Last post, I described the meat-based homemade baby formula we’ve been making babycakes for the past many months. Baby is thriving and I feel great serving him liver and broth every day. At some point though, I started thinking – hey, why aren’t I making some variation of this for myself?!
Wouldn’t the rest of us benefit from a daily cup of broth and a couple of ounces of liver, too? Hence the inspiration for Liver Ginger Soup. Five ingredients: broth, liver, ginger, salt, and coconut oil. And about five minutes to make. (All I have to spare.) Perfect for a warm pick me up at home or to pack in a thermos on the go.
Five ingredients
Gather your ingredients. As always, please modify this loose recipe based on your own preferences!  If you are just warming up to liver, start with just an ounce or less. You can always work your way up and some is better than none!
A homemade chicken broth recipe is included in the baby formula post if you need inspiration. I also note that cooked foods need gelatin for optimal digestion. Thick, jiggly homemade broth is ideal for Liver Ginger Soup. If your broth does not gel, consider add a teaspoon of supplemental gelatin to your cold broth. Let it rest in the pot for a few minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom, then proceed with the recipe.
Use about a fingers worth of sliced ginger for about 2 ounces of liver. In my professional opinion, more liver requires more ginger. It cuts through the liver flavor, but it’s not as spicy after cooking. For some heat, reserve some raw ginger to add directly to the blender after heating. Adjust salt depending on the saltiness of your broth.
Add as much coconut oil (or ghee) as you like. Though I admonish you be generous. You can only absorb those abundant fat-soluble vitamins offered from eating liver if you have fat in your diet. Worthwhile liver recipes all reflect this wisdom. 😉
Liver Ginger Soup
Heat combined ingredients until it’s hot enough to enjoy drinking and the liver is just cooked through (even a bit pink is always fine). If you used supplemental gelatin, warm to at least 180 degrees.
I blend this soup for a good while to break up all the ginger. After, pour it through a fine mesh strainer – as I do with the baby formula – to remove all the chewy ginger and connective pieces from the liver.
What remains should be a silky spicy blend of nourishing goodness.
Enjoy!
Liver Ginger Soup
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth (preferably the gelatinous, homemade version)
- 1 t gelatin (optional, if cooled broth does not gel)
- a finger's worth of ginger, sliced
- 2 oz liver
- heaping spoon of coconut oil or ghee
- salt, to taste
Instructions
- If your cooled broth does not jiggle/gel, use optional gelatin as follows: pour broth into a pot, add gelatin and let stand for 5 minutes to allow gelatin to bloom. Continue with recipe as indicated.
- Add broth, ginger, liver, coconut oil and salt to pot. Warm on medium-high heat until broth is hot and liver is (mostly) cooked through. (If you used gelatin, liquid temperature should get to at least 180F.) Pour contents of pot into a blender and mix on medium-high speed until ginger and liver are pulverized. Pour through a fine-mesh strainer into a pint jar or thermos. Sit and enjoy, or enjoy on the go!
Does it matter what type of liver you use? I am getting a half of pig along with the offfal. We love beef liver and I can’t imaging pork liver being much different.
Thank You
DS: Central NY
Hi Donna,
This soup in particular I have made with probably every type of liver – poultry, beef, lamb and pork, so yes – I would definitely use what you have. Use the ginger (raw v cooked) to spice it up and complement the liver!
I just learned about Offally Good Cooking and can’t wait to try out your recipes! I wonder if you can provide me with the link or the recipe to make my own liver capsules from frozen liver. Also, I just called my local butcher, and he has both veal and calves liver. Which one would be better? He sells the veal in 4 oz. packages, and the calves liver in pound packages. Thank you!
Hi Carol, Oh shoot! I don’t have a good resource for making capsules, but I do have lots of good ideas of what to do with 4oz of liver (like this soup)!
Let’s see – if I were doing a batch process (like making pate with extra to spare, or the capsules as you suggest), I would go with the larger cuts so I could process once and have it last longer. Then again, if it was my very first time, I might start small and see how it goes first!
My other thought and consideration would be if the animals are pastured/regenerative/all-the-good-stuff or if you are not sure. If it’s conventional, or you’re not sure – and you have a choice – I would always go with the younger animal (you said veal and calf, but I think maybe you meant veal/calf and beef as options?). Regardless, the younger animal (the veal or calf, compared to the beef) is going to have more time on pasture, even in a conventional system, so stick with that if you are unsure!
I hope my site can inspire you to bring liver to the table as well! It’s the star of so many beautiful dishes. Enjoy!