Salted Vegetables & Tofu Soup (咸菜豆腐汤）

I always like salted vegetables and tofu soup, a bit of sour & salty taste, serve with rice...wow, tasty!

I was so excited to find the mustard vegetables when we went to Asian market as i missed this soup so much since we came to State.  Though the mustard vegetables does not taste quite like the salted vegetables, but it did satisfy my crave for the salted vegetables & tafu soup for now.  :)     

Ingredients:

• 1.5L water
• 200g salted vegetables (cut into pieces) 
• 100g lean pork meat (sliced)
• 1/2 package of a medium firm tofu (cut to cube)
• 4-5 mushrooms (soak in water for 'bout 20min, then cut into pieces)
• 2 tomatoes (sliced)
• Salt (to taste - optional)

Step:

1. Bring 1.5L of water to boil in a pot, add the pork meat and salted vegetables
2. Cook on medium heat for 20mins 
3. Add the tofu, mushrooms, tomatoes and simmer under medium-low heat for 30-40mins
4. Serve warm with rice, tasty!

Note:

• Add 1-2 sour plums to complete the taste (i will always add this when i cooked in my hometown, since this is not easily found here, i omitted it this round)
• The measurement of the ingredients serve as a reference as i normally cook using my judgement and preference on how much to put for each ingredients.  ;P  

Spinach Egg 'Soup'

Called this Spinach Egg Soup as don't know what will be a better name for this dish.  I treated this as a veggie dish instead of a soup dish as i will normally still prepare a pot of savory soup when i have this dish in the menu.  :)

Ingredients:

• Spinach
• Pork meat (sliced)
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 or 2 eggs
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• 1 TBSP olive oil (or vegetable cooking oil)
• Water

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and sliced pork meat, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the spinach and water, continue cooking in medium-low heat
4. Add the egg and stir till incorporated
5. Add the sugar and salt, stir well
6. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Notes:

• Dried shrimp or Ikan bilis can be added for a richer favor if preferred

Prawn Noodles (My simple version)

Bored with rice sometime, i will prepare noodles instead and a soupy one is always my favorite option for my girls.  A soup noodles with prawn added, my simple version of prawn noodles.  ;P 

• Egg noodles, 1/3 of a package 
• Chicken/Pork meat (sliced)
• Prawns (devined with head on)
• 1 carrot (thinly sliced)
• Vegetables (e.g. Celery; Spinach etc)
• Salt to taste
• Water

Steps:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the chicken/pork, carrot, continue cooking to return to a boil
2. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cook for 20min
3. Add prawns and vegetables, continue cooking for another 15min 
4. Meantime, cook the egg noodles according to the instruction given in the package in a wok/sourcepan (i.e. cook the egg noodles uncovered in boiled water, stir occasionally according to the suggested time)  
5. Remove from pot, drain well and transfer to a serving plate, pour in the soup once the soup is ready & serve

Steamed Egg

A simple dish, but which i only know how to prepare it recently (that shows how 'good' my cooking is... ;P). 

The challenge is always how much water should i add to the egg, sometime it turned out too soft, sometime too hard.  Finally i got it right on my 3rd attempt - not too soft nor too hard.  However, i forgot to measure how much water that i have added on it as i always cook using judgement (agak-agak in hokkian)...i tried to recall how much water i added  to come out with the below recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs (slightly beaten)
• Pork meat (minced)
• 1 green onion (chopped)
• A handful of dried shrimp (chopped)
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 sushi nori sheet (tear into fine pieces) - optional

Steps:

• Beat the eggs in a heatproof bowl
• Add in all the ingredients and mix till all incorporated
• Place the bowl in a wok/deep pan, cover, and steam over medium-high heat until heated through (i use a rice cooker steamer and when my rice is cooked, so as the dish)
• Remove the bowl from the wok/pan, sprinkle with the nori pieces
• Serve warm

Quick & Nutritional Corn Soup

This is one of the soup that i used to cook when i worked, a recipe that i cut out from a local newspaper and kept for years.  What attracted me then was its simple recipe with a soup ready in 30min, which was what i needed when i worked with not much time spent in my kitchen.  You will find that the soup tasted amazingly even without pork or chicken meat.  My family loves this soup, especially enjoy eating the corn after a meal.  :) 

Ingredients:

