Wild Spinach Soup

I bought this bunch of wild spinach from the vegetable stall at the wet market the other day. It's basically the same as normal spinach (heng cai in cantonese and xian4 cai4 in Mandarin) just that it's the erm, wild version. :O

It's got these flowery bits that are not normally found in usual spinach bunches :P

Taste-wise, I'd say it's almost the same, maybe a bit more earthy taste than the usual spinach... :)

Prepare the soup in the same way as the usual spinach soup!

Papaya fish soup (木瓜鱼片汤)

I found a really small papaya today at the vegetable stall - it was supposed to be a green papaya (unripe) but since most of it looked almost ripe, when I expressed interest in it, the stall holder gave it to me. :P Hee. 

And so, I changed the menu for dinner immediately... papaya fish soup was definitely gonna be on the menu for the night! I couldn't get sheng yu however since it was all sold out so I decided to just use the red snapper fillet I just bought from my usual fish stall. 

Green papaya fish soup is believed to increase breast milk supply so it's usually drunk by women who have just given birth (during confinement month - I drank this soup twice during confinement but didn't really like the cooking.. haha) or those who need that extra boost in breast milk supply. Normal papaya can also be used for this soup, just that you would need to cut down the time for simmering the soup so that the papaya will not disintegrate in the process of cooking. I don't think I need that boost in milk supply but I just enjoy drinking the soup... lol. Come to think about it, I've been breastfeeding for almost 30months! :P

Papaya fish soup (木瓜鱼片汤)

Ingredients:

• fish bones from 3 red snapper tails (I think it should be at least 500g) - you can use other fish bones such as threadfin
• 1 slab of red snapper fillet (costs about $5 at the market) - usually present in this soup is shengyu 
• 1 small (green) papaya
• 5 slices ginger
• 6 cloves garlic (skin on), rinse
• 2 bunches of scallions (cut into 2" segments)
• 6 seedless red dates
• 2L water
• 1-2 teaspoons hua diao jiu
• sesame oil

Seasoning for soup:

• salt/ fish sauce (I used fish sauce)
• ground white pepper to taste

Marinate fish with:

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a couple of dashes of pepper
• 1/2- 1 teaspoon cornflour or potato starch

Method:

1. Skin the papaya, remove the seeds and cut into chunks. 
2. Scald the papaya briefly with boiling water to remove the sap. Drain and set aside.
3. Add some sesame oil into the claypot and stir-fry the ginger till fragrant. Add the fish bones and fry for a short while. Remove from pot and place in a cloth soup bag - this is to ensure that there will be no bones in the soup and hence safe for consumption, especially for young children. Double check that there are no bones in the claypot after removing the fish bones.
4. Add water into the claypot which you have just used and bring it to a boil.
5. Add the garlic, scallions, red dates, hua diao jiu, papaya and the bag of fish bones and bring the soup to a boil again.
6. Simmer for about 1.5hours.
7. Meanwhile, remove the skin from the fish fillet and slice the meat very thinly.
8. Marinate the fish slices with salt, pepper and cornflour (prevents the fish from disintegrating). Set aside in the fridge.
9. When soup is ready, remove the bag of bones, red dates, garlic, scallions and ginger, leaving only the papaya in the soup.
10. Add seasoning to taste.
11. Bring the soup to a boil again. Add the fish slices into the soup and turn off the fire. Cover the claypot and let the heat in the soup do the cooking.
12. Dish and serve after a couple of minutes.

Although I didn't use sheng yu today, the red snapper slices were wonderfully tender! Actually I thought they tasted even better than sheng yu slices! :) Hubby was full of praises for the soup - usually he complains about the fishy soups his mum cooks or those from coffeeshops but he actually liked this fish soup and asked me to cook it more often! hee.

Tip: To make this a one-dish meal, you can blanch some bee hoon or other noodle of your choice and add it into the soup.

