Ginseng & Chicken Soup 人参鸡汤

Ginseng & Chicken Soup 人参鸡汤

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

I have a box of ginseng roots which has been sitting in my refrigerator for sometime now. It was a lovely gift. However, we were not too sure of its strength or the potency of these little roots for fear of ending up "over-heating" our bodies. I decided to ask the herbal shop proprietor. He advised that I should add in some red dates, wolfberries and some Solomon's seal or "yook chuk" in Cantonese. According to him, the addition of these herbs will counter the "heaty" properties of the ginseng root.

After boiling for three hours we have a pot of very nutritious ginseng soup. The yook chuk had imparted a natural sweetness to the soup.

We are glad that we did not feel any "over-heating" after the addition of Solomon's seal to brew this very nutritious soup.

Ingredients

1 small dried ginseng root
1/2 stewing chicken (old hen) cut into two large pieces
1 tbsp wolfberries, or kei-chi
6 red dates, pitted
30g Solomon's seal or yook chuk
2.5 litres water
1 1/2 tsp salt

 A gift set of ginseng roots

 It's sufficient to use only 1 small root 

 Left :  red dates. Middle : Solomon's seal or yook chuk. Right :  wolfberries

Method

1.  Bring 2.5 litres of water to a boil
2.  Add in all the Chinese herbs, ginseng root and stewing chicken.
3.  Once it comes to a boil again, reduce to small flame and continue to boil for 3 hours.
4.  Add in salt and switch off flame.
5.  Ready to serve.

Stir-fried Mushroom & Tofu

Stir-fried Mushroom & Tofu

Recipe source :  Y3K magazine, Issue No. 57, 11/12-2010 ( by Lydia Fujikawa )

Cooking this dish is truly no fuss and so healthy. You can eat this with white rice but we find this super appetising with plain porridge. Everything is soft and easy on our digestive system! 

Ingredients

150g five-spice tofu, cut into thin slices
150g white shimeji mushrooms, remove the roots
2 tbsp cooking oil

Seasoning

2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
A pinch of sugar

Method

1.  Heat a frying pan until hot, add oil and fry the tofu slices until slightly brown on both sides.
2.  Remove and set aside.
3.  In the same wok, stir-fry the shimeji mushrooms over high heat until soft.
4.  Add in seasoning and fried tofu slices. Mix well.
5.  Dish up and garnish with chopped spring onion (optional ).

Watercress Soup 西洋菜汤

Watercress Soup 西洋菜汤

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours

I decided to boil this for my family.  I like to drink this watercress soup which is served by the vendor selling mixed vegetarian rice near my office. I took note of the ingredients they used and made some adjustments of my own.

This is the first time I boil savoury soup without any meat. Being so used to having meat in soups, I was initially very worried that this concoction may not turn out well. As the soup was boiling, I have to keep reminding myself that the meatless soup served at the vegetarian outlets tastes wonderful, so mine would taste superb too!

I am so happy that this combination of ingredients blended beautifully to make the soup so clear and sweet.  A sweetness that is so natural and pleasing to the palate.  I just love the aroma of the mushroom stems in the soup. 

This soup is full of natural goodness! It is fat-free. It does not contain any monosodium glutamate. It's very nice!

And watercress is good for clearing heat from our bodies.

Ingredients

150g soy beans ( soaked for 2 to 3 hours )
50g mushroom stems
50g red dates, roughly chopped
50g dried chestnuts ( soaked overnight )
300g watercress
2500ml water
 

Method

1.  Place the first four ingredients into a large pot and add in 2500ml water.
2.  Bring to a boil over high heat.
3.  Reduce fire to low and allow soup to simmer for 2 hours or until the beans and chestnuts are soft.
4.  Add in watercress and continue to boil for a further 30 minutes.
5.  Add salt to taste. 

Fat-free and meatless
Very nice!