• 1L water (i put 1.5L water sometimes)
• 2-3 corns (cut into half or quarter)
• 2 potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces)
• 2 Onions (peeled and sliced)
• 4 tomatoes (cut into slices)
• Pitch of salt (to taste - optional, i omitted it)

Step:

1. Bring the water to boil in a pot, add all the ingredients and cook on medium-low heat for 30mins
2. Add a pitch of salt (if desired)
3. Serve warm 

Fried Asparagus with Egg

Asparagus is one of the most nutritionally well-balanced vegetables.  It is an excellent source of folic acid, rich in fiber and contains significant amounts of the nutrient inulin which often refer to it as a 'prebiotic'.  The valuable amounts of inulin serve as an ideal food source for certain types of bacteria (like Lactobacilli etc) that are associated with better nutrient absorption, lower risk of allergy and lower risk of colon cancer.  It is a digestive support food which support the digestive health.   

Instead of serve plain, sometime i would add an egg and dried shrimp to the fried asparagus.  Sometime, i will just add the tomato & shredded carrot for a colourful asparagus dish.  

Ingredients:

• Asparagus
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 or 2 eggs
• Dried shrimp (optional)
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• 1 TBSP olive oil (or vegetable cooking oil)

Steps:

1. Trim off the tough ends from the asparagus, cut the asparagus on the diagonal into 2-inch pieces
2. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
3. Add the garlic and dried shrimp, cook and stirring until fragrant
4. Add the asparagus and stir fry till tender, add some water if necessary
5. Add the egg and continue stir fry till incorporated
6. Add the sugar and salt, stir well
7. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Asparagus health benefits source: WHFoods 

TomYam Mixed Vegetables

My girls will have porridge mostly for lunch and rice for dinner.  I would therefore able to prepare some dishes that my girls can't take during lunch.  This TomYam mixed vegetables is one of which. 

I added just a bit of TomYam paste, so as the taste of vegetables will not be taken all over by TomYam taste and it's not really very spicy, just right for us who crave for a little spice sometime.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• Prawn, peeled & devined
• 2 stalks of Celery, cut into pieces
• A handful of baby spinach
• 1/4 of a  red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 TBSP of TomYam paste
• 1 tsp of soy source
• Salt & sugar (optional)
• 1 TBSP Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the prawn and cook through
4. Add the celery, baby spinach, red bell peeper and continue stir fry, add some water if necessary 
5. Add the TomYam paste, soy source, a pitch of salt & sugar, cook and stir to mix well
6. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Yum Yum!

Lotus Root Black Bean Soup (莲藕黑豆汤）

Instead of my usual lotus root soup recipe with pork meat and red dates, i learnt a different way of cooking this soup lately - added with black beans and ginger.  This new discovery gave our taste bud a little surprise.  ;)

Ingredients:

• 2L water
• 1-2 lotus root (skin removed & cut into slices)
• Pork ribs or pork meat
• A handful of black beans (washed & soaked for 10-15mins)
• 1-2 slices of ginger
• 6 red dates

Step:

1. Bring 2L of water to boil in a pot, add the pork ribs/meat, lotus root and black beans
2. Cook on medium heat for 20mins 
3. Add the ginger and red dates and simmer under medium-low heat for 1.5 hours
4. Serve warm 

Note:

• A pitch of salt to be added as desired

Savory Lemon Cucumber Chicken

In my last post, i shared on preparing the pork lettuce cups using the leftover pork meat.  This time, i stir-fry the leftover chicken meat with cucumber, add in some lemon juice for a savory lemon cucumber chicken dish.

Ingredients:

• Cooked chicken meat (leftover from soup etc), minced
• Cucumber (depending on the size of the leftover, for this, i use 1/2 of a cucumber), thinly sliced
• Tomato (depending on the size of the dish, for this, i use 1/2 of a tomato), cut into cubes
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/2  to 1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the chicken meat, cucumber and tomato, continue stir-fry
4. Add the soy source, lemon juice, pitch of salt & sugar, stir to mix well
5. Transfer to a serving plate and serve

Pork Lettuce Cups

I always use pork ribs to cook soup back in my home country, but in here, i use pork/chicken meat mostly and sometime, I'll faced with empty soup pot but leftover meat.  I learnt a good way to settle with the leftover meat from hubby's sharing recently.  He told me that his mum will normally fried it on the next day to make a dish instead of throw it away.  I've therefore follow the step and made this pork lettuce cups.