Tomato egg drop soup

Served this together with the minced pork fried rice on Saturday. Though Alicia isn't much of a tomato lover (like me), we both still enjoy a tomato egg drop soup :)

Tomato egg drop soup

Ingredients:

• 4 large ripe tomatoes
• 1 egg
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 handful dried shrimps
• 1 dried scallop
• 1L water
• fish sauce to taste
• coriander or scallions for garnishing (optional)

Method:

1. Rinse the dried scallop (then place in a soup bag), garlic and dried shrimps.
2. Score the tomato skin.
3. Blanch the tomatoes in boiling water (the skin will slide off easily). Chop tomato into small chunks and remove the seeds.
4. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
5. Put the pork ribs, chicken bones, garlic, dried shrimps, dried scallop, tomatoes and water in a slowcooker and slowcook for 6hours on LOW.
6. Sieve out the chicken bones, garlic and dried shrimps.
7. Return the pork ribs, dried scallop (remove from soup bag) and tomatoes to the soup after putting the soup through oil filter paper.
8. Transfer the soup to a pot suitable for cooking on stovetop and bring the soup to a boil.
9. Add fish sauce to taste and wait for the soup to boil again.
10. Crack an egg and beat it. Swirl the egg into the soup slowly, bit by bit, in one direction. Turn off the heat and cover the pot for awhile.
11. Dish and garnish with coriander or scallions.

Wintermelon soup

Wintermelon is versatile - it can be cooked in a savoury soup or as a drink.

Wintermelon is not only 'cooling', it is good for detox too! If you understand Mandarin, you can read this site for more details. In general, cooking the wintermelon with the skin on is more effective if you are interested in the 'cooling' properties.

Wintermelon soup

Ingredients:

• 1 slice of wintermelon (keep the skin on)
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 1 handful dried shrimps
• 1 dried scallop
• 3 cloves garlic (keep the skin on)
• fish sauce to taste
• 1.5L water

Method:

1. Wash the skin of the wintermelon clean. Remove the seeds and cut the wintermelon into chunks.
2. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
3. Rinse the dried shrimps, garlic and dried scallop.
4. Place the pork ribs, chicken bones, dried shrimps, dried scallop (place in small soup bag), garlic and water into the slowcooker. Cook on LOW for about 6 hours for the soup base.
5. Transfer the soup base to a pot suitable for cooking on stovetop. Add the wintermelon and boil the soup on medium-high heat for about 30min (you should get a 'cloudy' soup base).
6. Sieve out the bones, garlic and dried shrimps. Put the soup through an oil filter to remove any extra oil.
7. Return the pork ribs (if desired), wintermelon and dried scallop (take out of soup bag) into the soup.
8. Bring the soup to a boil and add fish sauce to taste.
9. Dish and serve.

It's the first time Alicia's agreed to take wintermelon! :) She usually dislikes the texture of melons... :P She lapped up the soup of course...

For toddler's consumption:

• Remove the skin from the wintermelon before serving.

Green radish and carrot soup

Adoring the beautiful green radish on my chopping board... :)

Green radish apparently reduces heatiness, alleviates stress, promotes urination and is good for expelling phelgm.

Green radish and carrot soup

Ingredients:

• 1 green radish (chop into chunks, remove skin)
• 2 small carrots (chop into chunks)
• 6 red dates
• 1 dried scallop (place in soup bag)
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 3 cloves garlic (with skin on)
• 1.5L water
• fish sauce/salt to taste

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse the red dates and garlic.
3. Add the red dates, garlic, pork ribs and chicken bones to the water in a slowcooker.
4. Let it cook on LOW for about 6hours.
5. Transfer the soup to a pot suitable for cooking on stovetop.
6. Boil on high heat for about 30min then remove the red dates, garlic and chicken breast bones. Retain the pork ribs if desired. Return the scallop to the soup.
7. Put the soup through oil filter paper to remove excess oil.
8. Add the green radish and carrots and boil for at least 30min till the green radish softens. (Don't expect them to be soft like carrots or even white radish. The texture's quite different!)
9. Add fish sauce to taste.

If cooking on stovetop,

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse the red dates and garlic.
3. Add the red dates, garlic, pork ribs and chicken bones to the water (2L instead of 1L) in a pot.
4. Boil on high heat for about 30min then simmer for 2-3hours.
5. Remove the red dates, garlic and chicken breast bones. Retain the pork ribs if desired. Return the scallop to the soup.
6. Put the soup through oil filter paper to remove excess oil.
7. Add the green radish and carrots and boil for at least 30min till the green radish softens. (Don't expect them to be soft like carrots or even white radish. The texture's quite different!)
8. Add fish sauce to taste.

