A Fiery CNY Eve Lunch!

A very Happy Fiery Monkey Chinese New Year to all my Chinese fellow bloggers and readers.

Here was what we had for our reunion meal.

Steamed fish.

Thermomix stir-fried choy sum with carrots and prawns.

Steamed beancurd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Curry potato and pork.

Steamed okra with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Steamed bittergourd with minced pork (Yong Tau Foo).

Double boiled bone broth with lotus root.

Steamed chicken.

And brownies for dessert! 

Thermomix Mung Bean Soup

Ingredients:

1. 200gm mung beans (soaked overnight)
2. 4 screwpine leaves (pandan leaves)
3. 2liter water
4. Sago

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1. Soak the beans overnight. Wash them thoroughly before cooking.

2. Place beans and sago into TMX jug.

3. Add 2 liter of water.

4. Place the simmering basket inside jug with the tied up pandan leaves.

5. Place cover.

6. Set 20minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Spoon.

7. Once it is done, remove the simmering basket and pour the drink into serving bowls and serve hot. (If you like it sweet, you may add brown sugar or honey).

Bon appétit!

Chayote Pork Bone Broth

Ingredients:

1. 1kg of pork bones
2. 2 medium sized chayote (skin peeled and sliced into half)
3. Filtered water
4. Sea-salt

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1. Fill a large pot with the pork bones and chayote.

2. Fill it up with water until all ingredients are submerged.

3. Bring the water to a boil.

4. Then allow to simmer for two hours.

5. Add sea-salt to taste.

6. Serve hot.

Bon appétit!

Yellow Eel ABC Soup

Ingredients:

1. 4 thick slices of yellow eel

This is how the eel looks like.

2. Carcass of one chicken
3. 3 large potatoes (skin peeled and cut into 4 parts)
4. 2 large carrots (skin peeled and cut into half)
5. Filtered water
6. Sea-salt

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1. Put all ingredients above in a large pot and fill it with the filtered water until everything is submerged.

2. Bring the water to a boil and then simmer for two hours.

3. Serve it hot.

*Note: The fish monger told me that this eel is good for people with skin problems. It has a lot of bones and is used for boiling soup. It was so sweet and delicious.

Christmas 2014 (Part Five): The Feast!

From top (clockwise):

Salted, butter giant prawns, The Feast, baked butter corn, stir fried broccoli with carrots and baby corn, fu chok and bitter gourd chicken soup, the prawns, baked potatoes, char siew pork, Empress chicken & turkey (which was bought).

I didn't have any turkey.

Christmas 2014 (Part Three): Empress Chicken

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole free-range chicken (with skin) - rubbed thoroughly with salt (and grounded pepper IF you can tolerate)
2. Sea-salt
3. Black pepper (*Optional)

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1. 2 to 3 weeks prior to the Christmas, buy a whole free-range chicken, fresh from the market.

2. Wash it thoroughly upon reaching home.

3. Then rub salt (and pepper if you are able to consume it). Use the salt liberally.

4. Then wrap it up and keep it in the freezer.

5. Two days or a day prior to the time you want to cook it, take it out from the freezer and defrost it in the fridge.

6. Fill a large pot with enough water to soak the chicken in it.

7. Boil the whole chicken for about 40 minutes.

8. Take the whole chicken out and drain the water from the chicken.

9. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

10. Preheat oven at 230C.

11. Bake the whole chicken for approximately 50 minutes.

12. Place the whole chicken on a serving dish.

Bon appétit!

Apple Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole free-range chicken (cut into 4 parts and skin removed)
2. 3 Red Delicious apples (skin removed, core removed and cut into 4 parts)
3. Filtered water (Approximately 10 litres)
4. Sea-salt (amount is up to you)
5. Goji berry (optional)

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1. In a large pot, add the chicken, cut apples, water and sea-salt. (goji berry too if you're ok with it)

2. Boil on high heat until it bubbles.

3. Then simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

4. Serve hot with rice or noodles.

Bon appétit!

Bitter Gourd Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium-sized whole free-range chicken (antibiotic-free) (cut into 4 parts, skin removed)
2. 1 large bitter gourd (filling and seeds removed and cut into 8 parts)
3. A handful of barley
4. Filtered water (approximately 10litres)
5. Sea-salt
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1. In a large pot, add the chicken, cut bitter gourds, water and sea-salt to taste.