Ingredients:

• Cooked pork meat (leftover from soup etc), minced
• Cooked lotus root (leftover from lotus root soup), break into small pieces
• Tomato (depending on the size of the leftover, for this, i use 1/4 of a tomato), cut into cubes
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 TBSP soy source
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• Cooking oil
• Some small lettuce cups

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the pork meat, lotus root and tomato, continue stir- fry
4. Add the soy source, pitch of salt & sugar, stir to mix well
5. Transfer to a serving plate

To serve, take a spoonful of pork mixture and put in a lettuce cup, folds the lettuce around the filling and eat.  Or, just simply serve it as a dish to go with rice.  Enjoy!

Celery Fried

Celery has numerous nutritional and health benefits.   Celery leaves has high content of vitamin A, whilst the stems are an excellent source of vitamins B1, B2, B6 and C with rich supplies of folic acid, calcium, magnesium, iron, sodium etc.  The high amounts of vitamin C in celery promote a healthy immune system.  Celery helps to reduce high blood pressure has long been recognized by many Chinese, it also believed to have cholesterol-lowering benefits.  Celery is very low in calories and has lot of fiber which is a great aid in weight loss and prevent constipation too.  ;)  

While many foods lose nutrients during cooking, i was told that most of the compounds in celery hold up well during coking.  Celery has a pretty strong flavor and i usually cook it together with other vegetables like broccoli, carrot etc as a mixed vegetable dish.  But now, i'm sharing a simple colourful celery fried, which is crunchy & yummy.  :)  

Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• Pork meat, sliced
• 2-3 stalks of Celery, cut into pieces
• 1 tomato, quartered
• 1/4 of a yellow bell pepper, slice in thin pieces
• A handful of nuts
• Salt & sugar (to taste)
• 1 TBSP Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the pork meat and cook through
4. Add the celery, yellow bell peeper and continue stir fry, add some water if necessary 
5. Add a pitch of salt & sugar, then nuts, stir to mix well
6. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

Macaroni Soup

With two little girls at home, a soup based meal is always a favorable option for me.  This macaroni soup is one of a simple & quick to prepare meal, a good alternative when don't feel like to have rice. 

Ingredients:

• Macaroni, 1/3 of a package 
• Chicken/Pork meat (sliced)
• 1 carrot (sliced)
• 2 potatoes (cut into cube)
• Medium firm tofu, 1/4 of a package (cut into cube)
• Vegetables (e.g. Bak Choy; Kai Lan etc)
• A handful of dried mussels
• Salt to taste

Steps:

1. Soak the dried mussels in a bowl of water, drain well
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the chicken/pork, dried mussels, potatoes, carrot, continue cooking to return to a boil
3. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cook for another 15-20min
4. Add vegetables and tofu, continue cooking for another 10-15min
5. Meantime, cook the macaroni according to the instruction given in the package in another pot (i.e. Cook the macaroni uncovered in a pot of boiled water, stir occasionally according to the suggested time.  I normally add a tsp of oil and a dash of salt to cook)  
6. Remove from pot, drain well and transfer to a serving plate, pour in the soup once the soup is ready & serve

Long Bean, Tofu and Snap Peas Stir-Fry

Usually, i have my vegetable dish prepared pretty plain, just boil, steam or quick stir-fry a specific veggie (e.g. Kai Lan, Cabbage etc) with chopped garlic. 

Nowadays, i started to add more variety to my vegetable dish occasionally for something difference.  This is one of the veggie dish with variety of ingredients and a taste of tomyam.

Ingredients:

• Chinese long beans (cut into 2-inch pieces)
• Snap Peas
• 1/4 package of medium-firm tofu (cut into cube)
• 1 TBSP of shredded carrot (or thinly sliced carrot)
• 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• 1/4 of an Onion (sliced)
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp Tomyam paste
• A pinch of salt & sugar  
• 1 TBSP Cooking oil

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat, add the oil, swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and onions, cook and stirring until fragrant
3. Add the long beans and stir fry until almost tender, about 2 mins
4. Add the snap peas and tofu and continue stir fry, add some water if necessary
5. Add the soy sauce, sugar and tomyam paste, stir well till all blended
6. Continue cooking till the long beans and snap peas are tender
7. Transfer to a serving plate and serve 

White Carrot Soup with Dried Octopus (白萝卜汤）

White carrots, though look less attractive, they are as tasty as orange carrots and is a good alternative to the traditional orange carrots.  They are good sources of dietary fibre which help to fight against colon cancer.  White carrots are also good for digestion. 