For toddler's consumption:

• Cut the green radish into small cubes of about 0.5cm to make chewing easier. I found it ok to feed 2-3 such cubes to Alicia at one time, but it depends on your toddler of course... :)
• Cut carrots into cubes as well but there is no need to cut it as small as the green radish as carrots are much softer.

Old cucumber soup (老黄瓜排骨汤)

The goodness of old cucumber soup awaits me....

Old cucumber soup (老黄瓜排骨汤)

Ingredients:

*Skip the dried scallop and dried cuttlefish for tots below 18mths*

• 1 small old cucumber (cut into chunks, leave skin on)
• 2 small carrots (cut into chunks)
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 6 red dates
• 1 dried scallop
• 1 dried cuttlefish (optional)
• 3 cloves garlic (with skin on)
• fish sauce/salt to taste
• 1L water

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse the red dates, scallop, cuttlefish and garlic and add these together with the pork ribs and chicken bones to the water in a slowcooker.
3. Let the soup base slowcook for about 6hours on LOW.
4. Add the old cucumber and carrots and cook for another 2 hours on HIGH.
5. Sieve out the bones, red dates and garlic and put the soup through oil filter paper to sieve out extra oil.
6. Return the pork ribs (if desired) and dried scallop to the soup.
7. Add fish sauce/ salt to taste.
8. Serve.

If cooking on stovetop,

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse the red dates, scallop, cuttlefish and garlic and add these together with the pork ribs and chicken bones to the water (2L instead of 1L) in a pot.
3. Bring the soup to a boil and let it boil on medium to high heat for 30min then simmer for 2-3hours on low heat.
4. Add the old cucumber and carrots in the last 30min.
5. Sieve out the bones, red dates and garlic and put the soup through oil filter paper to sieve out extra oil.
6. Return the pork ribs (if desired) and dried scallop to the soup.
7. Add fish sauce/ salt to taste.
8. Serve.

For toddler's consumption:

• Skip the dried scallop and dried cuttlefish for tots below 18mths.
• Remove the skin of the old cucumber before serving.

Herbal soup to rid pimples...

I dunno why I've been having little pimples lately - my hubby says those aren't considered pimples coz they're too small, but I hardly have pimples so it really upsets me to see those little spots on my face.

I happened to chance upon this recipe from a cookbook my mil bought and it says the soup helps to rid pimples so I thought oh well, might as well give it a try. What have I got to lose? Hehe. Anyway, the ingredients are rather similar to my ginseng root chicken soup just that the emphasis found in this soup is the Solomon's seal.

See the overwhelming presence of the Solomon's seal? :P

The clear soup after removing most of the herbs which can't be eaten and get in the way!

Solomon's seal (herbal) chicken soup

I didn't follow the recipe exactly - I just used my own estimation... :P

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken thighs (skin removed, visible fats removed) - the recipe used black chicken
• 4 large seedless red dates
• 4 dried longan (this wasn't added in the original recipe)
• 40-50g Solomon's seal (yu zhu)
• 10-15g ginseng root
• 1 slice ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon hua diao jiu
• salt to taste
• 500ml water

Method:

1. Blanch the chicken thighs. Remove and place in the bowl for double-boiling.
2. Rinse the herbs and place them in the bowl as well.
3. Add the ginger, water and the hua diao jiu (Note: the hua diao jiu was added only at the point of serving in the original recipe but since I'm still nursing, I decided to add in the wine in the early stage of cooking so that the alcohol content would have evaporated by the end of the cooking).
4. Double-boil the soup for about 1.5h to 2h. (The original recipe cooked the soup on the stove for 1.5h but I decided to double-boil instead).
5. Add salt to taste.
6. Remove herbs before serving for easy access to chicken meat and soup. :)

Alicia loved the chicken meat from the soup as it was sooo tender and sweet. She took a bit of soup too but wasn't so keen - probably due to the slight hint of bitterness caused by the ginseng root.

For toddler's consumption:

• Tear off the soft chicken meat from the chicken bones for the tot.
• Do not serve too much of the soup as ginseng root is considered to be quite 'cooling'.

