AI-generated image
Bouillon brède
Greens broth
Bouyon bred: a light Mauritian broth of Chinese leaves, garlic and ginger, spooned over rice
Ask a Mauritian what they eat when they are tired or under the weather and the answer is often a bowl of bouillon brède: a clear, gingery broth with soft greens, poured over plain rice next to a fried fish or a dish of lentils. The greens change with the market, from petsai (Chinese leaves) to watercress, pak choi or the leaves of the chayote vine, and the broth is never thickened, so it stays clean and almost sweet. It is done in under twenty minutes, which is why it turns up on so many weeknight tables from Rose-Hill to Mahébourg. People often boil the greens until they turn khaki and stringy; add them at the end and stop as soon as the stems are just tender. Chef's tip: crush the garlic and ginger, don't chop them, and fry them for just a minute so the broth smells warm without turning brown.
- Total time
- 20 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 small onionthinly sliced
- 3 cloves garliccrushed
- ⅔ oz fresh gingercrushed
- 5 cups water
- 10 ½ oz Chinese leaves (petsai)cut into 3 cm pieces; or watercress or pak choi
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 spring onion (optional)sliced
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (4)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Heat 1 tbsp sunflower oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add 1 small onion, 3 cloves garlic and ⅔ oz fresh ginger and stir until fragrant and the onion is soft but not coloured.
2 minStep 2: Pour in 5 cups water, add 1 tsp salt and bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat so the ginger flavours the broth.
6 minStep 3: Add the thick stem pieces of 10 ½ oz Chinese leaves (petsai) first and simmer for 2 minutes, then add the leafy parts.
2 minStep 4: Simmer until the leaves are wilted and the stems are just tender but still bright green.
3 minStep 5: Season with ¼ tsp ground black pepper, taste for salt and serve at once, scattered with 1 spring onion, in bowls or ladled over rice.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 45 kcal
- Protein
- 2 g
- Carbs
- 5 g
- Fat
- 3 g
- Fibre
- 2 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bouillon brède take?
- About 20 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of small onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of garlic?
- ½ tsp garlic paste or ⅛ tsp garlic powder per clove.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Tiyula itumBlack beef soup
Tiyula itum, 'black soup', is the pride of the Tausug people of Sulu in the far south of the Philippines, cooked for weddings, Eid celebrations and when guests come home. Beef (it is a halal, pork-free dish) is simmered with ginger, lemongrass and turmeric, then darkened with pamapa itum, a paste of grated coconut toasted until almost black and pounded with spices. The broth looks dramatic but tastes smoky, earthy and gently peppery, with heat from chillies. Serve it with plain rice. Chef's tip: toast the coconut slowly, stirring all the time, until it is very dark brown but not ashy; burnt-to-ash coconut tastes bitter and ruins the soup.
Filipino
Ful nabitSprouted fava bean soup
Sprouted beans are ladled out with their cooking liquor in Cairo homes when the weather turns cold or someone is feeling run down, and Egyptians swear by the broth as a pick-me-up. The beans are soaked and left to sprout for a few days, then simmered with onion, garlic and cumin into a light, earthy soup that is sharpened at the table with plenty of lemon. You can eat the beans with a spoon or pop them from their skins. Allow 3 to 4 days for sprouting, although the hands-on work is only about 20 minutes. People with G6PD deficiency (favism) must not eat fava beans. Chef's tip: stop the sprouting when the shoots are about 1 cm long; longer sprouts taste grassy and bitter.
Egyptian
BabboucheSpiced snail broth
After dark in Marrakech's great square, the babbouche stalls are recognisable by their steaming cauldrons and the toothpicks laid out by every bowl. Small land snails simmer in a dark broth of liquorice root, aniseed, thyme, caraway, bitter orange peel, chilli and a bundle of herbs that sellers say has fifteen ingredients, believed to soothe the stomach and warm you on a cold night. You pick the snails out with a toothpick, then drink the peppery, herbal, faintly sweet broth. At home, buy live snails sold for cooking, already purged by a reputable seller, discard any with broken shells or that do not move or retract when touched, and cook them through for at least 45 minutes. Chef's tip: keep the spices in a muslin bag; the broth stays clear and you avoid crunching on seeds.
Moroccan