Brined Roast Chicken With Vegetables

Brined Roast Chicken With Vegetables

Recipe source : Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

Turkey is popular and is the preferred choice for Christmas celebrations. However, cooking a turkey would be too big for a small family. We would have to settle for a smaller bird and chicken would be the best choice for us.

Last Christmas my friend prepared a brined roast chicken which was very delicious. She told me to just soak the chicken in brine before roasting. Sounded very simple and I wanted to try it. However, time flies and one full year had gone by while I procrastinated. But then again, come to think of it, the time is just right to roast this for Christmas!

Despite soaking the bird with so much salt in the water, the chicken was not overly salty. The skin was very crispy while the meat was juicy and tasted just right and fragrant. The vegetables were exceptionally sweet, the type of natural sweetness which left us wanting more!

Ingredients

1 plump chicken
1 cup sea salt
1000 ml hot water
3000 ml cold water
2 tbsp unsalted butter
Freshly ground pepper
4 fresh thyme sprigs
4 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 yellow onion, cut into quarters
1 small carrot, cut into pieces
1 small radish, cut into pieces

Rosemary

Thyme

Method

1.  In a large plastic container or a stainless steel pot large enough to hold the chicken, stir and dissolve the sea salt with hot water. Add in the cold water and stir. Rinse the chicken, then submerge it in the brine. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours or more. 
2.  Preheat oven to 200 degree C.
3.  Remove the chicken from brine and pat dry with paper towels. Rub with unsalted butter and season inside and out with pepper.
4.  Place the thyme and rosemary sprigs into the chicken cavity.
5.  Place the chicken on its side on a rack and roast for 30 minutes.
6.  Turn over to the other side and roast for another 30 minutes.
7.  While chicken is roasting, prepare the radish, onion and carrot. Add a sprig or two of rosemary and thyme to the vegetables. Toss the vegetables with 2 tbsp cooking oil and season with pepper and salt. 
8.  Place vegetables into roasting pan. Remove chicken from rack and place chicken on its back on top of the vegetables and continue to roast for a further 20 minutes. Rotate the chicken so that its back faces up and roast for another 20 minutes to ensure even roasting all over.
9.  The skin should be crisp and brown. 

 I am submitting this post to Cook & Celebrate Christmas 2014

Organised by Yen from Eat your heart out, Diana from Domestic Goddess Wannabe and 

Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids

 

I am also linking this post to MTR # 4 Ho Ho Ho It's Christmas time ( Dec 2014 )

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

Dong Bo Pork 东坡肉

Dong Bo Pork 东坡肉

Recipe source :  Adapted from  Table for two....or more

Of late, my family has been obsessed with this dish. Whenever we eat out, my son would insist on ordering this Dong Bo Pork. 

Legend has it that this dish was named after the famous poet, So Dong Bo from the Song Dynasty. If the legend is true, So Dong Bo was certainly a great connoisseur of food besides being a very famous poet.

This dish seems to be in popular demand in my family.  I decided to make it at home. I had a hard time deciding which recipe to follow as there are so many recipes available online and there were a few variations to making this famous Dong Bo pork. 

Ingredients

1 kg pork belly
150g spring onions
50g ginger
130ml shao hsing wine
100g rock sugar
20g dark soya sauce
100g light soy sauce
500ml water

Method

1.  Bring a pot of water to the boil and scald the pork belly for 5 minutes. Drain.
2.  Cut spring onions into sections and line the base of an earthen pot. 
3.  Slice ginger and sprinkle the ginger slices over the spring onions.
4.  Place the pork belly onto the ginger and spring onions, skin side down.
5.  Pour in the soy sauce and sugar. Then add wine and water. Make sure the pork is almost covered with water/liquid.
6.  Bring the pot to the boil over high heat. Once it boils, reduce to low heat and simmer for about 2 hours. Need to flip the pork over halfway and simmer until the pork is tender.
7.  Remove pork and place on a plate and steam over high heat for 30 minutes.
8.  Pour gravy over pork.