Classic black bean soup

Guess what's inside? :)

Black bean soup! Yumz!

I'm a firm believer of the goodness of soups and hence after the trip I felt that it was important that we should get a dose of nourishing soup! Working with nothing much in the fridge, I decided to make a hearty soup with the black beans that fascinate Alicia so much during the Montessori activities (see Fun with Beans and Sorting Beans). I call this the classic black bean soup because you can actually add some chinese herbs to make it a herbal black bean soup. I've got one such recipe on my blog but the focus of the soup isn't really black beans though. :) It's just one of the ingredients. I will share with you another herbal version of black bean soup some other day...

Black beans contain:

"vitamin K, vitamin C, manganese, vitamin A, dietary fiber, potassium, folate, iron, magnesium, thiamin, riboflavin, copper, calcium, phosphorus, protein, omega-3 fatty acids and niacin. Black beans are also a very rich source of fiber, these nutrients play important role to prevent cholesterol from becoming oxidized and heart disease. When people talk about black bean, it is a unique type of bean because of the color coat on the black bean and it make them different from other beans, the color coat of black bean contain at least 8 different flavonoids that have enormous antioxidant potential that can be used to prevent degenerative diseases. Black bean like other types of beans contain a lot of protein contents and fiber, each cup has about 15 grams of both protein and fiber." (Source: Article Doctor)

For more info about black beans, click here.

Classic black bean soup

*Skip the dried cuttlefish for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• about 1 cup black beans
• 200g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 1 dried cuttlefish
• 1 handful red dates (pitted)
• 1L water
• salt to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse the black beans, red dates and dried cuttlefish.
3. Place all the ingredients into a slow cooker and slow-cook on LOW for 6-8hours.
4. Sieve out the chicken bones, dried cuttlefish and red dates, leaving only the pork ribs and some black beans.
5. Filter the oil using oil-filter paper.
6. Add salt to taste if necessary (the soup's got a natural sweetness already).

If cooking the soup on the stove, you may want to boil the black beans for 2min then let it sit for an hour in the water prior to cooking. You would also have to add more water (about 2-3L) if boiling the soup on the stove as you would have to let it simmer for at least 2hours.

Alicia enjoyed drinking the soup and eating the black beans. She was actually eating her lunch but she insisted on having some soup and black beans from the slowcooker as part of her lunch that day... and she had it again for dinner. :)

Double-boiled American Ginseng roots soup

I'd cooked this soup using the method of boiling on the stove earlier and essentially the herbs used are the same. However, this time I chose to use the method of double-boiling and I used pork instead of chicken.

The method of double-boiling cooks food slowly at a lower temperature. It is believed that the soup ingredients will slowly release the nutrients into the soup and the flavour and nutrients are 'locked' in the soup.

Double-boiled American Ginseng roots soup

Ingredients:

• 140g lean pork
• 1 bunch of solomon's seal
• 1 tablespoon wolfberries
• 6 red dates (pitted)
• a bunch of American ginseng roots
• 2 pieces huai shan
• 2 rice bowls water
• salt to taste (optional)

Method:

1. Blanch the meat.
2. Rinse the herbs.
3. Add all the ingredients (except wolfberries) into the double-boiler.
4. Double-boil for 2-3 hours.
5. Add wolfberries in in the last 15min.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Sieve the soup, serving only the wolfberries and pork in the soup.

I put a little too much ginseng roots so it was a tad too bitter. Cut down on the amount of ginseng and it should work just fine. :)

Hairy cucumber soup (毛瓜汤)

I think the name of this vegetable is hairy cucumber or green marrow or something... but I'm really not too sure. :P

It's usually cooked in soups and it contains carbohydrates, protein, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, vitamin C, riboflavin, fructose, carotene, phosphorus, calcium, iron and other minerals. It's considered 'neutral' compared to wintermelon which has 'cooling' properties.

I actually cooked this soup last Thursday but had no time at all to blog about it and am finally doing so today!

