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Susan Jung

Text Susan Jung / Photography Jason Joseph Bonello / Styling Nellie Ming Lee
El Taco Nazo, one of my favourite taquerias in southern California, is known for its Ensenada-style fish tacos, but it also makes great soups, including a fish one, menudo (which features tripe, pig's feet and hominy, and is said to be good for hangovers, hence it's served only on weekends) and this beef soup, which has big chunks of vegetables and is served with rice and warm corn tortillas. This is my version of it.
At the El Taco Nazo condiment counter, diners help themselves to fried chillies (they use yellow jalapenos, which don't seem to be available in Hong Kong), fresh radishes and lime wedges.

Mexican-style beef soup (pictured)
Don't be surprised at the addition of fish sauce and soy sauce: they're used in small quantities and you can't really taste them; they only add an umami savouriness.
Prepare the accompaniments while the soup is cooking.
1kg short ribs, cut through the bone into 2cm-thick pieces
1 litre unsalted beef stock, preferably home-made (if using canned stock, use half stock and half water)
1 onion
6 garlic cloves
2 large carrots, peeled, each one cut into two or three pieces
1-2 chayote, peeled and cut into chunks
2 large potatoes, cut into large chunks
2 celery stalks, cut into large pieces
2-3 ears of corn, shucked, then each one cut in half
30ml soy sauce
30ml fish sauce
Fine sea salt, as needed
To serve:
Salsa (recipe below)
Fried chillies (recipe below)
Rice (recipe below)
Corn tortillas, warmed
Radishes
Lime wedges
Halve the onion then place it, cut-side down, on a hot, lightly oiled grill pan. Cook the onion until it's slightly charred, then turn it over and char the other side.
Heat a large pot of water until boiling. Add the short ribs, let the water come to the boil then drain through a colander. Rinse the short ribs with cold water, then repeat the process (this gets rid of impurities).
Wash out the pot, then pour in the beef stock. Add one litre of cold water then bring to the boil. Add the short ribs, the garlic cloves and the charred onion. Stir in the soy sauce and fish sauce. Bring to a simmer then turn the heat to very low. Partially cover the pan with the lid and cook at a very low simmer until the ribs are tender but not falling off the bone.
Fish out and discard the onion and garlic cloves. Add the carrot, chayote and potato and cook until almost tender. Add the celery and corn and simmer for a few more minutes.
Taste the soup and add salt, if needed. Ladle it into bowls, making sure each portion gets some of the short ribs and each type of vegetable. Top each portion with a spoonful of salsa. Serve with rice, warm tortillas, radishes, lime wedges (for squeezing) and fried chillies.
Salsa
 
150 grams white onion, chopped
150 grams cherry tomatoes, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
Fine sea salt
Mix the white onion with the cherry tomatoes and oregano, then season to taste with salt. Put the salsa in a bowl.
Fried chillies
Take care when frying the chillies, because they will explode in the hot oil if heated too fast. I dip them in the oil several times, letting them cool down between dips.
12 (or more) medium-sized mildly spicy chillies
Oil, for frying
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Heat oil to a depth of 2cm in a saucepan. Put a few chillies into a wide, shallow mesh skimmer and carefully lower it into the hot oil. Fry for just a few seconds, then remove.
Cook a few more chillies the same way, and when all of them have been fried, re-cook the first batch (they'll be cool by now). Do this two or three times, frying each batch briefly so they don't pop.
Put the chillies on a baking tray and cook for a few minutes in the oven, or until they're slightly softened. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and leave to cool.
Rice with tomato and cumin
 
275 grams long-grain rice
30ml cooking oil¼ onion, finely chopped2 garlic cloves, finely minced1 ½ tsp cumin seeds120 grams cherry tomatoes, finely diced
About 400ml water
Fine sea salt, as needed
Rinse the rice in several changes of water, then drain it in a fine-meshed colander.
Heat the cooking oil in a skillet then add the onion and garlic and cook until softened. Add the cumin seeds and stir for about 30 seconds, then stir in the rice, tomatoes and a sprinkling of salt.
Cook, stirring often, until most of the tomato liquid is absorbed. Add the water and bring to a simmer. Shake the skillet so the rice settles into an even layer, then cover the pan with the lid, turn the heat to low and simmer until the rice is cooked. Add more water if it seems dry.
Stir the rice then spoon it into a bowl before serving.
 


‘It just unleashed the inner me’: how fried chicken became the focus of first cookbook by Susan Jung since ending her 25 years as the Post’s food editor

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How to make empanadas with cream cheese pastry, filled with potato, Spanish chorizo and onion and baked

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Susan Jung's recipes

Beef soup Mexican style with salsa, fried chillies and tomato cumin rice

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Impress your friends by serving them this hearty, Mexican beef soup with a twist


Impress your friends by serving them this hearty, Mexican beef soup with a twist.
