Kelp and Nori Soup 海带紫菜汤

Kelp and nori soup.

Kelp is also known as kombu, or 海带.
Nori is the type of seaweed used to wrap sushi. The type I used today is the snack pack nori.

I was curious about this soup found in a recipe book I have. And it's a great way to use up nori snacks that have turned limp in our humid weather.

Papaya Pork Rib Soup 木瓜排骨汤

I didn't intend to boil this soup.

My BIL bought an immature papaya and although it looked ripe on the outside, inside it's still pale and crunchy. He didn't know what to do with it and so he handed it to me, so that it won't be wasted.

Night Cereus Wintermelon Soup 霸王花冬瓜煲猪骨

I first heard of this flower from Annie.
And on one of my trips to KL, I spotted this at Dai Ma Herb Shop (One Utama). The price is quite cheap, I forgot how much but surely less than RM10 and one pack can last me few pots of soup.

Blooming night cereus is from the Cactus family, cousins with the Dragonfruit. The flower is usually planted for it's fragrance, but the fragrance after it has dried is very mild.

Starfish Sea Coconut Soup 海底金星- CNY spread #1

海底金星... sea coconut, carrot and starfish 海底椰，金笋，海星.

My kids squealed when they saw the starfish in the soup. Haha! Such a delight.
And my girl asked me to cook it again. She likes the taste.

I made this soup some time ago when I had guests for dinner. No one ever tasted starfish in anything before. No one said no to this bowl of soup. I'm glad everyone didn't feel disgusted.

Sliced Beef Soup ~ Sup Daging @ My Fav Ala-Thai #2

My low carbo fix for supper cravings!
This is what I will order if I want something light for the tummy. I know....  'light'... *laughing cheekily*

Ala-Thai eateries usually will have a big pot of beef broth in their kitchen, mainly from boiling the beef chunk for their beef stir fry dishes.

Singapore Teochew Bak Kut Teh - Singapore AFF #1

The Bak Kut Teh that I grew up eating in Malaysia is brown and herby. Pungent with angelica (dongguai) and comes  with 'spare parts'.

In Singapore, it is actually quite different from the ones we eat here. It looks pale and resembles the familiar pepper soup, but it is so much more garlicky, in a good way.

Chogyetang @ Vinegar Mustard Chicken Soup - AFF Korean Soups #3

Chogyetang....a delicious summer soup from Pyong Yang, North Korea.

Not much recipes on the internet, somehow felt lucky to find a North Korean soup recipe in English.

Cho meant vinegar, gye is mustard and tang is soup.

Galbitang @ Korean Beef Rib Soup - AFF Korean Soups #2

The local market nearby often has the whole rack of beef ribs hanging at the beef stall. Usually I will see them, drooling... haha, yeah, they are raw. But I'm trying to imagine how nice they will taste. This is usually not available in my hometown.

When I saw this recipe, I knew I will have the chance to cook it as I know it's easily available now.
The butcher had to use an axe to chop the ribs, and if you were to see it being done.. you will know these cows are well nourished with calcium, hahaha. Local cows are grass fed. So much energy went into chopping them small.

Kongnamul Guk @ Soybean Sprout Soup - AFF Korean Soups #1

From where did I hear of this soup? The Korean show Full House. Rain, the actor keep on asking the lady, Ji Eun to cook this for him. I wondered... bean sprout soup? How nice can it be? Kind of bland as I imagined it.

Kongnamul Guk is a popular breakfast soup, and it it also used for hangover relief.
I went through a few recipes, as some really is plainly salt, water and beansprouts. I chose the most complex version of it, with garlic, chilli and stock :)

Zucchini Salted Egg Quick Soup - Zucchini Courgette #2

I cooked this dish based on another common quick soup in Cantonese cuisine, that is the Hairy Marrow Soup (毛瓜汤).

I thought, why not cook zucchini or courgettes this way too! As they are squashes and taste soooo sweet.
I liked the result, and so did my kids.

