[Recipe] Prawn Noodles Soup

The craving for this bowl of prawn noodle soup came suddenly one day; I missed my late dad's prawn noodles soup, he's best at making this! We often teased him that his bowl of prawn noodles would easily fetch $15 a bowl, as it was always packed with loads of good stuff (huge prawns, loads of pork ribs and vegetables), and the broth was simply too good that it's beyond description!

Alas, I never did make it a point to jot down the recipe when my dad was still around, nevertheless, with a tip given by a friend, I managed to make myself a nice pot of prawn & pork ribs broth that was as close as I can get to my dad's recipe.

Preparing the ingredients wasn't that difficult all it took was time and patience. The most important thing of the prawn noodles soup was the broth, so give it a bit of time and "love" you'll yield yourself a wonderful pot of broth.

Ingredients
800gms prawns (legs and feelers trimmed; keep the shell in tact)
500gms prime pork ribs
500gms pork bones
chicken bones of 1 chicken
1 medium size chinese turnip (cut into large chunks)*
1 head of garlic (cut into half length wise; put into a soup pouch)

photo credit link

50gms fried shallots
2tbsp rock sugar
2tbsp fish sauce
1tsp of dark soya sauce (for the colour)
salt to taste
a bunch of kang kong (aka water spinach)
100gms bean sprouts
2 fish cakes (sliced)
Fresh Egg Noodles (yellow mee)
Vermicelli (bee hoon)

Photo credit link

*note: this is how the secret ingredient looks like :)

Method of preparation

1. boil a pot of water; when water is boiled blanch the pork ribs & pork bones for 5minutes; set it aside once done.
2. in a separate pot (use the pot which you'd boil the broth in), boil 3 litres of water; once water is boiled cook the prawns in the water, this will take about 2-3mins; set the prawns aside to cool down.
3. once the prawns have cooled remove the head and shell (do not discard the shells and heads)
4. place garlic, chicken bones, pork ribs, pork bones, prawn shells/heads, turnip, fried shallots and all seasoning (rock sugar, fish sauce, dark soya sauce) into the soup pot and bring mixture to a boil then simmer for 2-3hours.
5. skim the top layer of the soup and discard the scum 
6. once broth is ready add salt to taste then drain the soup into a separate pot through a sieve; discard turnip, pork bones and chicken bones.
7. boil water to blanch the noodles and vermicelli in a separate pot; use the same pot of water to blanch the bean sprouts, kang kong and fish cake
8. serve by topping the pork ribs, prawns, fish cake and vegetables followed by the broth
9. if you like, you may garnish the noodles with fried shallots and red cut chilli (or chilli powder)  

Enjoy!

Versatile Vegetable Soup Base

I love soups and I used to think only meat can offer the best flavour for making soups. Well, I was in for a surprise!

With the use of a variety of vegetables we CAN make tasty and flavourful, not withstanding extremely nutritious soups too!

Here's a soup base recipe that I've used for quite a number of my meatless meals. The kids and hubby love it and so do I. What's more, the colours of the ingredients have already won me over, I simply love colourful food!

Vegetable Soup Base (A)

Ingredients required - 1 large Carrot cut into chunks, 3 stalks of Celery cut into 3 parts each, 5 Shitake Dried Mushrooms (there's no need to rehydrate them beforehand), 1 Sweet Corn, 1 large Onion cut into half, 5 cloves of Garlic. Boil all the ingredients in a pot of water sufficient to cover all the ingredients. Once water start boiling simmer for an hour, add salt to taste. Discard all ingredients after sieving the soup into a separate pot.

Vegetable Soup Base (B)

Ingredients required - 1 large Carrot cut into chunks, 2 stalks of Celery cut into 3 parts each, 5 Shitake Dried Mushrooms (likewise not required to rehydrate them), 1 Sweet Corn, 1 large Onion cut into half, 3 medium size Potatoes cut into chunks, 3 medium size Tomatoes cut into wedges. Boil all the ingredients in a pot of water sufficient to cover all the ingredients. Once water start boiling simmer for an hour, add salt to taste. Discard all ingredients after sieving the soup into a separate pot.

With this soup base I've made the following as meals

What I did with this soup meal was I boiled the chickpeas separately for about an hour till it was tender. I boiled all the rest of the ingredients in the soup base I made till they are cooked through, except for the Chickpeas and Kailan (green leafy vegetable), I added those just a minute before the heat was turned out.

This meatless Miso Soba Noodle meal was easy peasy. I boiled the soba till it's cooked in just plain boiling water. I cooked the tofu, mushrooms and green vegetables (in this case was Kailan) in the ready soup base. I added miso after all the cooking was done. Assemble the ingredients together and top the noodles with chopped spring onions, sesame seeds and Japanese hot pepper powder. 

This was even easier, other than the Chickpeas being boiled separately, the rest of the ingredients were taken out from the soup base.

The soup base can also be used for other meals/dishes that requires soup stock. Try it some time! Let's journey through a healthy eating lifestyle!

[Recipe] Herbal Soup Bowl

I know many people drink herbal soup without consuming the herbs but I on the other hand, love to clean out the entire bowl of soup. It's so comforting savouring the entire bowl of goodness, soup, herbs (those which are edible of course), dregs and all! 

