I’ve basically turned into my grandmother. I have a ‘dried goods / umami box’. I know of no other more economical way to make the stocks and soups required of southern Chinese coastal cooking. Black beans, good quality dried mushrooms, dried anchovies and scallops. Central to every Cantonese and Chiu Chow kitchen. Our food does not taste the same without this stuff. (And is also what’s used by the best restaurants)
Cooking this way is very economical and it also scales up and down according to how rich or poor you are. When my family was very poor they would simply omit the more expensive dried goods (like dried scallops); or buy cheaper versions of the same thing (dried mushrooms have different grades). When they had more money, they would occasionally splurge on nice versions of the things. They ended up making the same food and the quality diff is obvious, but it strikes me this is quite unique.
Soak dried mushrooms to get a good mushroom water. Add dried seafood (for regular soup) or dried seaweed (for veg) to the mushroom water. Add a few sticks of rehydrated dried tofu sticks and fresh tofu. Add fresh veggies. Now you have a tofu stew. Add a dash of soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil. Scallions. White rice. I even add a tea bag in there briefly to really bring out a savory taste.
This is basically southern Chinese poverty food! And when you have money, a side of steamed pork/ fish
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