Chinese New Year Dish : Fatt Thieu Cheong/Monk Jumped Over The Wall 佛跳墙

Chinese New Year Dish : Fatt Thieu Cheong/Monk Jumped Over The Wall 佛跳墙

Recipe source :  Doris Choo of Sumptuous Flavours (after listening to narration of a shop proprietor's basic instructions)

Fables had it that this soup was so fragrant that a monk jumped over a wall to trace and followed the wonderful aroma of this soup. The fable became a reality today in my home! The aroma that wafted from the steam oven was truly delicious as the soup was stewing. We all knew it would be great without having to taste it!

Finally I get to taste my own home-styled version of this much fabled "fatt thieu cheong". Thanks to the shop proprietor who persuaded me to buy these mini abalone way before shops started stocking up Chinese New Year goodies. 

Anyway, one of my children was back early for Chinese New Year and has to work during the festive season. So, we decided to celebrate with him first before he goes back to work. My family finds this very delicious. The dried baby abalone which had been soaked for 5 days until soft and then steamed for 3 hours tasted succulent and juicy. In fact we preferred this dried variety to the canned ones. Each springy bite is filled with the rich aroma and wholesome goodness of authentic abalone. Good! Really good!

Truly awesome to the last drop!

Note : the instruction to soak the dried abalone for 5 days until soft was taught by the shop proprietor who sold these abalone.

Ingredients

5 mini dried abalone
1/2 old chicken, quartered
40g dried fish maw(optional)
3 big dried scallops
5 red dates, pitted
1 tbsp wolf berries
6 slices pau-sum
3 pieces wai-san
4 dried mushrooms, soaked until soft
800ml water
2 slices old ginger
1 tbsp rice wine
salt  (optional )

Dried mini abalone

Mini abalone - after soaking for 5 days in the fridge

Dried scallops

Dried mushrooms

From left to right : wolfberries, pau-sum, red dates, wai-san

Method

1.  Soak dried abalone for 5 days until soft. Leave them in the refrigerator. Clean them properly before use.
2.  Soak fish maw until soft. Add 1 tsp vinegar into about 500ml water. Bring to a boil and boil the soaked fish maw to remove the fishy smell and the oily odour. Repeat process if the fishy smell is not removed after the first boiling. Alternatively you can leave out the fish maw if you find preparing it too troublesome because fish maw by itself has little taste.
3.  Place chicken, Chinese herbs and all the ingredients into a ceramic pot. Add in water. 
4.  Steam over high heat for 3 to 4 hours until the old chicken is tender.

Simply irresistible!

The mini abalones were succulent and juicy !

This is absolutely delicious!

The taste is just out-of-this-world!

No wonder there is so much hype about the monk jumping over the wall !

I am linking this post to My Treasured Recipes #5 - Chinese New Year Goodies Jan/Feb 2015

Hosted by Miss B of Everybody Eats Well In Flanders 

and co-hosted by Charmaine of Mimi Bakery House

I am also linking this post to Cook and Celebrate CNY : 2015

Orgainsed by Yen of Eat Your Heart Out , Zoe of Bake For happy Kids and 

Diana of Domestic Goddess Wannabe

  

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.

Steamed Black Chicken And Dried Fig Soup

Steamed Black Chicken And Dried Fig Soup

Recipe source :  Doris Choo @ Sumptuous Flavours


Black chicken is believed by the Chinese to be "poh" that is, it can boost your energy level.. When it is combined with Chinese herbs, dried scallops and mushrooms a tasty and nutritious soup is brewed. 

Try to remove as much fat as possible from the chicken before steaming. Otherwise the soup will be very oily.  

SK and I like this soup . We find it  tasty and naturally sweet. But  then the old saying  "one man's meat is another man's poison" holds true. My youngest son, YS, refused to eat the black chicken. To him the black chicken is yucky!

Ingredients

1kg black chicken
20g Solomon's seal      ( yook chook in Cantonese )
30g dried figs

20g dried mushrooms

1 tsp wolf berries
4 medium-sized dried scallops ( 20g )
2 slices ginger
1 tsp salt
1.2 litres water

 

Method

1. Chop off the head and feet of the black chicken. Cut the black chicken into halves.

2.  Soak dried mushrooms until soft. Remove the stems.
3.  Place the chicken pieces into a large casserole. make sure the casserole has a tight-fitting lid.

4.  Add in Solomon's seal, dried figs, mushrooms, wolf berries, ginger slices and dried scallops into the casserole.

5.  Pour water into the casserole and cover it.

6.  Steam over boiling water for 2 1/2 hours.

7.  Remove the casserole and add in salt. Stir to mix well.

Peanut Porridge With Century Eggs 花生皮蛋粥

  Peanut Porridge With Century Eggs 花生皮蛋粥

Recipe source :  Doris Choo


We had this great tasting porridge for Sunday brunch. The night before, I overheard my daughter and son talking about  porridge. Apparently, my daughter read somewhere that freezing rice which had been washed and soaked overnight before boiling them, cuts down on the cooking time. I think it was my son who said that Hong kong-style porridge uses chicken stock for the extra oomph!