Hairy cucumber soup

*Skip the dried scallop for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• 1 hairy cucumber
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 1 dried scallop
• 1 handful red dates (pitted)
• fish sauce to taste
• 1 soup pot water

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken bones.
2. Rinse and place dried scallop in a small soup bag.
3. Remove the skin and seeds of the cucumber and chop into chunks.
4. Place all the ingredients (except the hairy cucumber and fish sauce) into a pot.
5. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few hours.
6. Sieve out the bones and place everything else back into the soup, including the dried scallop.
7. Add the hairy cucumber and boil for about 20min.
8. Add fish sauce to taste before serving.

For toddler's consumption:

• Skip the dried scallop for tots below 18mths
• Cut hairy cucumber into small pieces before serving or allow the tot to bite off from the adult's portion since it's so soft! :)

Dang Gui tonic soup

The other day when I went to see the TCM doctor regarding a slightly sprained elbow and an achy back, he told me that I have to be conscientious in taking care of myself, especially after each menstrual cycle as he says that my limbs feel a little cold to touch. He suggested that I should make myself a tonic soup after the menstrual cycle or buy Bak Foong pills to nourish my body... and so I decided that I'd just make myself the tonic soup. After all, I'm a fan of soups... so why not? :)

The last time I drank a dang gui soup would have to be during confinement. That's when I can take heaty stuff and not fall ill. It seems that it's the same with a woman who's just finished menstruating. Accordingly, this soup should be consumed on the day the period finishes. Unfortunately, I was too busy on that day and so I only made it the next day. I hope it won't cause me to be over-heaty!

Benefits of consuming dang gui (Chinese Angelica Root):

• nourish blood
• improve blood circulation
• alleviate menstrual cramps
• improves regularity of menstrual cycle

Dang gui tonic soup

Ingredients:

• 5 thin slices of dang gui
• about 1 tablespoon wolfberries
• 70g lean pork (瘦肉) - can be substituted with a hard-boiled egg or chicken meat
• 3 big red dates (pitted)
• estimated 10g yu zhu (Solomon's seal)
• 500ml water
• salt (optional)

Method:

1. Rinse the herbs.
2. Blanch the pork.
3. Add the pork, all the herbs (except wolfberries) and water into the double-boiler.
4. Double-boil for 3-4 hours.
5. Add wolfberries approximately 15min before serving.
6. Add salt prior to serving (optional).
7. Sieve the ingredients, leaving behind only the meat and wolfberries in the soup.
8. Serve.

Anyway, the soup's really tasty and I enjoyed every bit of it... Men however are advised against

taking this soup as it's usually too heaty for men. It's possible for men to have the soup: just reduce the amount of dang gui to about 3 pieces.

Modified Si Shen soup (四神汤)

Alicia hasn't been eating so well lately - ok, she picked up a bit since Saturday - so I decided to make this si shen soup. It is well-known for improving appetite and is commonly given to children with poor appetites. I think the main herb that does this is fu ling as research has shown that it strengthens the body, improves body weight and improves appetite. I wouldn't encourage parents with big babies/toddlers or babies/toddlers with an already hearty appetite to serve up this soup to your darlings as si shen soup is probably the equivalent of the Western appetizer.

Alicia guzzled down this 100ml of soup at one go last night! :D

The 四神:

Ingredients:

• 5g huai shan (淮山)
• 10g dried foxnuts (qian shi) (芡实)
• 20g fu ling (茯苓)
• 40g dried lotus seed (lian zi) (莲子)
• 250g pork rib
• 6 chicken thigh bones
• 1 soup pot of water

For added taste I added these ingredients:

• 4 dried figs (无花果）
• 3 candied dates (金丝蜜枣)
• 1 big red apple (cut into quarters)

Method:

1. Rinse the chinese herbs.
2. Blanch the ribs and bones.
3. Place all the ingredients into the soup pot and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer on low heat for 3 hours.
5. Sieve the soup and serve only the soup.

Potato Soup

I cooked this soup with the slow cooker last night then transferred it to my soup pot and boiled it on high heat for another 30-45min. I still like to cook my soup on the stovetop on high heat because it makes the soup become more full-bodied and the chicken bones when boiled on high heat lend a milky taste to the soup - my favourite!

