Spicy Leaf-Mustard Cabbage and Peanut Soup

Ingredients
1 large onion(chopped into large 8 pieces), 4 pc dried chili (de-seeded, coarsely chopped), 300g peanuts, 200g leaf-mustard cabbage (known as Mui Choi in Cantonese), 1 tbsp oil, 500g pork bones, water, fresh salt and cracked black pepper corn.

Method
1. Saute the onion, chili and peanuts in a heated pot with the oil, add the bones, saute for another 3-5 minutes, add fresh sea salt and cracked black pepper corn, saute for another 3 minutes.
2.Add water to almost fill the pot, turn to high heat, bring to boil with lid covered. Remove lid after the pot of water boils, add in washed and chopped leaf-mustard cabbage, wait till boil again, turn to medium-low heat, cover with lid and braise for 2 hours or so, the longer the better.
3. Season again with salt and pepper to taste when serving, garnish with chopped coriander.

Tags: peanut, mustard, chili, spicy, soup

Spicy Buttered Chicky-Corn Soup

It was my turn to cook again a few days back and one of the tasks was to have a soup, I was trying to 'think out of the box' as I didn't want to cook just 'yet another typical soup', hence I eneded up with this soup, hopefully everyone enjoys this experimentation of mine....

To start off with, cut out 3 corn cob worth of corn kernels (keep the cores), prepare 1 red spanish onion (finely chopped), 3 cloves of garlic, 3pc dried chilie (coarsely chopped), 1tbsp hot paprika powder, about 8 drumsticks (you can adjust this accordingly), 2tbsp of butter, 1tbsp golden syrup, 5tbsp light soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste.


To marinade the drumsticks, lightly draw a few knife cuts on the meat, season with additional light soy sauce, black pepper powder, a dash of Chinese shao xing cooking wine, and some sugar, leave to sit for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat a soup pot, lightly sautee the onion with 1tbsp of melted butter. Add in garlic when the onion starts to turn brownish, continue to sautee for a minute or so, stir in the corn kernels and sitr fry over medium-high heat. Add in golden syrup at this point, followed by the hot paprika powder, salt, pepper and continue to stir-fry until the corn kernels start to brown. Cover with water and bring to boil with lid covered, add more water to allow it to simmer off later on. Add in the drumsticks and corn cores as soon as the water boils, stir throughly, add in 5tbsp of light soy sauce, bring to boil again and cover with pot lid to allow to simmer over low-medium heat for about 30-45 minutes or even more if desired. Remove lid, add in the remaning butter, add seasoning to taste if desired, done, serve hot.

Who says Spinach is only for stir-frying?

Some days back when I was buying some vegetables for dinner I overheard this old lady asking a younger miss how to cook those english spinach that the young lady was going to buy. She answered without hesitating: "Stir-fry". I was a bit let down actually as I was hoping that she would recommend something special or new. Later when I went back home, I decided to make this dish and post it, so that anyone who reads this post would know that, hey spinach can be used for other dishes too.

Long story cut short, there are actually a lot ways to use spinach in cooking, especially in western cuisine. But let's not go there, just stick to the Chinese style cooking, what would you do with a bunch of englih spinach in you refrigerator besides the most fundamental stir-frying? Check this out...

Ingredients: (serves 1 to 2)
2 bunches English Spinach (cleaned and seperate stem and leafs)
10g Dried Anchovies (soaked preuse)
50g Diced Pork meat (cut into thin strips)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
2 slice Ginger (thinly sliced)
2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
2 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Black Pepper Powder
1 Egg
3 bowls Water

Marinate:
1 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Shao Xing Rice Wine
1 tbsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Pepper



Method:
1. Marinade the pork slices with the marinate ingredients for at least 15 minutes.
2. Lightly toast anchovies in a small pot, add garlic and ginger, stir until fragrant, add oil to fry. Stir in marinated pork slices and stir fry for about 2 minutes, add the spinach stems, followed by 1 tbsp light soy sauce and stir fry for another 2 minutes.
3. Add water to cover ingredients, cover with lid and ring to boil on low to medium heat.
4. Remove lid upon boiling, add in spinach leafs and the remaining seasonings. Cover with lid and bring to boil again on high heat.
5. Upon boiling, beat the egg with some hot soup and pour back into the pot quickly. Done. Serve hot with rice.

Back Again... FINALLY!!! (Tomato Soup)

It has been really some time since I last posted any new dish, all thanks to my Design! Well, lucky thing is, everything is finally over now, I will be posting more actively this month as other mates drown themselves in mountains of books and texts trying to finish all their syllabus for their exams. ^^ EVIL! Nevertheless, to celebrate the end of my semester, I will first post 6 dishes that I made over this busy period, followed by other new dishes everyday! Hope that everyone enjoys reading and trying out the dishes. =)





Well, let's start with soups, who does not like soups? =)

This is a simple soup to make which I think is especially suitable for those lone cooks, so don't feel bad if you are cooking and dining alone, I have had many similar sessions as well. =)

Ingredients: (serves 1)

2 medium size Tomato (diced)

2 pc Fresh Tofu (diced, or cut into 9 cubes each)

1/2 Spanish Red Onion (diced)

2 tbsp Tomato Paste (use tomato ketchup if you don't have it)

1 tbsp Dried Basil

1 tbsp Salt

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Pepper

2 bowls Water

Method:

1. Brown red on ion in a small pot together with olive oil and sugar, stir in diced tomato and tomato Paste. Add basil and stir fry until fragrant. Add water, cover with lid and bring to boil.