I grew up drinking such soups and have learned to appreciate every bit of such soups that my mom used to prepare for me. Now that I am not under her direct care anymore, I'd make sure to recreate that childhood nostalgia by preparing such soups for my family. 

This soup was prepared from scratch in which I gathered the ingredients on my own (read: did not buy pre-pack herbs). It's rather easy to locate all these ingredients in any chinese medical hall. Go to Hock Hwa if there's one nearby you they are very well stocked and everything is nicely packed which makes obtaining them an easy task.

For easy reference here's the recipe
500gms  Pork Ribs (preferably those with a little more meat as it will flavour the soup better)
5-6 pieces Dried Chinese Yam
20gms Solomon's seal Rhizome
50gms Gordou Eurylae Seeds
50gms Red Lotus Seeds
50gms Lily Bulb
20gms Dried Longans

Process
1) Boil of pot of water sufficient to just scald the pork ribs; Scald the pork ribs for 5-8mins and set it aside. Pour away the water.
2) On a separate soup pot place scalded pork ribs with the rest of the ingredients. Fill it with water till all pork ribs are submerged in water.
3) Bring the water to a boil then simmer for 2 hours.
4) Add salt to taste

[Recipe] The Black & White Chicken Soup

As you can tell from one of my earlier posts, I love making soups, drinking soups has always been such a pleasure to me. Naturally, I'd research more and try out new recipes in making soups. While I do love the chinese herbal chicken soups, I also love to explore new ways of making other chicken soup as well.

Here's a recipe I've discovered and adapted from a chinese cook book (which I cannot remember where I've seen it before, so I am sorry I am unable to share the resource from which I've taken from).

So what's this black & white chicken soup about? I love the white & black fungus, also known as (white) snow ear fungus and (black) cloud ear fungus; they have many other names to it, but you know what I am referring to right?

Here's a super simple and absolutely yummy chicken soup that anyone can prepare in very little time.

Ingredients
30gms White Fungus (add less or more to your preference)
30gms Black Fungus (add less or more to your preference)
500gms Chicken Winglets
4-5 thin slices of Ginger
3-4 stalks of spring onions
1 tbsp rice wine
1 tbsp soya sauce
Salt to taste

To prepare the white and black fungus, they usually come in the dried form so all you need to do is give them a good rinse and soak them for up to an hour to rehydrate them. Once they have fluff up, just trim the stalk or hard areas off, cut them into smaller pieces for ease of consumption.

*Quick tip: when choosing white fungus, select those that are slightly yellow in hue, try to avoid getting them if they are in pure white form as they might be bleached in the process of packaging. 

Clean the chicken winglets thoroughly (you may also use other parts of the chicken for this soup, ideally chicken breast meat which gives flavour), add all other ingredients into the soup pot, fill it up till water covers all the ingredients. Bring the soup to a boil and simmer it for 40-50mins (or till the white/black fungus have soften).

Add the seasoning to your preferred taste and garnish the soup with parsley(optional), that's it!

Preparing soups is just such a joy and drinking them is simply comforting. So do make more soups as it truly nourishes!

Comforting Chicken Soup

It's the year end and it's been raining rather often lately. What better time than it is now to have a wonderfully nice bowl of chicken soup that nourishes and comfort ourselves with.

Hubby has been working late (even weekends) lately and the weather has been rather erratic recently, with the haze looming in the air. I've decided that we need to boost our immunity and strengthen our overall health, so I made it a point to prepare nourishing soups at least twice a week now.

Sharing in verbatim, as said by the author of this book -

Photo Credit Link

Soups transform our health, drinking soup helps to ease mental tension, minimizes weakness,  fatigue and relieves symptoms of overworking commonly suffered by urbanites such as tension, stress and disrupted metabolism.

I bought a pack of these Cordycep Militaris (冬虫草花) commonly known as Cordycep Flowers, recently, it's not the first time I've prepared soups with this ingredient, it's still one of my favourite ingredients for chicken soup.

Preparing soups is really not that difficult, it just requires time for the essence of the ingredients to be fully released. The time required for active preparation is not more than 10mins tops! Which is why, I can just survive on soups if I don't have a brood to feed *smile* I am not particularly excited about slaving in the kitchen for hours just to prep meals.

Sharing the recipe and the nourishing tidbit about the Cordycep Militaris here (click on link) which I wrote in detail some time back when I was still actively working on Munch Ministry. I hope it'd benefit you one way or another.

Eat healthy and be healthy!

Soup That Nourishes

One of the things I enjoyed most during my growing up years was the wonderful daily freshly boiled soups. While I am not a Cantonese, my late dad grew up in the old Chinatown where he was deeply influenced by the habits of the Cantonese who appreciated a daily bowl of slow-cooked soup (老火汤）

In those growing up years, I was most definitely spoiled by my mom who relentlessly prepared soup for us daily. I could go without dinner but not without my mom's wonderful soup.

My preference towards soup was actually formed during the first four to five years of my life. The aroma, texture, and flavour still live vividly in my memory and I'll usually subconsciously associate the soups with fun, carefree days in which I feel secure and had few anxieties.

Now that I have a family of my own, I still enjoy a good bowl of soup, though it's prepared by myself instead. It is one of the best nourishing food that I can provide for my loved ones.

I will share more of the soup recipes that I've grown up drinking and I hope it will benefit you one way or another.