Vegetable Bouillon
Gawri Manecuta was born and raised in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Canada has been home to her, her European husband, and their two children for 25 years.
I’m married to a Romanian and have found that vegetable bouillon comes in handy for soups, ciorba, borscht and broths, even stews. I call it a hearty soup packed into a block. Vegetable bouillon is easy, comforting, and filling with home baked bread, and these concentrated blocks take less space in the freezer than fully prepared soups.
You can use any vegetables except potatoes, which don’t freeze well. I have made suggestions for the proportions of the vegetables, but what you choose is entirely up to you. Parsnips are sweet, and leeks and kohlrabi will add rich flavor. If you can’t get fresh turmeric it’s okay – the carrots will provide a warm yellow color – but do NOT use turmeric powder. Your soups will then taste like curry. Trust me on this, unless you don’t care.
I make lots of Romanian ciorba, hence the usage of lovage and dill in my vegetable bouillon.
For a fast soup on cold evenings, all you need to do is pop one or two vegetable bouillon squares into the pot with water or stock, and add meatballs, dumplings or potatoes. If you feel like it, you can add extra vegetables. But when the temperature is minus 20 degrees Celsius (minus 4°F) I don’t want to muck around in the kitchen, I want something easy, hearty and comforting.
Ingredients
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) olive oil or lard
- 4 large carrots, grated
- 3 yellow onions, peeled and chopped
- 1 kohlrabi, peeled and chopped
- 1 celery root, peeled and chopped
- 2 parsley roots, peeled, and chopped
- 1 parsnip root, peeled and chopped
- 3 fresh turmeric roots, peeled and chopped (optional)
- 1 red bell pepper, cored and chopped
- 1 leek, white part only (green will distort the color of the soup), chopped and throughly rinsed
- 4 bulbs garlic, split into cloves and peeled
- Herbs: parsley, thyme, sage, lovage, dill, and/or others, finely chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- In a flameproof casserole or other large wide pan, heat the oil or lard over medium heat. Start sautéing the vegetables as follows: Begin with grated carrots, which impart a beautiful yellow color. Then add the onion.
2. Now add the root vegetables one by one, sauteeing each one a minute or two before adding the next vegetable. You are building flavors when you add the vegetables one at a time. The last root you’ll add is the turmeric root.
3. Add the bell pepper, leeks, and garlic. Saute the mixture until softened, about 20 minutes; it doesn’t have to be fully cooked.
4. Remove the pot from the heat. Using a hand blender, puree the mixture. If you prefer to use a food processor or blender, allow the mixture to cool until no longer steaming before blending. Add the chopped herbs last. They do not have to be cooked. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. To freeze the mixture, line a baking sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper) and pour the contents onto the tray. Use a knife or pastry cutter and indent the portions now, before it goes into the freezer. If you do this correctly the next step will be easier. Freeze the mixture until solid, preferably overnight.
6. The next day, remove the tray and break the bouillon cubes into pieces. Wrap them individually in foil and store in a closed container in the freezer.
2 thoughts on “Vegetable Bouillon”
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Gawri Manecuta
Gawri Manecuta was born and raised in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Canada has been home to her, her European husband and their two children for 25 years. Hailing from a culture with rich diverse cuisines – Malaysian – she learned to cook from her grandmothers from the age of six. She loves to travel and one of the first things she does in a new place is to visit the local market. Her experience has been that if you are friendly enough, the locals will teach you authentic regional cooking.
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Sounds wonderfully delicious! I love using lovage from my garden (both fresh and dried) in my soups and stews. More cooks need to learn about this great herb.
I have one question,(two actually)… What size should I score the cubes; small like a conventional store bought bouillon cube or are these larger, say 1 inch square? Also, what is a rough proportion when I go to us them; one cube in a quart of stock, for example?
Hi Stella, to answer your first question, the size of the cubes are a personal preference, I do a two inch by two inch myself. You can do a nice one inch cube too.
For a quart I’d use two pieces of one inch cubes for a hearty, robust flavor.
You can opt for one if you are going to drink the soup from a mug.
Play with the size of the cubes in correlation to the taste and thickness of the soup which will eventually help with the exact measurement that will work for you.
I hope this helps. Thank you
Gawri