Out of curiosity, I wanted to try out what I heard. I checked out my pantry and noted that I have the essential ingredients to try out the theories. I am happy to share that both theories are very true! The frozen rice turned to porridge pretty fast but because I used Chinese herbs in my porridge, I had to boil it for a longer period of time in order for the flavours from the herbs to be released and be infused into the porridge. 

My family likes to have century eggs in our savoury porridge. Since I have some in my pantry, well, I added in the century eggs for the extra flavour.  And that's when it occurred to me that I can link this porridge to Little Thumbs Up's egg event ! 

Ingredients

200g rice, washed and soak with enough water to cover the rice. Freeze the rice and water overnight.
100g peanuts, soak in 1/2 tsp of lye water and boil for 15 minutes. Then rinse thoroughly.
40g dried scallops
20g wai san （ 淮山）
1 tbsp wolfberries （纪子）
2 century eggs
10 century quail eggs
2 tbsp ginger oil
1 litre chicken stock
1 litre water
2 tsp salt, or to taste 

 Two varieties of century eggs - chicken and quail eggs

Instructions

1.  Pour 1 litre of water together with the chicken stock into a medium-sized pot.
2.  Add the frozen rice and water into the pot.
3.  Add wai san, wolfberries, partially soften peanuts and dried scallops into the pot.
4.  Boil until the wai san and wolf berry are softened and the rice grains are broken.
5.  Add salt to taste
6.  Add ginger oil and ginger crisps.
7.  Add in the century eggs. 

I am linking this post to Baby Sumo of Eat Your Heart Out

This event is linked to Little Thumbs Up

The event is organised by Zoe of Bake For Happy Kids

and Doreen of My Little Favourite DIY

The ingredient for August is 'egg'

Chicken In Tin Foil

Chicken In Tin Foil

Recipe source :  Adapted from Hong Kong Cookbook

I made some adaptions to the original recipe from the cookbook. I omitted ham and added mushrooms slices and wolfberries. I steamed the chicken packages over boiling water instead of baking the chicken packages in a pre-heated oven. 

When the packages were opened, the aroma that wafted out was heavenly. Ginger, wine and spring onions always combine well together. 

Bon Appetit !

Ingredients

3 large chicken drumsticks ( whole thighs )
20g young ginger, thinly shredded
3 pieces of dried mushrooms ( soak until soft and cut into thin slices ) 
2 stalks spring onions, cut into sections of 5 cm
1 tsp wolfberry, wash and soak in 4 tbsp warm water
3 pieces of tin foil, 45 cm x 45 cm

 Marinade

3 tbsp cooking wine
2 tbsp soy sauce
a pinch of salt
a pinch of five-spice powder
1/4 tsp pepper

Mix the marinade ingredients together and make sure it is well blended

 Marinated chicken drumsticks

 Spring onions cut into sections

Shredded young ginger

 Mushroom slices

wolfberries soaked in warm water

 Instructions

1.  Marinade the chicken pieces for 15 minutes.
2.  Place one piece of chicken drumstick onto a piece of tinfoil and add in the ginger shreds, spring onions, mushroom slices.
3.  Add one tbsp of wolfberries plus the water they were soaked in
4.  Next, add in 2 to 3 tbsp of the marinade onto the chicken.
5.  Fold the edges together to form a parcel.
6.  Place the parcels onto a large steaming tray.
7.  Steam the parcels over boiling water for about 30 minutes 

 Step-by-step pictures which are self-explanatory :

 I am linking this post to Chef and Sommelier

The ingredient  for July 2013 is ginger

This event is linked to Little Thumbs Up

The event is organized by Zoe, of Bake For happy Kids and Doreen, of My Little Favourite DIY    

Wolfberry Tea 杞子茶

Wolfberry Tea 杞子茶

Of late I have not been blogging actively because I went for surgery to remove cataracts. I have been advised to take a break and rest my eyes. Well-meaning friends who have had their cataracts removed before me strongly advocated that I drink wolfberry tea. Thus, I googled to find out more about wolfberries. 

Wolfberries or "kei-chi" in Cantonese is said to contain iron, calcium and phosphorus. It is believed that these little fruits lower blood sugar and improve eyesight. My friend taught me to wash the wolfberries in warm water, then just add boiling water to it. The fruits can be eaten as well. 

I have been drinking this for more than two months and my eyes are healing well. I strongly believe that this wolfberry tea hasten the healing process and strengthen my aging eyes.

Here's how it is done :

Ingredients :

1 tsp wolfberries
250 ml boiling water

Instructions

1.  Wash the wolfberries in warm water and place them into a cup 
2.  Add boiling water.
3.  Let it steep and allow  to cool down slightly.
4.  Preferable to drink it warm