Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries
posted by pablopabla at 11:08 am

Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries

*Urgent correction!! Oh dear! It is not supposed to be hawthorn berries! It's wolfberries! Where in the world did I get hawthorn berries from? I hope no one has used hawthorn berries and had stomach upset or the like after trying out this recipe. I can't possibly change the title above without getting this post topsy-turvy in the search engines. So, from here onwards, it's wolfberries, ya? Not hawthorn berries. Thanks to Jessie for raising enough suspicion in me that my original post is dodgy*

Spinach is a fast-cooking vegetable and packed with nutrients. That's why Popeye loves 'em. It can be stir-fried and it can be cooked in soup. Recently, my dear wife told me that she wanted to try cooking spinach soup with hawthorn berries (a.k.a. kei chee).

Imagine all the goodness from the spinach doubled up with the circulatory benefits of hawthorn berries (get the good quality berries which are slightly plummer and sweeter in taste). It is definitely a power-packed soup. Oh yes, the stock is made from ikan bilis soup. So, there you go. My daughter of 3 1/2 years old loved it. I think you will too!

This is my wife's recipe for Spinach Soup with Hawthorn Berries


Ingredients
  • 300 grammes of spinach (rinsed and plucked at the stems. Discard old or thick stems)
  • 10 grammes of hawthorn berries (about 20 to 30 pieces)
  • 100 grammes of minced meat (we use pork)
  • 50 grammes of ikan bilis
  • 3 soup bowls

Marinade (for minced meat)
  • 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
  • a dash of white pepper powder

Seasoning
  • Salt to taste
  • 2 teaspoons light soya sauce

Method

Boil ikan bilis in water for 30 minutes to make stock. Remove ikan bilis when done. Meanwhile, marinade minced meat.

Bring stock to boil again after removing ikan bilis. Scoop minced meat into meat balls using a teaspoon and add into the stock. Cook till all meat balls float to surface. Add spinach and hawthorn berries and bring back soup to boil. Add seasoning to taste and serve immediately.


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Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)
posted by pablopabla at 11:48 am

Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)


Contrary to the word Mee Hoon being rice vermicelli, the Mee Hoon here is actually a Hokkien word which means flour. This is a soupy dish made using flour dough which has been flatten pancaked-style to small pieces. Some may even identify it as Pan Mee, but this is a home-cooked version and the flour cake is torn into pieces rather than machine-rolled to noodle form.

It is actually quite a healthy dish combining carbohydrates (flour), protein (pork) and fat (little oil is used), fibre (vegetables) and calcium (ikan bilis / dried anchovies). The most important part of this dish is the ikan bilis stock as it gives much flavour to the overall dish. I like to have this for lunch.

This is my recipe for Mee Hoon Kueh (Flour Cake Soup)


Ingredients
  • 200 grammes of flour (add some water and knead into a dough, allow dough to stand for 30 minutes and then separate them into balls about half the size of an egg)
  • 3/4 bowls of ikan bilis (boil in 5 soup bowls of water for 30 minutes to make ikan bilis stock. Discard ikan bilis thereafter)
  • 1/2 bowls of ikan bilis (rinsed)
  • 50 to 100 grammes of sliced pork tenderloin (marinate with 2 teaspoons light soya sauce)
  • 200 grammes or more of chinese mustard leaves (choy sum / sawi) (washed and cut to bite sizes)
  • 5 pieces dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked in 1 bowl of water till soft and cut into strips discarding the stalk / stem. Retain water for cooking)
  • 5 cloves of shallots (sliced thinly)
  • Oil for frying (preferably palm oil)
  • 2 pinches of chinese salted vegetable (tung choy)

Seasoning
  • Light soya sauce
  • Salt to taste

Method

Fry the 1/2 bowls of rinsed ikan bilis in sufficient oil till crispy. Remove and set aside. Discard oil.

Heat up wok and fry the shallots in about 3 tablespoons of oil till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside. With remaining oil, saute pre-soaked mushrooms for 1 minute (add 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce whilst you saute the mushrooms). Add sliced pork tenderloins and stir-fry till almost cooked.