Potato Soup

*Skip the dried scallop and dried cuttlefish for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• 3 relatively small potatoes (skinned and cut into quarters)
• 1 dried cuttlefish (Toast for a few min before adding it to the soup) - alternatively, use dried shrimps if you don't like the soup to be too 'fishy'
• 1 dried scallop (place in a soup bag)
• 1 chicken carcass
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 soup pot water
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Blanch the pork ribs and chicken carcass.
2. Put all the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook 1hour on high then on auto mode for 6-8hrs.
3. Transfer the soup and ingredients into a soup pot (if your slow cooker cannot be used on the stovetop) and boil on high heat for 30-45min. (You should be able to see the soup turn from a clear soup to a 'milky' one)
4. Sieve the soup. Place the scallop and potatoes back into the soup.
5. Add salt to taste.

For toddler's consumption:

• Cut the potato into small pieces or allow the tot to bite off from the adult's portion.

Radish Soup

I know I know. The photo's badly taken. But I didn't notice it when I took it and I only have this one photo of it. So heck... what to do? Just make do for now :D

The taste of the soup however is a far cry from how it looks in the photo. It's wonderfully full-bodied and rich and it was simply delish. Hubby LOVED it!

Radish soup

*Skip the dried scallop and dried cuttlefish for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients

• 1 radish (skinned, chopped into chunks)
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 250g pork ribs
• 1 dried cuttlefish
• 1 dried scallop (placed in small soup bag)
• 1 soup pot water
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Rinse the dried cuttlefish then toast it in the oven for about 4min.
2. Wash and blanch the chicken bones and pork ribs.
3. Add all the ingredients to a soup pot of water (except the radish) and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer the soup for a few hours. (If you notice after a couple of hours of simmering the soup that the soup base is still quite dilute, boil the soup on high heat for awhile till you notice the soup base becoming more concentrated - I do this when I don't have enough time to simmer the soup for many hours.)
5. Add the radish about 1-2hrs before serving (don't add it too early or it will be too soft).
6. Sieve the soup - remove the chicken bones and dried cuttlefish (I personally don't eat this). Return the pork ribs, radish and scallop (take out of the soup bag) to the soup.
7. Add salt to taste.
8. Serve hot.

For toddler's consumption:

• You can cut the radish into smaller pieces or allow the tot to bite off from the adult's portion.

Glass noodles soup (冬粉汤)

This is another gem from my home-cooked favourites. My mum taught me to make this soup as I'm so fond of it and it's really easy to make too! Just make sure that the soup base is nice and the soup can't go very wrong. :D





Glass noodle soup 冬粉汤

*Skip the dried scallop and dried shrimp for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• 2 small bundles of glass noodles (soak in water till soft)
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 2 tablespoons of minced meat
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 250g pork ribs
• 1 dried scallop
• about 1 handful dried shrimp
• about 1 handful preserved vegetable (dong cai / 冬菜)
• fish sauce to taste (if still not salty enough)
• 1 soup pot of water

Marinate minced meat with:

• oyster sauce
• ground black pepper
• sesame oil

Method:

1. Blanch chicken bones and pork ribs.
2. Rinse the dried scallop and dried shrimp. Place dried scallop in a small soup bag.
3. Place the chicken bones, pork ribs, dried scallop and dried shrimp in the soup pot of water.
4. Boil on high heat then simmer on low heat for a few hours.
5. Sieve the soup: remove the chicken bones and dried shrimp. Return the pork ribs (if desired) and the dried scallop (take out of the soup bag) to the soup.
6. Marinate the minced meat and mix the minced meat together with the beaten egg.
7. Fry the egg mixture till cooked. Add this to the soup when the soup has simmered long enough and when the soup has been sieved.
8. Rinse the preserved vegetable before adding it to the soup.
9. Add the glass noodles when just about to serve.
10. Add fish sauce to taste if not salty enough.
11. Serve hot.
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Watercress soup

Watercress is well-known for its high nutritional values and you can read more about it here. Fortunately for me, I've always loved watercress soup and hence, it is a soup that makes its way to my dining table every now and then.