Chinese Cabbage Rolls in Broth - Chinese Cabbage #2

This idea of doing something like this has been in my head for quite some time after seeing these on Anne's blog.

Finally I got it done and there are some regrets to it. I think my filling needs some changes. It's tender, but a bit too tender for me, it doesn't fall apart, but.. then.. maybe I should just skip the egg, give the mince more workout, because I used frozen mince, which tends to be softer than fresh. But it was well received by my kids and Lydia could eat up one large roll herself and asking for more, LOL.

Snakehead Fish Soup with Sweet Corn and Huaishan 生鱼粟米淮山汤 - Fishy fishy #2

Not that slithery snake!
It's the type of fish with a head that looks like snake. Locally prized as a wound healer. It's known as "Sang Yue" or ikan haruan.

Whenever someone has an operation done, or an open wound, this soup will be very suitable. Don't think that I have wounds, haha. We drank this just as a regular soup for dinner.

Chinese Yam Chicken Soup - Chicken Soup # 3

Most of us are used to having soups made with dried Huai Shan. Of recent years, there are also fresh Huai Shan. Some call this nagaimo or Chinese Yam.

Yes, this is a true yam because it is from the family of Dioscorea. Wu Tao 芋头 or Taro is not a yam, botanically, because it's from the family of Araceae. I know it's confusing...

Peanut Chicken Feet Soup - Chicken Soup # 2

Woah...did I have you disgusted?

It's a pretty common soup for the Chinese. And pretty tasty too!
During confinement, we consume a lot a lot of chickens. And we end up with lots and lots of chicken feet or claws. Lots.

Shallot Chicken Soup - Chicken Soup # 1

Let the recipes be light this week.
I know most parents are busy with exams, right?
I'm lucky my kids aren't at this stage yet. If not you'll see me like a Lion King everyday!

Miyeok Guk, Korean Seaweed Soup - Confinement Month # 9

My brother went to Korea lately and bought a large pack of Korean seaweed for his wife and I.  My SIL just had a baby, Arianna 5 weeks before Reuben came by. Yes, he is Reuben for life now. It's black and white in his birth certificate. My dear brother then bought the beef stock powder from Jaya Grocer, googled up a recipe, passed to my mom and taught my mom how to prepare it for my SIL who was in confinement at that time.

Mustard Green and Oyster Soup - Brassica Trio # 3

Days are hot. I’m boiling herbal drinks almost every day to cool down.

Mustard greens taste bitter. It’s the only bitter veggie that I consume, and not only consume, you can say I’m like crazy for it. I won’t be able to resist any dish with this. Be it the “rubbish vege” that we do with leftover dishes, or the banquet dish of Mustard Greens with Mushrooms, or just a simple stir fry of Mustard Greens, I can never ever resist the sight of it. I must eat and eat a lot of it. I'm insane for it.

When my saw some mustard greens at Tesco, my mind immediately remembered this soup that I’ve bookmarked for a quite a few months. My MIL said, “Won’t this be too cooling if made into soup?”. Well, to me, isn’t it perfect for this crazily hot weather? We definitely need something super cooling.
But then, just in case it’s too “cool”, I left the red dates unseeded. If you want it to be very very cool, then remove the seeds.

Mustard Green Soup
Recipe source: Foodie’s Kitchen

750gm mustard green
400gm pork soup bones or ribs
150gm carrots
20gm/4 dried oysters
4 shitake mushrooms (mine were was big as Marie biscuits when soaked, use more if yours are smaller), soaked
30gm/15 red dates
2L water

1. Bring water to boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel and cut carrots into slanting chunks.
3. Rinse oysters put them into the pot.
4. Score the red dates and put them in
5. Separate each leaf from of the mustard green and wash to remove sand. Separate the petioles(the hard crunchy parts of the leaf) and the soft leaf parts. Cut the petioles into chunks and tear the soft leaf parts into smaller pieces.
6. When water has come to a boil, put in pork ribs and bring back to a boil.
7. Put in mustard petioles and bring to a boil for 10 minutes. Reduce to a simmer for 1hour.
8. Put in soft mustard leaves and bring back to a boil. Simmer for another hour.
9. Season with salt and serve.

