Recipe: Wild Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

• 40g butter
• 1 medium onion, peeled and diced
• 250g fresh mushrooms (Portobello, white and brown button), sliced
• 600ml water
• 1 vegetable stock cube
• 1 potato, medium size, peeled and diced
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 cup white cooking wine
• salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Add the butter to a large pot and melt over medium heat
2. Add theonion and cook until soft
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes.
4. Add water, stock cube, potatoes and parsley.
5. Add white cooking wine.
   Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes.
   Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor.
6. Leave about 200 ml of mixture un-pureed, so that can get to eat the mushroom chunks.
7. Return mixture to the pot. Season with salt and pepper, and stir.

If possible, toast bread and spread whatever you want on it. Like maybe garlic spread or something. It will taste nicer. I'm never a fan of very creamy soups. I prefer wild mushroom soup, especially those dark coloured ones. so imagine my delight when i found this recipe. No more campbelle mushroom soup!!

Recipe: Apple with Pork Ribs soup

Need I sae more about the ingredients? the name of the soup says it all. Seriously, soup making can be really easy and tasty and this one in particular, is very refreshing.

Ingredients:

1. 2-3 Red Apples
2. 1 onion, cut in chunks
3. Pork Ribs or shoulder meat
4. 6 red dates

Instructions:

1. Blanch the pork ribs, drain and run under cold water, to get rid of the fats
2. Cut the apples and the onions
3. Put everything into the pot to boil. Slow cooker even better because can boil until meat soft soft and all the flavour in. Yummy!

I love having fruits in soup. See how we mix them and what kind. This is sort of a cooling soup. Very suitable for the hot weather now and for people who are stressed in exams. LIKE ME. haha.. so sorry if this blog is lacking of posts. Try to get a few entries up here and there. dun give up on us yea! =)

Food: Taiwan Cup Noodles

you must be wondering what's so great about cup noodles. well this is no ordinary cup noodles! read on..

my friend was raving all about the taiwan cup noodles. that was the only thing he requested from his parents to get from taiwan when they went for a holiday. i was very curious how good the cup noodles from taiwan can be, so my friend gave me one to try to experience the goodness of it myself. goshhhh! was he damn right! THIS IS THE BEST CUP NOODLES I'VE EVER EATEN!!

really yi du zan! (translate: praise all the way!)

with the ingredients inside.

wonder what's that extra big packet of stuff doing there?? you dont usually find it in your normal cup noodles. hmmm, i'll tell you later!

let me show you the steps for preparing this awesome cup noodles!

first, of course you have the noodles!

here are the different stuff to be added to the noodles. add the 2 packets right at the bottom first. followed by the big orange one and then the small chilli paste packet.

adding in the 2 small packets of seasoning

next, add in the water.

as you cook the noodles, put the orange packet on top of the noodles to warm it. this is a special instruction from my friend. maybe this is the secret to why the noodles taste so nice! ;)

tada! ok lah i suddenly realise for those who know chinese, you would have guessed what the orange packet contain. yes, it's meat!! and not the fake meat kind! it's authentic KOU ROU! (translate: braised pork i think)

tell me which instant noodle in singapore has large chunks of meat!! very chewable! haha! and very very tasty too!

look at the meat! anyway, add the chilli paste.

before mixing everything up.

yeah. it's now ready for consumption!

gosh! the first bite was yummmmms! and i gobbled everything up at 3am in the morning. how sinful mans! but really the best best BEST cup noodles i've ever tasted!! so everyone, if you are going to taiwan, please buy a carton back!! definitely worth it! haha! i hope they have this cup noodles in shanghai! i'll definitely ship back a whole cargo!! =p

Recipe: Potato soup with pork ribs and carrot

Also known as ABC soup.

Ingredients:

• Carrots
• Pork ribs
• Potato
• 1 tbsp chinese wolfberry
• 3 dried red dates
• water
• salt and pepper (if necessary or preference)

Instructions:

1. Blanch the pork ribs, drain and run under cold water, to get rid of the fats
2. Peel the carrots and potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces
3. Bring water to boil, add ribs, carrots and potatoes
4. Simmer for 30 mins. Add salt and pepper to taste (if needed)
5. Boil longer if you want the potatoes and carrots to be soft

If you don't want dark coloured looking soup, don't add the red dates and wolfberry. Can try adding onion it. Not the whole onion of course, you would have to cut it up into small pieces as well. Adding onion is the type of ABC soup that my grandma used to make for me. Hand me down recipe!