Watercress soup

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of watercress
• 250g pork ribs
• 3 chicken breast bones
• 1 handful red dates (rinse)
• 1 soup pot of water
• Fish sauce/ salt to taste

Method:

1. Wash watercress thoroughly as leafy veggies tend to trap a lot of dirt.
2. Blanch pork ribs and chicken bones.
3. Add all the ingredients except the condiments to the soup pot and bring the soup to a boil.
4. Simmer for 2 hours on low-medium heat.
5. Add fish sauce/ salt to taste.

If you prefer the watercress to be green and crunchy, you may want to reserve half the bunch of watercress for adding into the soup about 15min before serving.

Alicia loves this soup and she eats the watercress too!

For toddler's consumption:

• Make sure that you cut the watercress to a suitable size for the tot before serving to prevent choking.

Food for the ill... or the very health-conscious

So many ingredients you can't see the thick bee hoon below!

A few days ago, I developed a sore throat but it went away, only to return with a vengeance this morning. Last night I also started to cough a little. There went my plans to cook laksa today (I always cook laksa using the Prima mix - it's really nice I tell ya). I had already bought the ingredients earlier on but my throat infection meant that laksa was definitely out of the question. Instead of letting the innocent packet of thick bee hoon and beansprouts go to waste, I decided to cook a soupy meal. Fortunately I wasn't feeling too ill to get out of bed to cook dinner...


This is definitely a meal that would go down well with someone who's ill... or if you're feeling a bit health-conscious...


Ingredients:

• 1 packet of thick bee hoon (serves 2) - or you can use other types of noodles (usually I use other types of noodles like ee fu noodles, vermicelli, or egg noodles)
• 4-5 handfuls of beansprouts, plucked (you can cut down on this - I bought a whole pack so I decided to use it all)
• 4 crabsticks - remove the plastic covering and cut each crabstick into half
• 1 packet of fishballs
• a couple yong tau foo items (depends on your preference)
• fish sauce/salt to taste
• ground white pepper
• spring onions (washed and cut into 1cm length pieces)

Soup base:

• 3 chicken breast bones
• $2-3 worth of pork ribs
• 1 dried scallop (rinse, place in small soup bag)
• a handful of ikan bilis (washed a few times)
• a few cloves of garlic (rinse)
• a soup pot of water

Method:

1. Clean the chicken breast bones and pork ribs, removing any visible fats.
2. Blanch the bones and ribs.
3. Place all the ingredients for the soup base in a soup pot or claypot. Bring to a boil then simmer for a few hours (I think I simmered it for about 4hrs today).
4. Sieve the bones and ikan bilis out of the soup and place the pork ribs (if desired) and the dried scallop (remove from soup bag) back into the soup. Set aside.
5. Steam the yong tau foo items (I do this for hygiene reasons). Set aside.
6. Bring a pot of water to boil and place the thick bee hoon into the boiling water.
7. Remove the thick bee hoon from the water and portion into serving bowls.
8. Add the beansprouts to the boiling water. Let it boil for awhile till it's cooked but yet still very crunchy. Remove from water and place in the serving bowls.
9. While cooking the bee hoon and beansprouts, bring the soup base to a boil.
10. Add the fishballs first and let them boil for awhile.
11. Add the yong tau foo items and add the crab sticks last as they cook very quickly. (The fishballs should be floating by now - which means they're cooked)
12. Season the soup with fish sauce and pepper.
13. Dish the fishballs, crabsticks, yong tau foo items, pork ribs and dried scallop into serving bowls and pour the soup into the bowls.
14. Garnish with spring onions.

I told my hubby that if there's a dish he's gotta learn to cook, it's gotta be this one.... so he can cook for me when I'm ill!! :)

Itek Tim (Duck and salted vegetable soup)

I wasn't too pleased with my attempt at cooking the nonya soup Itek Tim (Duck and salted vegetable soup). The soup turned out ok, but the duck was tough and honestly, I had trouble finding the duck meat coz the meat had fallen off the bones. I guess it was because of the part of the duck I used. The lady who sold me the duck told me that it would be more convenient for me to use duck wings since I was only cooking for hubby and myself. Taking her suggestion, I bought half a kg of it instead of half a duck. Bad choice I guess. But I'd never know if I didn't try it. At least that's a lesson learnt. :)

Modified the recipe from Nonya Favourites by Lee Geok Boi.