2. Boil on high heat until it bubbles.

3. Then simmer on low heat for 2 hours.

4. You can boil some spaghetti noodles and stir-fry some lettuce iceberg to serve together with the soup. Break some of the softened chicken meat to add to the noodle soup.

Bon appétit!

The Rice-Pot Version of Potato & Barley Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole range-free (antibiotic-free too!) chicken (cut into 4 parts-skin removed)
2. 4 medium sized potatoes (cut into 4 parts)
3. A handful of washed barley groats
4. 2 teaspoons of sea-salt

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1. Pour everything from 1 to 4 into a rice pot.

2. Fill water into pot until everything is submerged or to the highest level point.

3. Boil for two hours.

4. Serve hot with rice or noodles.

Bon appétit!

Chicken Balls Noodle Soup

Dish 1 - Chicken Balls

For recipe, click on LINK

Dish 2 - Chicken Soup

For recipe, click on LINK

Add brown rice noodles, some choy sum veggie, add the chicken balls and pour hot soup over noodles. You can also have it with a poached or microwaved egg together with this dish.

Bon appétit!

Feed the Flu with Chicken Soup!

Ever since we fell sick with the influenza b and THEN the viral and bacterial infection, the chicken soups have been keeping us nourished.

We've been drinking soup every single day until at the mere mention of soup, I will shudder and my stomach will churn at the sound of the word 'soup'.

Below is one of the soups we had during the one month duration of being sick!

Ingredients:

1. 1 whole free-range chicken cut into 4 parts. (skin removed)
2. 4 medium sized potatoes (outer layer removed)
3. 2 carrots (outer layer removed and cut into chunks)
4. Sea-salt
5. Filtered water (about 3 litres)

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1. Put ingredients 1 to 3 into a large pot.

2. Fill water into the pot until all ingredients are submerged.

3. Boil on high heat until water starts bubbling. Then turn down to low heat and boil for about 2 hours.

4. Add sea-salt to taste.

Bon appétit!

Slurp it up to fight the flu!

100% Home-Made Pumpkin+Potato Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 large pumpkin (cut into cubes)
2. 3 large potatoes (skin removed and sliced into cubes)
3. 4 tablespoons of butter (softened at room temperature)
4. 3 big onions (sliced into thin slices)
5. 1/2 bulb garlic (outer layer removed)
6. 2 cups of chicken broth
7. Sea-salt
8. Sunflower oil

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1. Heat a wok/frying pan.

2. Drizzle some sunflower oil into the wok/frying pan.

3. Add the pumpkin, potatoes, big onions and garlic and stir-fry for about 5 minutes.

4. Close the wok/frying pan with a lid and allow to simmer until potatoes soften.

5. Once the potatoes have softened, pour the mixture into a blender/food processor. Add the 2 cups of chicken broth and blend until everything is well blended.

6. Pour the blended mixture back into the pot and allow to boil. Add the butter and sea-salt.

7. Simmer for about 10 minutes.

8. Serve the soup with some buns or bread.

Bon appétit!

Salicylate-Free Black-Eye-Peas Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1. 250gm of black eye peas (washed and soaked overnight in a bowl of water)
2. 1 whole chicken (cut into 4 parts and skin-less)
3. Water
4. Sea-salt
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1. Put the peas and the whole chicken into a very large pot.

2. Fill the pot with water until the chicken is submerged.

3. Boil for 2 hours.

4. Add sea-salt to taste.

5. Serve the soup hot.

Bon appétit!

For lunch, we had the soup with rice, steamed cod fish and some stir-fried nai-pak vegetable.

For dinner, we had rice with the soup, peas and the chicken from the soup.

Salicylate-Free Barley+Chicken Soup

Soup is also sometimes called broth.

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup of barley groats

2. 1 whole chicken (cut into 4 parts)

3. 4 cups of water

4. Sea-salt

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1. Put the barley groats, chicken in to a large pot. 

2. Pour the 4 cups of water into the pot.

3. Add about 1 teaspoon of sea-salt.

4. Bring the soup to a boil then allow it to simmer for 2 hours.

5. Serve it hot. You can have it with rice and a vegetable dish.

Bon appétit!