesame oil, and chili flakes into a plastic bag or container. Add meat and set aside.
- boil water for your noodles. Chop or prepare onions, garlic, and vegetables.
- get the soup (Frozen, thawed, or store-bought) Place in a special pot and cook on the stove. Add seasonings while heating. Add bay leaves, salt, white pepper, chili flakes, ginger chunks, and a dash of soy sauce or liquid aminos “to vary the salt level.”
- while the soup warms Bring to a boil and use the boiling water to blanch the noodles.
- remove the meat From the marinade. Cut into pieces that fit the soup and fry in a frying pan with oil. Place the cooked meat in a bowl or platter. Drain the noodles and place them next to the meat.
- add garlic and onions Transfer to the same frying pan and fry over low heat. After a few minutes, add the rest of the vegetables. Brown likes to season these with rice vinegar, seaweed flakes, and a little liquid aminos.
- please bring me some soup, vegetables, noodles, and protein to your table. Everyone can assemble their own bowl the way they like.