Broccoli Cheese and Salmon Soup - Brassica Trio # 2

This is one very very very delicious soup.

I wanted to try making broccoli soup, and it so happened that I have a salmon steak in my freezer. Salmons are very sweet. They make everything they swim in (well, they’re dead in the pot of course) extra tasty, extra sweet. And when my hubby saw me use the salmon he told me to buy few days back in the soup, he said, “Then what porridge shall I eat later??”. Haha, he intended the salmon to be for his favourite porridge, his salmon seafood congee.

There was no need to throw in any stock cubes or anything. It’s very very very flavourful on its own. With each spoon that my MIL downed, “Oh, this is fattening, but this is good. “ and took seconds and thirds. Hahahaha!!! She was surprised that my FIL the veggie hater, finished his bowl of broccoli soup too.  It’s good to puree veggie and hide it in his diet.

 This soup has cream, butter, cheese…. Fat fat fat!!! But then it’s what makes me love this soup even more. *evil grin*

Come on, I don’t drink this type of soup even once a month, ok!

Broccoli Cheese and Salmon SoupRecipe refered to get the general idea: Kitchen Bitch  Major modifications made my WendyywyServes: 4-6 depending on portion size

250gm salmon (1 large steak)
4 cups water
500gm broccoli(2 heads), stem peeled and chopped, florets cut small
2 Tbsp butter
1 onion (about 100gm), chopped
2 cloves garlic, sliced
Salt and generous amount of pepper
¾ cup cream
1 heaped Tbsp all purpose flour +1/4 cup water
3 slices of cheddar cheese

1. Bring water to a boil and put in salmon steak, turn heat to low and let it simmer for 10 minutes, lid covered. Turn off the heat and fish out the salmon. Let the salmon cool down for flaking later. Save the broth, do not discard it.
2. In another pot, on medium heat butter until melted and put in garlic and onions and cook until translucent. Turn heat to high
3. Put in broccoli stems and cook for 30 seconds and then put in the florets. Cook until the broccoli is well coated with the butter and smells good
4. Pour in half of reserved salmon stock and bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes after it has boiled, until the broccoli is tender, but not mushy.
5. Let it cool down for 5 minutes before you blitz it with an immersion blender or a jug blender. If using jug blender, make sure you have an opening in the lid, if not it’ll pop open when you turn on the blender and everything will be in a mess.
6. Meanwhile, flake the fish. Be careful and remove all bones, especially the “side” bones
7. Bring blended soup back to a boil, add in balance of salmon stock. When it has boiled, add in cream.
8. Thicken it with flour mixture and season the soup with salt and pepper.
9. Put the flaked salmon back into the pot and turn off the heat. Put in cheese slices and stir to melt.

Clams in Broth 上汤蝲蝲

Lala is the local name for the clams used here. It's a thin shelled clam that is not found countrywide naturally. But sold countrywide. Maybe for the peninsula only. I'm not sure. East Malaysians, would be glad to get your clarification on this.

I'm not the type of person that consumes all molluscs. I don't like mussels and oysters. But I like them in soups, but don't ask me to bite into one. I CANNOT comsume cockles, no matter how tasty they are, no. I'd be in the toilet the whole day. I like scallops but they are too pricey. So, the cheapest and tastiest for me is Lala.
Used to be cheaper, but recently due to low supplies, prices hit RM8kg, which is considered rather pricey.

Lalas are very sweet, but they are dirty. They live in mud, not sand beds. So, you must wash them internally before cooking.
How to wash the insides? Soak them in salt water(as salty as the sea), not fresh water. If not, you'd kill them. You don't want to eat dead clams. When they sense there is salty water around them they will open up their shells and this way, the mud in them wil be spit out as well. Soak for a few hours at least. And never ever chill your lalas, you'd kill them too. Buy them the day you want to eat. If you intend to cook it for dinner but bought it in the morning, keep them alive in salt water. After cooked, do not eat any closed clams. Only eat opened up clams.