Like i always cannot emphasise enough, simply less than 1 hour of effort and you get home cooked soup and nothing can beat home cooked meal. Soups are powerful stuff, lots of people like it, women used it to capture the stomach of their men, mothers used it to give their children warmth and comfort. as a very soupy person myself, i love to make soup for others as well. start with simple recipes, maybe i can try western soups next time too.

Recipe: Claypot Rice

Seriously, if you guys are looking for professional recipes here, I have to admit, I'm not up to that kind of standard yet. What I try to do here is come up with very easy things to cook, so that despite our busy schedules, we can always have a taste of home-cooked food. Not to mention, quickly cooked food as well. So here goes my claypot rice:

Ingredient:

• Meat (chicken or pork, some people like pork belly, of course health wise, you guys should know which to choose)
• 6 shitake mushrooms (soak in hot water for 30 minutes and cut into halves)
• Cabbage
• 1 stalk scallion (chopped) - optional (for garnishing)
• 2 Chinese sausage (sliced) - optional

Instructions:

1. Cut the cabbage into pieces or strips, depending on preference
2. Cut the mushroom
3. Cut the meat and season it with pepper, light soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce
4. After washing the rice, with the correct amount of water in it, add in 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of dark sauce, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and half a teaspoon of salt.
5. Put the rice into rice cooker to cook
6. At the same time, heat up the wok with a little oil and fry the meat and shitake mushrooms.
7. Add in the cabbage and continue to stir fry
8. Quickly stir-fry the chicken until half-cooked
9. Add the chicken and mushrooms into the rice cooker when the rice is almost dry and continue to cook till rice is completely cooked.
10. After the rice is cooked, keep warm for 15 mins before serving.

and yes, we used the rice cooker to cook this claypot rice, for convenient purpose. If you prefer claypot version, simply transfer your rice into the claypot and continue cooking it over low heat. Must be low heat to prevent overcooking. and if u used scallion, simply slice it and throw into the rice when it's cooked. letting the scallion stay in the rice while it's being warmed.

and if u choose to cook with chinese sausage, cook it at the same time with the meat.

quite easy right?

Recipe: Mui Fan

I always encourage people to cook at home, even if it's just for one. I feel that only by this way, we can control what we eat, how much salt, MSG or anything else for that matters.

So this is just a simple meal to cook. If you don't like rice, u can always do Hor Fun with Kway teow. Very flexible.

Ingredient:

• Eggs
• Cornstarch
• Garlic
• Veggie, best is Cai Xin
• Meat or seafood, whatever you want. If use chicken or pork, best to use lean pork or chicken fillet/breast
• Chicken Stock

Instructions:

1. Cook rice
2. If use pork or chicken, marinate them with one tablespoon of light sauce, sesame oil and a dash of pepper.
3. Put one cube of Chicken Stock (Preferably the one with No Added MSG) in a pot of water and boil. Don't add too much water, or else you will dilute the taste. If you want, can do tasting after boil, to see if too salty.
4. Cut the garlic cloves, not too much, maybe 2 cloves.
5. Fry the garlic, in a wok, with one table spoon of olive oil (oilve oil for healthy living) until it turn golden brown
6. Add the chicken stock into the wok
7. Slowly add in the ingredients, put vegetables last
8. Add in cornstarch, must keep stirring to prevent lumps. Alternatively, can add corn starch into a separate bowl of water. slowly stir then add into the wok.
9. As a chef, we must always test our food and make necessary adjustments as deem fit. If it's slightly diluted, then salt is permitter. Remember, we don't want too much salt!
10. Crack an egg into a bowl, beat it and slowlt add in the work, stirring it constantly.
11. Get the rice from the cooker and pour this gravy onto of the rice and we have what the picture showed above!

I used chicken, fish, caixin and oyster mushroom (surprise myself) for the above creation. Time taken was less than 30 mins. Simple and easy!

If you like Hor fun instead, just buy kway teow, washed it, drained it of all the oil. Fry some garlic with olive oil in a wok then throw in the kway teow. Add in dark soy sauce and fry to even out the dark soy sauce. then put the kway teow one side before we start the gravy. Hor Fun is cooked then.