2. Remove lid, add pepper and salt, throw in the diced tofu, cover with lid again and simmer with low heat until boil. Done. Serve hot.

Cabbage Soup

Now I know that the name of the post does not sound interesting, but I had really tasted a few times these very simple cabbage soup that others just cannot seem to make them taste good! Please try this recipe, I think it will taste good for most people...



Ingredients: (serve 5-6)
1/2 Chinese Cabbage (about 375g)
2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
8 Chinese Shitake Mushrooms(pre-soaked for 3 hours, diced)
1 Brown Onion (can use more if desired, diced)
1 Egg
5 large bowls of water
3 tbsp Light Soy Sauce
Salt, Sugar and Pepper to taste

Method:
1. In a pot, dry toast brown onion and mushroom, add sugar and salt to brown and bring out the flavour. Add oil and stir fry for 2 minutes.
2. Add in the stems of the Chinese cabbage first, followed by light soy sauce, fry for a minute or two, add water, cover with pot lid and bring to boil.
3. Add in the cabbage leafs upon boiling, cover and bring to boil again. Turn to low heat and braise for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir and mix well.
4. Before serving, turn to high heat, bring to boil. In a bowl, break and egg, get pour in a ladle-full of soup, stir and mix well before adding back as soon as possible into the pot of soup. Done. Serve hot.

Everyone Loves Miso Soup

I have not been posting for some time since the last post I made, thanks to all the assignments and pressure from my courses. Well, thanks to the 15th day of the Lunar Calender, which I usually would take the dinner's responsibility for that particular day. So I made 4 dishes yesterday, quite unusual for 3 eaters, but it was fulfilling. Haha. There are two dishes that I would like to introduce from yesterday, hopefully everyone like it as we did.

Well, everyone likes miso soup, and would probably would know how to make it, 'you only have to chuck in the miso paste! What is so hard?' Haha. To certain extent, I do agree with that, but let's try adding something extra to it, and still maintain (or enhance) the sweetness of the soup.

Ingredients: (serves 2-3)
50g Seaweed (pre-soaked in water until soft)
1/2 White Radish (about 150g) (coarsely chopped)
3pc Soft Tofu (about 250g) (cut into small cubes0
5 big bowls of Water
4 tbsp Miso paste
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dash of Miso Paste, fresh Parsley and some Bonito

Method:

1. In a pot, boil water together with radish, turn to low heat and simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Add miso paste and simmer for another 5 minutes.
2. Add seaweed, turn to high heat and bring to boil, turn to low heat again and simmer for 5-10 minutes. Turn to high heat again when adding the tofu cubes, allow to boil for another 5 minutes or until tofu are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Transfer soup into a bowl, sprinkle with some bonito flakes, add a dash of miso paste (about 1/2 tsp), garnish with some parley leafs. Done.

Note: Add water as required if the radish stalk reduces to much.

Butternut Chowder

The other night Anna said that most of my dishes are Chinese. Yes, they are, but I try to make some western dishes once a while. Now, this is no doubt a Western one, check it out:

Ingredients:

1kg Butternut

1 Red onion

1 tbsp Sugar

2 tbsp Olive Oil

3 tbsp Butter

5 bunches Chives

250g minced Pork

3 cloves Garlic

4. Salt and Pepper taste

Method:

1. Melt the Butter in a pot, add in chopped Onion and Garlic. Stir in the minced Pork. Add Sugar to caramelize.

2.Add in 4 bunches of chopped Chives. Cover with water and bring to boil.

3. Add in chopped Butternut, cover with water and bring to boil again.

4. Cover pot with lid, boil for about 10 minutes then turn to low heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or when the Butternut pieces are soft and tender.

5. Squash the Butternut pieces with ladle, and mix well. Continue to simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Add seasoning and stir in Olive Oil until smooth. Done. (For better texture, add also shredded Parmesan or normal Cheese).

Black Fungus Soup with Tofu and Meatballs

Ingredients:

250g Fresh Soft Tofu
50g Black Fungus
20g Mustard Green
100g Minced Pork
30g Sweet Raddish
1 tbsp Salted Raddish
2cm Ginger

Marinade (for the meatballs)
1 tbsp Pepper
2 tbsp Sesame Oil
2 tbsp Corn Flour

Method:
1. Soak the black fungus for 30 minutes beforehand and marinade the mince pork for about the same amount of time as well.

2. Roughly cut the fungus into big pieces. Slice the mustard green into cubes and mix with the black fungus in a pot filled with 3 quarters of water.

3. Fine chop a few slices of ginger and add to the pot. Bring the pot of water to boil and turn to low fire, leave to braise.

4. Fine chop the remaining ginger, sweet and salted raddish and add to the mince pork. Use spoon or hand to form meatballs according to own preference and add into the pot of soup.
(The soup is still being braised all the time)

5. Cover the pot and leave to braise another 10-15 minutes. Done, serve hot.