I often cook the white carrot soup with red dates and wofberries.  Sometime, i added dried octopus to the recipe for a richer flavor and here sharing the recipe with dried octopus.   

Ingredients:

• 2L water
• 1-2 white carrots (skin removed & cut into slices)
• Pork ribs or pork meat
• 2 dried octopus (cut into pieces) 
• 1 tbsp wolfberries (枸杞)
• 6 red dates
• Salt to taste (optional)

Step:

1. Thoroughly clean the pork ribs/meat, rinse it with hot boiling water
2. Wash/rinse the dried octopus, wolfberries and red dates
3. Bring 2L of water to boil in a pot, add the pork ribs/meat and white carrot
4. Cook on medium heat for 10-15min 
5. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer under medium-low heat for 1.5 - 2 hours
6. Add a dash of salt and stir well
7. Serve warm 

Ginko Prawn (白果抄虾仁）

A simple and straight forward prawn dish - Fried Ginko Prawn. 

The older Chinese name for Ginko is 銀果, meaning "silver fruit", The most usual names today are 白果, meaning "white fruit".  To many Chinese, Ginko has been praised for helping with memory which is believed to enhance memory. 

Ingredients:

• 8-10 medium-sized prawns, peeled and deveined
• 5 pieces of Ginko nuts
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• Cooking oil

Steps:

• Soak the ginko nuts in a bowl of water for 'bout 15-20mins, then slice each into half
• Add cooking oil in a wok, bring to high heat until hot, swirling to coat the side
• Add the garlic, stir and cook till fragrant 
• Add the ginko nuts and stir together
• Add the prawns and cook till the prawns begin to curl and thoroughly cooked
• Transfer to a serving plate and serve   

Easy ya, enjoy!  ;)

Steamed Tofu (日本凤味）

This is my favorite way of preparing a tofu dish, a simple & healthier option. 

Not only that this gives you the pure tofu taste (原汁原味), together with the nori, the only word that i would describe it is: Fabulous! 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of tofu (soft or medium firm)
• 1 green onion (sliced on the diagonal)
• 1 tsp of chopped garlic
• 1/3 sushi nori sheet (tear into fine pieces)

Sauce:

• Combine all the below ingredients in a small bowl and mix well, set aside
• 1 TBSP soy source
• 1 tsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp sugar

Steps:

• Drain the tofu and cut into slices
• Place the tofu in a heatproof bowl
• Sprinkle the chopped garlic on top
• Place the bowl in a wok/deep pan, cover, and steam over medium-high heat until heated through (i used a rice cooker steamer and when my rice is cooked, so as the dish)
• Remove the bowl from the wok/pan and spoon off the liquid from the bowl (retain some to add to the tofu dish before serving if desired)
• Pour the sauce over the tofu, sprinkle with the green onion and nori pieces
• Serve and it tasted really nice! ;)

Mint Leaves Chicken

If you are not rejecting the smell and flavor of mint leaves, here is another dish that you may give it a try - Mint Leaves Chicken.    

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
• 1/4 cups mint leaves
• 1/3 of yellow bell peppers (cut into thin slices)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• cooking oil for cooking
• a handful of cashew nuts (optional)

Marinade:     

• Combine 1 tbsp soy source and 2 tsp cornstarch, mix well
• Add the chicken to the marinade and stir to coat evenly, let stand for 10mins 

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat until hot, add the oil and swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant
3. Add half of the mint leaves and quick stirring, remove the mint leaves from the wok, drain and set aside
4. Add the chicken in the wok stir fry till the chicken is cooked (add a bit of water if necessary)
5. Add the yellow bell pepper and the remaining half of the mint leaves, cook and stir to mix
6. Remove pan from the heat, add the nuts and stir to mix
7. Transfer to a serving plate, garnish with fried mint leaves (and few more fresh mint leaves, if wish), serve 

