File:Song dynasty's 'patriotic soup' (prepared in Fresno California) - 宋朝的“護國菜”（在加利福尼亞州弗雷斯諾市製備） (2).jpg

English: A bowl of Patriotic Soup, served to Emperor Bing in a Buddhist monastery at Chaoshan region during the final year of China's Song dynasty centuries ago around 1278, when he, his family, and Song court and military members were fleeing from the Mongols. Its main ingredients are leaf vegetable (spinach), edible mushrooms, and vegetable broth. This version of the soup was the uploader's attempt to recreate the dish more closely to as it was first developed in 1278 due to using the vegetable broth and spinach (the actual leaf vegetable ingredient the preparers used back then was not known, but obviously not with sweet potato leaves due to there were no sweet potatoes back then until the 16th century during the Ming dynasty, and the monks at that time would never use chicken or beef broth). The uploader himself is a Chaoshanese descent. Recipe can be found here, in Chinese.^[1] However, the uploader has made his own simplified recipe of this dish and written it in English.

Ingredients:

• 1.125 lb. frozen chopped spinach
• 1 teaspoon cooking oil
• 1.5 cups vegetable broth
• 5 straw mushrooms, cut in halves.
• 1/2 teaspoon salt and sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1. Bring a saucepan of water to boil over high heat, add the frozen chopped spinach, and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. 2. Heat the oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat, add the spinach and sit-fry for 2 minutes. Transfer the spinach to a saucepan with vegetable broth, then add the mushrooms, sesame oil, and salt. Bring to a boil over high heat for 5 minutes. 3. Mix the cornstarch with 1.5 tablespoon water in a small bowl and stir this mixture into the soup. Bring to a boil, stirring, for seconds to thicken the soup. Adjust the seasoning to taste by adding dashes of soy sauce, salt, and white pepper if desire, then serve.

Serves: 2-3