Add ikan bilis stock and water (used to soak mushrooms) and bring to boil. Meanwhile, using a rolling pin or bare hands, flatten the balls of dough invidually to make flour cake.

When soup is boiling (and keep it boiling throughout), tear flour cake to bite sizes (say approximately 5cm x 3cm) and throw them into the soup. Stir occasionally. Once you've finished with the flour cakes and with soup boiling, chuck in the chinese mustard leaves and stir for about 30 seconds whilst adding seasoning and salted chinese vegetables to taste.

Dish up in bowls (you'll get about 4 bowls here) and sprinkle fried shallots and fried ikan bilis over the soup prior to serving.


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Wednesday, November 22, 2006
A B C D Soup
posted by pablopabla at 1:31 pm

A B C D Soup


There is a famous soup called ABC Soup which is essentially a combination of cubed potatoes, carrots, tomatoes and onions cooked in meat stock (usually pork or chicken). After my posting on Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup recently, Tummythoz, girlgirl and tekko informed me that they add carrots and even corn into the soup. That was new to me.

So, when I went home to my mum's place last night, I was most surprised to see a bowl of Szechuan Vegetable Soup which has carrots, onions and potatoes in it! It is indeed a marriage of the Hot and Spicy Szechuan Vegetable Soup with the famed ABC Soup! And true enough, it has the hot and sourness of the szechuan vegetables and the sweetness of the ABC soup. I shall call it the A B C D Soup then!

It is another one of those simple-to-cook yet appetising soup which is great on a cold weathered day!

This is the recipe for A B C D Soup.


Ingredients
  • 200 to 300 grammes of meat (pork ribs or suitable cuts or chicken parts)
  • 2 medium sized potatoes (washed, skin removed and cubed in big chunks)
  • 1 carrot (cut in big pieces)
  • 2 large tomatoes (quartered)
  • 2 large onions (quartered)
  • 1 piece szechuan vegetable (washed and sliced)
  • 2 bowls of water (approximately 800 ml to 1 litre)

Method

Bring water to boil. Add meat and let water reboil. Remove layer of scum from surface of water.

Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to boil again for 5 minutes and then lower heat to simmer for at least 1 hour or longer.

You don't really need to add any seasoning to this soup as the various ingredients will impart its taste.


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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup
posted by pablopabla at 10:45 am

Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup


Got szechuan vegetable in your kitchen? Why not cook soup with it? Szechuan vegetable which is preserved with chilli and salt imparts a distinct flavour when cooked in soup. The soup will be spicy hot and salty. When you add a couple of tomatoes into the soup, it's be hot and sour. Definitely appetising especially when eaten with long bean rice or even cabbage rice.

Depending on how hot or salty you want your soup to end up, you can actually wash or even soak the preserved szechuan vegetable prior to cooking. I usually just wash the szechuan vegetable rather than soaking as I like the original taste of the preserved vegetable. My mum adds a couple of cloves of garlic for added taste but I don't really fancy that. You can try it if you want.

This recipe is simple and not intimidating for first timers!

This is my recipe for Hot and Sour Szechuan Vegetable Soup.

Ingredients
  • 1 piece szechuan vegetable larger than the size of an egg (washed and sliced)
  • 3 - 4 large tomatoes (quartered)
  • 50 to 100 grammes of minced pork or pork ribs or chicken parts
  • 2 soup bowls or 600 ml of water
Method

Bring water to boil and add sliced szechuan vegetables and tomatoes. If you are using pork ribs or chicken parts, add them now. Simmer for 1 hour or more till water reduced to approximately 1 soup bowl.

If using minced pork, 3 minutes before intended serving, bring back to boil and add minced pork shaped into small balls.

Serve steaming hot.


How about stir-frying the szechuan vegetable? My recipe for Stir-Fried Pork with Preserved Szechuan Vegetable here.

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Friday, November 10, 2006
Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup
posted by pablopabla at 9:46 am

Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup

Once in a while, we will cook Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup for lunch on a weekend. Bee Hoon is also known as Rice Vermicelli. The clear soup is refreshing especially on a hot day. We usually use Ikan Bilis stock for the soup as it makes the soup tastier.

