The purple Red Cabbage Soup

I split the red cabbage to three usages, and chose to post at different times because I just did not want you to have an overdose on red cabbage.


This is exactly like minestrone. Minestrone heavy on the tang and over-generous on cabbage! Ha! Ok, let's call it vegetable soup, then. Purple vegetables soup.

Red Cabbage Soup
Ingredients: shredded red cabbage, minced garlic, sliced onions, cubed tomatoes, water, salt and pepper

Directions: Add some canola or olive oil, add in garlic and onions, then followed by cabbage to allow it to soften. Add in tomatoes, mix well and let it simmer for a while. Add in water accordingly to make soup portions. Salt and pepper to taste.



Red cabbage recipes:
Red Cabbage Salad
Stir Fry Red Cabbage

Tag: soup, vegetable soup, red cabbage

Corn Minestrone - yellow yellow magic power

In the red (tomato-based) vs white (pure cream-based) world of pasta dishes...when Ms. Sexy Marinara and Ms. Sleek Carbonara are side-by-side, Ms. Sexy Marinara will always get my attention. I find it harder to make my selection in the soup world of tomato-based minestrone vs cream-based mushroom soup. These two classics are my favorites, no doubt. I'm lucky when soup du jour happens to be either minestrone or cream-of-mushroom and often fickled when there is no "Today's Soup" and I am forced to make my choice from the soup category in the menu.

I made minestrone again, but with a slight twist this time - adding corn kernels in there, lots of them.


Corn Minestrone

Ingredients:
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1-2 cups diced onion
-2 small potatoes, diced
-1 carrot, diced
-4 stems from a bunch of celery
-2-3 tomatoes, cubed/diced (option: 1 small can of diced tomatoes)
-a bowl (see picture) of corn kernels (from corn-on-the-cob, refer to collage)
- 0ne palm-full shell pasta
- dried basil and oregano
- fresh ground pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth or more, adjust accordingly
- some water, adjust accordingly

Is there lots of corn kernels to be added in my minestrone ? Remember to save some as garnish! Gives a slight crunch to the soup :) Yellow yellow magic power!

Method:
1. Saute onion. Add potatoes, celery, carrots, corn kernels, mix well for a few minutes
2. Add chopped tomatoes, add broth and 2 cups of water, bring to boil
3. Add dried shell pasta, cook 8-10mins, bring soup mixture to boil again
4. When boiling, bring down heat and allow simmer - till vegetables soften
5. Add basil and oregano when soup is almost ready
5. Add pepper and salt to taste
6. Garnish with remaining corn kernels



To me, minestrone is anytime. It is a refreshing soup in summer, a comforting soup in winter, a delectable soup for fall and welcoming soup for spring!

Tag: soup, minestrone, corn

Pork Ribs Tea Soup. Noodles with Bak Kut Teh

The monologue continues...

In Singapore, they have this for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner

Brain: You are taking convenience too easily
Me: You meant... ... too seriously?
Brain: Whatever. The party is long over, 2-weeks over. You should get back on your feet. Why are you still using convenience meal kit ?
Me: Last few last few. I bought this to try, among their range of hawker fare products. I have to do a taste-test.
Brain: Is Bak Kut Teh (literally meaning Pork Bone Tea) about the PORK BONE...PORK RIBS ? ... ...


Brain (cont'd): ... ...or the TEA?
Me: Oh now, this "tea" is confusing. Are you referring to the "broth" -OR- the Chinese tea that is usually served with this pork rib soup dish ? Well, the broth of this pork rib soup is made from a mix of herbs and spices, and boiled together with pork bones for hours. Well, I don't keep stock of all the spices and herbs in my pantry. So I can't cook my Bak Kut Teh (BKT) from scratch. A convenience pack is really just one reach away! If you are meaning the tea, as in the drinking Chinese tea, served separately with this pork rib soup dish, that tea may be just a "mirage" - leading you into the belief ..or rather...illusion that Chinese tea will "dissolve" and get rid of the "fattiness" of this soup. You know, that [Chinese tea + "oil and fats" = "less oil and fats"] equation. Hmmph, I don't think Bak Kut Teh (Pork Rib Soup) is that unhealthy and "fatty". We are all talking about balance and leverage in foods, aren't we ?

Does this look spicy ? The spice comes from the pepper!

Me (cont'd): I was also attemtped by Little Corner when she showcased her BKT-flavored instant noodles. What can I do ?
Brain: So now you have used soba to go with your Bak Kut Teh...what is your verdict?