Itek Tim (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• half a duck, cut into half (please use half a duck instead of wings or isolated parts of the duck!)
• 300g pickled mustard (kiam chye)
• 3 preserved plums
• 2 pieces asam gelugor (rinsed)
• 3cm old ginger (peeled and smashed)
• 1.5-2L water
• 1-2 dashes of ground white pepper
• 2 small tomatoes (cut into quarters, seeds removed)
• 1 chilli (remove seeds)
• 2 tablespoons brandy (optional)

Method:

1. Clean the duck, removing any visible fat.
2. Blanch the duck.
3. Rinse kiam chye several times. If very salty, soak for 15min and taste again. Cut into chunks of 4cm squares.
4. Bring water to boil in a large claypot. Add the duck, ginger, plums, asam gelugor, pepper and 1 tablespoon brandy (optional). Simmer gently for 1 hour, skimming the surface to remove any fat.
5. Add kiam chye at the 1hour mark and simmer for another 45min, adding tomatoes and chilli 10min before the end. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary.
6. Leave the soup to stand for several hours to allow the flavours to develop.
7. If you wish, and have brandy on hand, you can add 1 tablespoon of brandy before serving.

Note: This soup is best consumed the next day (or a few days) after cooking, as the flavour will be even better then!

Spinach Soup

I'm a soup lover (though I'm not Cantonese) and my mum would always pamper me with my favourite soups when I go back for dinner at her place. This soup - spinach soup - is definitely one of my favourites (and my mum's too!). I cooked this tonight for our dinner and had an extra bowl of it! :)



Spinach soup

*Skip the dried scallop and dried shrimp for tots below 18mths*

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch spinach or baby spinach (heng cai in cantonese or xian cai in mandarin) - I prefer baby spinach coz it's easier to prepare and more tender
• fishballs
• 1 chicken carcass or 3 chicken breast bones
• pork ribs
• dried scallop
• dried shrimp
• ikan bilis
• 3 cloves garlic (keep the skin on)

Method:

1. Blanch chicken bones and pork ribs.
2. Wash the ikan bilis and dried shrimp thoroughly.
3. Rinse the garlic.
4. Rinse the dried scallop and place into a small soup bag.
5. Put the chicken bones, pork ribs, ikan bilis, dried shrimp, garlic and dried scallop to boil.
6. Boil on high heat for the first 45min then simmer on low heat for a few hours. (I usually simmer my soup for at least 3 hours coz the longer you boil the soup, the sweeter it is!)
7. Once the soup is ready, sieve out the chicken bones, ikan bilis and the dried shrimp.
8. Retain the pork ribs (if desired) and remove the dried scallop from the soup bag and return it to the soup.
9. Add the fishballs and spinach only when about to serve as they cook really fast.
10. Add salt/fish sauce to taste (only after adding the fishballs as fishballs also add to the saltiness of the soup).

For toddler's consumption:

• Skip the dried scallop and dried shrimp for tots below 18mths
• Cut the spinach into toddler bite-size before serving to prevent choking.
• Cut fishballs into small pieces - suitable for tots above 2 years.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

This is how I made use of Brenda's recipe:

Cream of mushroom soup (serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 10 white button mushrooms (diced)
• 1/4 white onion (diced)
• the white part of 1 leek (diced)
• 1-2 cloves garlic (diced)
• 100ml whipping cream (I used President)
• 100ml milk (I used Paul's Whole Milk)
• unsalted butter (I used Lurpak)
• Chicken broth (just boil chicken bones and some cloves of garlic together for 2 hours)
• Cornflour

Method:

1. Melt the butter.


2. Fry the garlic till fragrant.
   
3. Add in the onion, leek and mushrooms.


4. Fry till the water from the mushrooms start to dry up then add in the chicken broth.


5. Simmer for 30minutes.


6. If you like the soup to be smooth rather than textured, you can use an immersion blender to blend the ingredients in the pot. Otherwise, leave it as it is.


7. Whisk in the cream and the milk.


8. Add water to the cornflour and add the mixture into the soup to thicken it. Add as much cornflour according to your own preference of thickness of soup.


9. Add your choice of herbs or a dash of ground black pepper to the soup if you like.


10. Serve hot together with garlic bread sticks.