I would advise that you buy the Fish Balls from the wet market and have it cooked the same day to enjoy its freshness. If you are unable to cook them on the same day, do keep them in the fridge and cook them the next day. I don't think preservatives are added to these fish balls and so, they don't last long.

This is my recipe for Fish Ball Bee Hoon Soup. Serves 4 people.


Ingredients
  • 1/2 packet of bee hoon (approximately 150 grammes) (pre-soaked in water for 30 minutes to soften)
  • 15 to 20 fish balls
  • 100 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly) (optional)
  • 200 grammes of choy sum (chinese mustard leaves) (washed and cut into 6 cm lengths)
  • 5 to 8 shallots (sliced thinly)
  • 100 grammes of ikan bilis (dried anchovies)
  • a pinch of salted chinese vegetables (tung chai)
  • 3 tablespoons of palm oil
  • 1.25 litres or 5 soup bowls of water
Marinade (for pork tenderloin slices)
  • 2 teaspoons of light soya sauce
  • a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
  • 1 teaspoon of corn flour
Seasoning
  • 2 tablespoons of light soya sauce
  • Salt to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon of MSG (optional)

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin slices for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, boil ikan bilis in water for at least 45 minutes. Remove ikan bilis when done.

Fry shallots in oil under medium heat till golden brown. Remove fried shallots from oil and set aside.

With remaining oil in wok / pot, stir-fry the pork tenderloin slices for 30 seconds. Add ikan bilis stock above and bring to boil.

Add pre-soaked bee hoon into boiling stock followed by choy sum and fish balls and let the ingredients cook for at least 2 minutes in boiling condition. The fish balls will float to surface when cooked. Add seasoning to taste.

Separate into individual bowls and sprinkle fried shallots and chinese salted vegetables prior to serving.

My other Bee Hoon Recipes :
Sarawak Laksa
Bee Hoon with Chicken Frankfurters and Chinese Mushrooms
Fried Bee Hoon with Stewed Pork Ribs


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Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup
posted by pablopabla at 2:57 pm

Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup


Further to my last post on Long Beans Rice, I did mention there that it tastes great with soup. I am referring to Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup which is basically Salted Mustard Leaves and Beancurd Soup in Hokkien dialect. Somehow or rather, the salty, sour and sweet nature of this soup complements the Long Beans Rice well.

Remember the water used to boil the belly pork in the Long Beans Rice recipe? The stock is used for this soup and in fact, you can retain a couple of slices of the pork to enhance the flavour of this soup. Nothing goes to waste! See the Long Beans Rice recipe for the preparation of the stock.

This is my recipe for Kiam Chye Tau Foo Soup.

Ingredients
  • 5 to 10 pieces of salted mustard leaves (kiam chye)
  • 2 large tomatoes (quartered)
  • 1 piece beancurd (soft type, approximately 6 inches x 2 inches x 2 inches - LxWxD, cut into 8 pieces)
  • 2 bowls of stock (prepared using 2 1/2 bowls of water used to boil belly pork)

Method

Bring stock to boil and add tomatoes and salted mustard leaves. Simmer for 1 hour or more.

3 minutes before intended serving, bring back to boil and add beancurd.

Serve steaming hot.


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Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts
posted by pablopabla at 6:00 pm

Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates & Peanuts

It's amazing what people can find to make delicious food. Who would have thought that the root or rhizomes of the lotus plant which is submerged in muddy-like waters in ponds or lakes can be very delicious indeed? Some have used it in stir-fries with sweet peas and baby corns. Some cook soup with it.

One popular chinese-style soup is the Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts. You can even add dried cuttlefish for added flavour. After hours of simmering, it tastes robust and is apparently good for your body. It tastes even better if it is cooked using charcoal fire.

This is my recipe for Lotus Root Soup with Red Dates and Peanuts.

