Yesterday was my husband’s birthday. Since our birthdays are just one week apart, we used to go to a nice restaurant in San Francisco to celebrate our birthdays together. After our children were born, we started a new tradition: he prepares my birthday dinner, and a week later I prepare his birthday dinner and we celebrate together with our children. This year my husband cooked Thomas Keller’s Pork Tenderloin for us, and I cooked his favorite soup, Hong Kong Style Borscht, as per his request. You might wonder and ask me what “Hong Kong Style” means. According to my husband, this is Chinese-style (precisely Hong Kong-style cafe) Borscht soup. The original Ukrainian Borscht soup uses beetroot as the main ingredient while tomato is the main ingredient for the Hong Kong style. This soup is my husband’s favorite because his mom used to make it. Besides his mom’s version, it also reminded him of the late-night Hong Kong cafe meals during college since the soup was served complimentary with most meals. As soon as I became his wife, he asked me if I can make Borscht soup. He was asking me who grew up drinking mostly miso soup! Well, I had no idea how to make it and I kept ignoring his wishes for the past few years. My husband probably got fed up with me ignoring his request so one day he came to me with a recipe in one hand and asked me to make it. I thought I should give it a try and I made the soup. I wasn’t much of a fan of oxtail before this soup but I added it because his mom always included oxtail. Oh boy, I’m so glad I did because it adds a wonderful flavor! The fatty goodness from the oxtail blends into the soup and provides some yummy grease in a predominately vegetable soup. So that’s the story of my husband’s favorite soup. One time we invited my brother-in-law for having this soup and he really loved it as well. I was happy I could re-create their mom’s favorite soup from their childhood memory. I hope you enjoy this soup because I also fell in love with this soup and so did my children. It’s a family favorite now. Have a great week!
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