If you intend to cook them with a thick gravy, do not dump them straight into your wok. They'd release so much moisture you will have soup at the end and not thick gravy. Parboil the lalas before adding into you favourite gravy. You can check out my Spicy LaLa post.

But today, I intend to cook this with something light and clear. With broth. My hubby was estatic when he knew I was cooking lala for dinner, but when he saw I cooked it in broth, he said, 'Ohh Wasted. I thought you're going to cook spicy lala." But in the end, he slurped every bit of the broth, took 2nds and 3rds. Licking the bowl clean each time. Hahah! Never judge a book by its cover, or maybe a broth by it's colour.

This dish is inspired by Shogun. A Japanese buffet restaurant in Klang Valley. I know it's not one of the best places to eat Japanese food, but just close one eye for the price that one pays. They have this 'clams in superior stock' that I'd eat by the bowlsful each time I go there. My hubby wonders why. Hahaha. I did not use superior broth, but just frugal dried anchovies and this is good enough for us. The soup was cleared up by only 4 adults. MSG free and absolutely SWEEEEEEEEET!

Clams in Broth
Recipe source: Wendyywy

1kg lala clam
1/2 bowl dried anchovies, rinsed
1 L water

2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed, do not chop
2 shallots, sliced
2 inch ginger, julienned
2 Tbsp goji berries (wolfberry)
Large handful of Chinese Celery / Kan Choy/ Daun sup
2 Tbsp Shao Xing Wine
Salt to taste

1. In a small pot, put in 1 tsp oil and saute rinsed anchovies for a while. Put in water and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook until broth turns whitish.
2. Soak lalas in salt water for few hours. Wash and rinse a few times in fresh water just before cooking. Removing clams with only mud in them. Some clams were long dead and the shells were filled with mud instead.
3. Heat a bigger pot /wok and put in 1 Tbsp oil. Put in smashed garlic and sliced shallots and cook until fragrant, no need to be golden.
4. Put in rinsed lalas and pour in hot strained broth. Add more water if needed. Put in ginger.
5. Bring a boil and season with salt.
6. Put in goji berries and cook until clams have opened up. Turn off the heat and put in Chinese celery and Shao Xing Wine.

Don't forget that I'm posting Mon-Fri.

See you on Monday.

Berry Week

Beef Soup with Waterchestnuts and Wintermelon - Soup Week #6

I had some waterchestnuts on hand and I remember this soup with beef in my soup book. Then when I checked the ingredients, sugarcane???? Where to get fresh ones? Then I came to think of it, should be the dry ones at herbal shops. Then when I went there,I found that it comes prepacked, and there's couchgrass root in it too. So I bought the pack home to later pick out whatever I needed. But there are no Chinese almonds in it, so I asked the herbalist to pack some for me separately.

Frankly there’s not much beef smell or taste. But the soup itself is sweet, but lacks a savoury meaty end. It does need more salt than most of the soups that I’ve done (my slow simmered soups usually need minimal soup to lend a salty end), maybe due to the high amount of non meat compounds, or the absence of seafood ingredients. Anyway, this is good for you.

Try this if you would like to clear heat, promote urination, detoxify and nourish the skin.

Beef Soup with Waterchestnuts and Wintermelon
Recipe Source: Soups for Expelling Dampness and Heat, by Chiu Sang
200gm beef
750gm winter melon
200gm water chestnuts (about 7 pcs)
150gm carrots
80gm dried sugarcane
10gm sweet Chinese almonds 南杏
10gm dried couchgrass 白茅根
2L water
Handful of coriander for sprinkling

1. Bring water to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, peel water chestnuts and cut carrots.
3. Scrub skin of wintermelon clean, remove seeds and cut into chunks.
4. Rinse dried sugarcane and couchgrass.
5. Cut beef into smaller pieces.
6. Put everything into the boiling water, bring back to a boil and let it simmer on low heat for 2 hours.
7. Sprinkle coriander into hot soup before serving.

What's up on Monday?

Fruit Week