Fried Egg Prawn (虾仁抄蛋）

This is now my hubby's favorite egg dish.  Just add all the ingredients together to cook for about 5-10mins, a nicely smell and mouth-watering dish is ready.  Yum Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 8 medium-sized prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp soy source
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1-2 green Onion, chopped
• Cooking oil

Steps:

• Combine cornstarch, soy source & salt together in a bowl, mix well.
• In another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork until blended
• Add the cornstarch mixture and prawns into the bowl of beaten eggs, mix well
• Add cooking oil in a wok, bring to high heat until hot, swirling to coat the side
• Add the egg mixture and cook 
• Gently stir the eggs occasionally and cook till the shrimp begin to curl and thoroughly cooked
• Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with the green onion and serve   

  

Rice Cooker Mushrooms Chicken Rice （香菇鸡饭）

I use a rice cooker to prepare this mushrooms chicken rice - a healthier, quick & easy way to prepare a meal, which is less oily since it's 'steamed-cooked'.

It is a simple and straight forward one-dish meal recipe and always come in handy especially when i do not have time to prepare a 3 dishes 1 soup complete meal.  I just have to prepare a quick and simple soup like mint leaves soup to go with this mushrooms chicken rice. 

This might not look very appealing as i have to omit the dark soy source since my kitchen do not have one, but it tasted good.  So if you have dark soy source, you may add it to the recipe and you can enjoy a better looking cum tasty Mushrooms Chicken Rice.   :)

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups rice
• water to cook rice (according to manufacturer's instructions)
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken meat, cut into cubes 
• 6-8 dried mushrooms 
• 2 eggs 
• Some vegetables (e.g Kai Lan or Bak Choy)
• 1-2 green onions, chopped
• 2 tbsp oyster source
• 1 tbsp soy source
• a dash of sugar and salt each

Steps:

• Thoroughly clean and rinse the chicken, drain well
• In a bowl, combine the chicken, oyster course, soy source, sugar and salt - mix well and marinade for 20-30mins (the longer it marinade, the better its taste - i normally prepare it in the morning, and put it in a fridge for dinner)
• In a bowl, soak the mushrooms with water until softened, about 15-20mins
• Drain well the mushrooms, discard the stems and cut the mushrooms into pieces, mix it with the chicken marinade prior to add into the rice cooker to cook
• Wash the rice, add the water and cook rice 
• Open the rice cooker lid and add the chicken & mushrooms marinade into the rice cooker when the rice is about 3/4 cooked (the water is bubbling and almost dried up when open the rice cooker lid)  
• Add the eggs and vegetables into the rice cooker when the rice is almost cooked (final stage of cooking)
• When the rice is done, open the rice cooker lid and use a spatula to roughly stir quickly, then close the lid and keep warm for at least 20mins to ensure the chicken & eggs are thoroughly cooked through.
• Use a spatula to mix well the ingredients with the rice, sprinkle with the green onions prior serving.

Note:

• I used boneless & skinless chicken to ease my girls in eating, you may use boned chicken if you wish
• The longer you marinade the chicken, the better its taste.  I normally marinade the chicken in the morning and put it in the fridge for dinner.  Bring it out from the fridge 20mins before cooking to let the chicken resume back to room temperature prior cooking.  If you marinade the chicken for such long, soak the mushrooms only 15-20mins prior to cooking. 

Mango Chicken

Mango is one of my hubby's favorite fruits, since i have some left over of Philippine mango we bought last week, i used it to prepare this dish - mango chicken. 

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into cubes)
• 1 or 2 mango (peeled and cut into cubes)
• 1 tsp chopped garlic
• 1 tsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp of nuts (optional)

Marinade:     

• Combine 2 tsp soy source and 1 tsp cornstarch, mix well
• Add the chicken to the marinade and stir to coat evenly, let stand for 10mins 

Sauce:

• Combine all the below ingredients in a small bowl and stir till the sugar dissolves
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp oyster source
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Steps:

1. Place a wok/stir-fry pan over high heat until hot, add the oil and swirling to coat the sides
2. Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant
3. Add the chicken and stir fry till the chicken is cooked
4. Add the sauce and bring to a boil
5. Add the cornstarch solution and cook, stirring until the sauce boils and thickens
6. Add the mango and stir to mix with all the ingredients
7. Transfer to a serving plate, sprinkle with the nuts on top and serve