Wild Rice with Broccoli Soup

Reynaldo's death anniversary. Twelve years. The ritual is the same: Lourdes and I cook his salmon sinigang at the Mountain View house. We set his place at the table. We eat in the particular quiet of women who have grieved together for so long that the grief has its own rhythm, its own choreography, the steps known by heart.

This year, Lourdes told a story I hadn't heard before. About Reynaldo's first week in Alaska, in 1982. How he got off the plane in Anchorage in March wearing a jacket meant for Manila weather — thin, inadequate, the jacket of a man who had never experienced cold — and the airport doors opened and the Alaskan air hit him like a wall. He stood on the curb and said, "Diyos ko" — my God — and Lourdes's cousin Eddie, who'd come to pick them up, laughed and said, "Welcome to Alaska, pare." Reynaldo wore that thin jacket for a month because they couldn't afford a winter coat yet. He wore it to his first day at the hospital. The other technicians thought he was crazy. He thought he was Filipino, which in his mind was the same as being tough enough to survive anything, including an Alaskan winter in a Manila jacket.

I laughed. Lourdes laughed. We laughed at the table with Reynaldo's empty place setting and the salmon sinigang steaming between us and the laughter was not a betrayal of the grief but a companion to it — grief and laughter, occupying the same space, the same dinner, the same two women who love a man who has been dead for twelve years and will love him for twelve more and twelve after that, the love not diminishing with time but deepening, the way tamarind deepens the longer it simmers.

One more squeeze. I added one more squeeze of tamarind. For Papa. For the man in the Manila jacket. For the man who crossed an ocean and got cold and stayed anyway. I stay too. Every February, in the cold, in the dark, I stay. The staying is the inheritance. The sinigang is the proof.

We don’t always get to cook the exact dish that holds a memory — sometimes the ingredients aren’t there, or the season calls for something different, but the need for something warm and slow and deeply nourishing remains. This wild rice and broccoli soup is the recipe I turn to when I need that same steadying quality Lourdes’s kitchen always had: thick, fragrant, something that asks you to sit down and stay. The wild rice takes its time, the broth deepens as it goes, and by the time it’s done, the cold outside feels a little less like something to survive.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 55 min | Total Time: 1 hr 10 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked wild rice, rinsed
3 cups fresh broccoli florets, roughly chopped
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
4 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, or to taste

Instructions

Cook the rice. Combine the rinsed wild rice with 2 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 45–50 minutes until the rice is tender and beginning to split. Drain any excess water and set aside.
Build the base. In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–8 minutes until softened and the onion is translucent. Add the garlic and dried thyme and cook for another minute.
Make a roux. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pot and melt the butter in the center. Sprinkle the flour over the butter and whisk together for about 1 minute to cook out the raw flour taste.
Add the liquids. Slowly pour in the broth while stirring continuously to incorporate the roux. Bring the soup to a gentle boil, then reduce to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the broth begins to thicken.
Add broccoli and rice. Stir in the broccoli florets and the cooked wild rice. Simmer for another 8–10 minutes until the broccoli is just tender but still a bright green.
Finish with milk and cheese. Reduce heat to low. Stir in the whole milk and shredded cheddar, a handful at a time, until fully melted and the soup is creamy. Season with salt and black pepper. Do not boil after adding the dairy.
Taste and serve. Adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into bowls and serve hot, with crusty bread if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Wild Rice with Broccoli Soup — The Warmth We Return To Every February