Slurp hard and slurp loud, just like how Japanese enjoy their ramen

Me: Well, although the Bak Kut Teh from Prima Taste is not that great, this is still my kind of Bak Kut Teh. The Teochew style Bak Kut Teh which is lighter in color and very peppery. The other variant which is darker in color (either more soy sauce used, or more medicinal herbs added) is typically not my preference. And I would like to add, adding noodles to eat with Bak Kut Teh is really ...errrrmm....S-M-A-R-T!

Me (cont'd): Similar to why most Japanese have to eat and slurp their ramen noodles nosily - so that the noodles pick up the tasty soup broth when they slurp hard and slurp loud *swooo...oooop* - it's this same technique to enjoy a good 'ol bowl of noodles dunked in superior broth. This case, soba dunked in Pork Rib Tea Soup can be one best way to enjoy the soup AND...the noodles! Yummy!



Tag: bak kut teh, pork rib soup tea, noodles

Seafood dumpling soup - fish and prawn wonton

Just can't get enough of wontons, dumplings. Made them the traditional way before. Then, "out-of-the-box" to have my spicy wontons was to change the soup base/broth by making it spicy . Now, it's a different wonton filling from the typical chicken/pork and/or prawns; it's seafood fish and prawns.

If you don't fancy poultry meat in your wontons/dumplings, I think you can try this at home. It's not so common to see such wontons/dumplings in eateries or restaurant, and I assure you...not because it is not tasty. It's (maybe) because the cost of ingredients (fish, prawns) are sometimes more expensive than poultry meat. Also, wontons/dumpling with poultry meat can be quite easily frozen (up to a period of 3- 6mths), but not those wontons/dumpling with fish/prawns fillings.





Do you need the recipe for the fish and prawn fillings that is going into the wontons/dumplings?


Tag: wontons, dumplings, fish wonton, seafood

Easy minestrone soup

Easy Minestrone Soup (serve 2-3)
Ingredients:
-1 tbsp. olive oil
-1tsp crushed garlic
-1-2 cups diced onion
-2small potatoes, diced
-1-2 handful baby carrots
-4-6stems from a bunch of celery
-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
-1/4lb shelled or cock-screw pasta (estimate: one palm-full)
-dried basil
-fresh ground pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth or more, adjust accordingly
-some water, adjust accordingly

Method:
1. Saute garlic and onion. Add potatoes, celery, carrots and stir a few minutes
2. Add broth and 2 cups of water, bring to boil then add tomatoes
3. Cook for about 10-15mins, add basil and let simmer until vegetables are almost ready
4. Bring to boil, add pepper and salt to taste. Add dried shell pasta, cook 8-10mins
5. Serve, with toasted bread


Now, I have two classic childhood canned soups of mine, being made at my home. It's really bye bye to canned soups.

Do you take canned soups? Which is your favorite ?

Tag: soup, minestrone

Spicy wontons, spicy dumplings

Based on imagination, what would you do when you want spicy wontons? Either you prepare a spicy filling for these dumplings or you dip them in some spicy condiment. Or would you have done the same - adding these boiled and cooked wontons into a Korean spicy broth - soon dubu ?

This time, I made the Korean spicy broth with added tofu and nori/seaweed, without the seafood. When the soup/stew is cooked, and before turning off heat, added some boiled wontons in the broth and stir gently for 1min. Turn off heat, and serve immediately.

How was it ?


Success. Delicious. A burst of flavors as soon as you bite into the juicy wontons and the spicy broth liquid rush into those biten "pockets".



Tag: wontons, dumplings, korean stew, spicy wontons

Fish soup

Fish soup (serves 2)
Ingredients:
- 2-3 Alaskan cod fish fillets (I like to stick to wild-caught, non-farm-raised fishes, where ever possible). Buy fresh or flash-frozen. Cut fish fillets into slices of about 0.7-0.8cm thickness, marinade("pat") lightly with salt and pepper
- Seafood stock* (Note: I will talk about making the stock at the bottom of the post)
- Canned straw mushrooms (option)

- any green leafy vegetables (lettuce, bok choy, bok choy sum) of your choice, blanched
- 2 stalks spring onions, julienned into thin strips at the bias
- fried shallots and red chili, garnish
- salt and pepper, to taste

Method:
1. In a soup pot, boil the seafood stock* with mushrooms. When boiling, turn to low heat, simmer
2. While simmering, add in the fish slices, in small batches; once cooked(turns opaque), remove from simmering soup and set aside (Note: Do not overcook the fish)
3. Add in spring onions, salt and pepper to taste (Note: By this time, the soup is already robustly flavored in seafood-, and fish- flavor)
4. Lay the blanched vegetables in a bowl, top with cooked fish slices, then spoon the hot soup into the bowl over the vegetables and fish slices
5. Garnished with more spring onions, fried shallots and sliced red chilli
6. Serve warm with rice

How nutritious is this...

