Crab & Asparagus Soup – Winter comfort soup loaded with asparagus and crab meat. Family-friendly and elegant enough for a party, staying in on a cold night.
Chinese New Year was last Saturday, but the celebration continues for the next two weeks. If you have China Town in where you live, you must have spotted red and gold, and lanterns all around. It ‘s so festive, and that’s what I’ve been doing since last weekend. It was endless eating throughout the weekend from one side of the family to another. I should not complain except that my waistline gets a few more inches during this time of year. And oh, did you catch the Mooncake Ice Cream I made the other day? It’s so easy to make and everyone’s favorites. I mean, it’s ice cream…who can say no to that, right?
One of my favorites dishes during the Chinese New Year is this Crab & Asparagus Soup. It is considered a high-end soup because it is only available on special occasions, like weddings or anniversaries. My mom makes this from time to time at home, especially on New Year. This soup is so easy and comforting. It’s such a perfect combination for the cold weather too. I am using white asparagus for this recipe instead of green, so it creates an elegant ivory color and milder in flavor in comparison to green asparagus. It’s pretty rare to spot fresh white asparagus since they are usually only around in the spring. In this recipe, I use a canned variety.
The big difference between white and green asparagus is that white asparagus is grown underground. Thus, it doesn’t produce chlorophyll and has slightly milder-tasting spears than green asparagus. Another main ingredient for this soup is fresh crab meat. Not every store has fresh crab, especially when we are not in the crabbing season. Luckily, there’s canned crab meat that is usually available in many grocery stores. Be sure to use real crab meat and not imitation crab.
This Crab & Asparagus Soup adapts a Chinese-style egg-drop technique, swirling mild broth with wisps of the egg. The process takes less than 30 minutes to make this comforting soup. If you have never tried white asparagus, I hope you will take advantage of this recipe to try it out.
Crab & Asparagus Soup
Ingredients
- 4 oz. white asparagus discard water and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 6 1/2 oz. 185 gram crab meat
- 1 block chicken bouillon
- 1- inch ginger peeled and shredded
- 1 tablespoons fish sauce
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon oil
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch + 2 tablespoons water
- 5 cups of water
- White pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add ginger and stir frequently for 1-2 minutes. Add water and chicken bouillon, then bring the mixture to a boil.
- Add in fish sauce and light soy sauce to the pot.
- In a small bowl, whisk the eggs using a fork. Drizzle the eggs gently into the boiling broth mixture.
- Add in white asparagus and crab meat, and stir.
- Add the cornstarch mixture and continue stirring until the soup is slightly thickened, about 1 minute or so.
…and since it’s Lunar New Year, what’s better than another giveaway! Check this out and hope you’re the winner.
Put crab in anything and I’ll eat the whole thing, yum!
Couldn’t agree more, Robyn 🙂
Yum! That looks really good! I have to try this!
Belle | One Awesome Momma
Thank you, Belle! I hope you like it 🙂
I love that you use white asparagus in this because not many people use that vegetable. This sounds amazing. Crab is such a sweet meat, I bet it taste phenomenal as a soup.
Thank you, Krysten! Yup, it’s indeed delicious, hearty, and sweet. Now, you made me want to warm up a bowl of this soup 😉
Oh my god I want to make this tonight. This sounds absolutely amazing!
Thank you, Meghan!
Mmmm, this looks SO good! I’ve never had white asparagus before, but I am definitely intrigued now. Soup is my go-to this time of year, so I will definitely be giving this one a try! Thanks for sharing <3
Thank you, Savannah! You’ll be surprised of how tasty white asparagus is after you tried it 😉
This sounds like a great combination in this soup! I would love this to warm up to!
Thank you, Leah!
Crab and asparagus sounds delicious! I’m looking forward to making a big pot of this soup on the weekend and freezing individual portions to have throughout the winter.
Sounds great, Cait!
Oh YUM!! I have been craving crab 🙂
Gosh. This looks so good. Love soup season!
Thank you, Maggie! I really love soup. It’s comforting and good for your body and soul 😉
Well I learned something today! I had no idea that white asparagus is grown underground. It totally makes sense now that I think about it. I love when white asparagus finally shows up at the market…it means spring is here! 🙂 I can see how this soup falls into the elegant category with the white asparagus and crab meat. Sounds delicious, though, and I would love a bowl of this one on a cold winter afternoon! In fact, sitting by the fire with a plate (or bowl) of comfort food is one of my favorite things about this time of the year. Thanks for the delicious recipe!
This looks AMAZING!