Ingredients
  • 300 grammes of lotus root (wash thoroughly, gently scrape the skin and slice not more than 5 mm thick. Discard the points between the sections)
  • 300 grammes of pork ribs (ask butcher for ribs suitable for stewing soup)
  • 10 - 15 Red Dates
  • 100 grammes peanuts (uncooked)
  • 4 pieces dried cuttlefish (optional. Cut into halves)
  • 2 1/2 soup bowls of water

Seasoning
  • Salt to taste

Method

Boil water in pot. Upon boiling, add pork ribs. Remove layer of scum on surface of boiling water.

After about 2 minutes of rapid boiling and having removed scum, add the rest of the ingredients and bring to boil again for 2 minutes.

Cover lid, reduce heat to low and simmer for 3 hours. Add salt to taste before serving.


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Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Fish Ball Tang Hoon Soup
posted by pablopabla at 2:54 pm

Fish Ball Tang Hoon

Fishballs are commonly sold in wet markets in Malaysia especially by the chinese traders. It is usually cooked in soup and tastes delicious when fresh. I prefer those which are springy and "crunchy". Fishballs should ideally be cooked the same day it is purchased as it usually does not taste as fresh overnight.

One of the common ways to cook a quick and delicious soup using fishballs is to cook it with Tang Hoon (also known as Glass Noodles). It can be served as an accompaniment to rice or even eaten / drunk on its own. One of the important ingredients which you should strive to add to the soup is chinese salted vegetable as it adds a nice saltish flavour to the soup. The chinese salted vegetable can be bought from sundry shops.

Chinese Salted Vegetable

This is a very simple and clear soup to cook which admittedly, might be too amateurish to some. Happy trying if you have not.

This is my recipe for Fish Ball Tang Hoon Soup a.k.a. Fish Balls with Glass Noodles Soup.

Ingredients
  • 10 to 15 fishballs (actually, quantity up to you)
  • A handful of Tang Hoon (usually sold tied in a small bunch) [pre-soak in water to soften it]
  • Chopped spring onions for garnishing
  • A pinch of chinese salted vegetable
  • 50 grammes of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) [buy those suitable for making stock]
  • 2 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
  • 2 tablespoons of cooking oil
  • 1 1/4 soup bowls of water (approximately 600 ml)
Seasoning
  • Light soya sauce
  • Salt
  • White pepper powder
  • A pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Boil water with ikan bilis for 45 minutes to make stock. Remove ikan bilis when done.

Fry shallots in cooking oil till golden brown and place aside to cool.

Once stock is ready (which should be at least 1 soup bowl full) and maintaining high heat, add tang hoon and fish balls. The fish balls will float whilst the tang hoon will turn semi-translucent when cooked. Add seasoning to taste.

Sprinkle chopped spring onions, pinch of chinese salted vegetables and 2 teaspoons of the shallot oil onto the soup before serving.


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Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Tom Yam
posted by pablopabla at 2:33 pm

I am back. I just had tom yam for lunch.

Tom Yam is a Thai-style spicy soup which is bound to increase one's appetite (and sweat). It is hot and sour and is served hot. Great accompaniment to a steaming bowl of white rice, especially in cold weather.

I do cook it once in a blue moon and this is my recipe.

Ingredients

  • 400 gms medium prawns
  • 200 gms squid (cut into rings)
  • 150 gms oyster mushrooms
  • 100 gms baby corn (quarter-cut lengthwise)
  • 3 tomatoes (quartered)
  • 4 cups prawn / chicken stock
  • Salt and sugar to taste
  • 2 stalks lemon grass, bruised
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves
  • 4 fresh birds-eye chillies
  • Lime juice to taste
  • 2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
  • 2 onions cut into rings
  • 2 tablespoon tom yam paste (can be obtained from supermarkets)


Method

Shell and devein prawns. (The heads and shells can be boiled to make prawn stock)

Bring to boil 5 cups prawn / chicken stock. Add all the above ingredients (except prawns, squid, lime juice & coriander leaves) and simmer till baby corn and mushroom are cooked.

Add prawns and squid and simmer for three minutes, or just until prawns and squid are cooked.

Stir in lime juice to taste, making it nicely piquant. Serve sprinkled with coriander leaves

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