*Making the stock for fish soup:
1. Teochew-style - boil a pot of water with pork bones, soybeans and peppercorns for about 20mins or longer. Salt to taste. Best if additionally garnished with pre-fried dried shrimp, pre-fried pork belly slices and pre-fried dried Chinese mushrooms.
2. Cantonese-style - If available, get some fish bones and marinate with a little salt. Then fry the fish bones in oil till they are fragrant, add a dash of chinese cooking wine. Pour in water (soup will turn whitish), then add ginger and simmer for 30mins. Remove the bones.
3. Short-cut/cheat-sheet style - This is more of a tip. When stir-frying seafood - shrimps, bay scallops, calamari, clam etc., you will usually get instant "seafood broth" due to the moisture content of the seafood. Most of the times, you may not need all the seafood "essence" at once(unless you are making seafood soup in which you do not want "dilution" of flavors). Keep some aside - store in air-tight container and freeze for future use.


This fish soup turned out unexpectedly good. Another "almost naked" way of tasting fresh fish. "Naked" in this meaning - minimal cooking of the fish


Quite common to dip the fish slices in a condiment of dark soy sauce with some sliced red chilli in it, or maybe some Thai chili condiment, for a change.

Enjoy.

Tag: fish, cod, fish soup, seafood

Wontons or Wantans, savory dumplings

Wontons Dumplings
Starting from the fillings:
1. Vegetables
You can use Bok Choy, Bok Choy Sum or Chinese spinach- quickly blanch in boiling water, then drain away all excess water (make sure they are as dry as possible) and chop them very finely

Bok Choy or Bok Choy Sum can be a choice of vegetables to use. This is not fine enough -need to be chopped more finely.


Chinese spinach can be another alternative. They need to be as finely chopped as this.

2. Chicken, Pork, or Prawns
Mince them finely with cleaver or food processor (Note: Do not mince the prawns in the food processor as it will introduce a lot of moisture). Add the finely chopped vegetables to the meat/prawns.


3. Seasonings
Add some sesame oil, dashes of pepper. If pork or chicken is used, you can use some (dashes of) Chinese cooking wine as part of seasonings. Mix all the ingredients (1)-(3) thoroughly.

4. Use thin wonton wraps and make "envelope" like these. Aren't they cute and dainty?


Does this remind you of traditional Chinese gold ingots (金元宝, pronounced jin yuan bao) ?


If I could only get as close to these when I see the real Chinese gold ingots, I will be rich!

5. If not to be used immediately, place them in aluminum foil and place in freezer to store(up to 2 weeks). When ready to eat, boil a pot of water or chicken broth, when water or broth come to a boil, add in wontons and wait for them to re-boil. Add in some more water/broth, and once wontons boil the second time, they are fully cooked(wrinkled) and ready to be eaten, in soup/broth.


The boiled dumplings or wontons look like "swallowing clouds", thus also the name 云吞 (pronounced, yun tun). They were scooped out just for you to see. Now, they should return to the broth and into my stomach. :P~~~


Previous entries:
Waiter, there's something in my...bread
Waiter, there's something in my...easter basket


Tag: wontons, wantans, dumpling, savory dumpling

Szechuan hot and sour soup

Chinese /Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup (serves 3-4)
Ingredients:
-1/4-1/3 lbs ground pork (option: use shredded pork)
-1 pack silken tofu
-1 small can of bamboo shoots
-6-8 pieces of shitake mushrooms, stems removed, wipe caps with damp paper towel, julienned
-1 small pack of enoki mushrooms, bottom 2-3cm cut and removed
-handful of black fungus, julienned

-2-3tbsp of hot bean paste -辣豆瓣酱
-1 egg, whisked
-2tsp cornflour, mixed with 2-3tbsp warm water
-2cups chicken broth
-black vinegar, to taste
-spring onions, for garnish

Seasoning for pork:
-1tsp cornflour
-1tbsp cooking wine
-pinch of pepper, and salt

Before adding the hot bean paste, you would not know Szechuan hot sour soup is brewing

That' more like it, after adding the hot bean paste

Method:
1. Mix pork seasoning with pork
2. Boil in a soup pot - the chicken broth, mix with 1-2 cup water (adjust accordingly)
3. When boiling, add in black fungus, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, pork and tofu, cook for 5-6mins
4. Add in hot bean paste, stir lightly, cook further 2-3mins; then add in cornflour+water to thicken the soup
5. After soup thickens, lower the heat, add in egg and black vinegar, then turn off heat
6. Garnish with spring onions and serve
Note: The color does not tell you it's spicy. It's mild spicy. Add some chili oil for the extra heat and oomph!

Goes really well with steamed rice


Another plate of minced pork fried with french beans, Szechuan style-干煸四季豆 , will make it my meal!

Other posts:
Bittergourd soup
Doubled boiled soup
Tofu soup

Bittergourd soup

Bittergourd/Bitter Melon/Kerala soup (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-1 medium-sized bitter melon; washed, seeds removed then cut into thin strips
-1 egg, whisked
- vegetable stock (or any stock you prefer)
- dried anchovies (option)
- salt, to taste (if you are not using dried anchovies, you can add more salt)

Note:
~ can cut into bigger chunks first, scoop out the seeds with a spoon, then cut into thinner strips(julienned)
~ bitter melon is an acquired taste for some, because it is bitter. They are not named without valid reasons. To reduce bitterness, you can add some salt into water, and soak the thin strips in the water(~5mins). I guess the longer you soak, the less bitter it will be. But I like bitter gourd...bitter...so I just lightly rinse water over the bitter melon that I sprinkled some salt over


Method:
1. Boil a pot of water. When boiling, add in dried anchovies(option), then add in bittergourd
2. Since in thin strips, it does not take long for the bittergourd to cook. Approx ~ 10-15mins for the bittergourd to soften (Note: It depends. If you like some crunch to be retained, do not boil it for too long)
3. Salt, to taste
4. When ready to serve, turn off the heat, and add in the egg slowly into the soup, stir slightly

Other soup posts:
Wakame soup
Cream of mushroom soup
Tofu soup
Doubled boiled soup
Cabbage pork ball soup

Tag: vegetables, bittergourd, bitter melon, soup

Chinese-style miyuk guk- wakame soup

Chinese-style miyuk guk- wakame soup (serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
-less than 1 handful/palmful of dried vegetable, soaked to hydrate(one handful dry yielded so much)

-1 small block silken tofu, drained and cut into strips
-4 fresh shitake mushrooms, wiped with damp cloth, stalks removed
-half a bunch of enoki mushrooms
-1/4lb(or slightly less than 1/4lb) ground pork (just to flavor the soup, add some sweetness). (Note: The real Miyuk guk has beef in it)
-1 egg, lightly whisked
-1tsp shaoxing wine
-1tsp cornflour
-3tbsp black vinegar(option)
-300-400ml water
-dashes of pepper, to taste

Aren't these healthy, nutritious ingredients?

Method:
1.Add wine and cornflour into the meat to lightly marinate and flavor
2.Boil water in a small soup pot. When boiled, add the meat, assorted mushrooms, and tofu; cook and return to boil for 5-7mins

3.Add the hydrated wakame to the soup, and cook for 2-3mins
4.Add in the beaten egg slowly
5.If you like the sour taste of Szechuan Hot and Sour Soup(四川 酸辣汤), you can add some black vinegar to the soup, at this time. I did, because the truth is... (...I was craving for 四川 酸辣汤 but did not have all the ingredients at hand, so I made this soup as a substitute instead. There is no "Hot" portion of the Hot and Sour Soup in this "beauty" soup, but it was good enough for me.)
6.Serve!

Cream of mushroom soup

Cream of mushroom soup (yields 3-4 small appetizer servings)

Ingredients:
-2tbsp butter, divided use
-1/4lb crimini/white mushrooms; clean with damp paper towel, cut half quantity into slices, chop the remainder
-1/2 medium onion, chopped
-1/8 cup flour
-2cup chicken broth/water
-1/2 cup heavy cream
-salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1.Melt half the butter in a saucepan and saute sliced mushrooms until golden. Set aside.
2. Add remaining butter to the same pan, along with the chopped mushrooms and onions. Sprinkle with salt, to taste. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft

3. Return sliced mushrooms to the pan. Add flour, stir constantly about 2mins, till smooth.
4.Slowly add chicken broth while stirring. Simmer, stir often, till thickened. Add pepper, to taste.
5.Add heavy cream and bring to a simmer (Note:Do not boil)


6.Ladle into mini soup cups or bowls and......................wait wait wait, you can't drink or eat it yet (be patient...) coz' I'm not done with everything !!!

Here's the twist (not by Chubby Chucker, of course)...WATCH!

Tag: soup, mushrooms, puff pastry