Soups

1.     Chicken soup

-          Whole chicken.

-          Please cut out the chicken legs and chicken wings before using the breast and bone to cook the soup stock. Keep the legs and wings in the fridge and only cook before serving dinner. 

-           

-          Look below for timing to cook.

-          5 red dates, rinse and remove seed

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          Half onion

-          2  clove of garlic, peeled, smashed

-          1 small piece ginger

-          1.5 red carrot peeled chopped

-          1.5 corn (buy from Butcher shop)

Cooking time:

·         Maryland cook 15mins. Drumsticks cook 10mins. Corn cook 5mins.

·         Need to prepare sliced chilli soy sauce for dip. Add pepper white, and a bit of sesame oil into the sauce and minced garlic.

2.     Radish soup

-          Pork bones 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          1 white raddish, cut large piece (2.5 fingers thick)

-          1 small piece ginger

-          1 rinsed dried scallop *optional if don’t have

-          Dried longans

·         Add water to pot and add ginger and all the dates and longan. Bring to boil for 5 mins

·         Boil the pork bones about 1.5 hour. (15mins high flame + then bring to simmer low flame boil for rest of the time). Please watch the soup level not to dry up too much!

·         Add raddish cook about 30-45mins. When raddish cooked just off fire and put aside.

3.     Lotus root soup

-          Pork bones 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          5 red dates, rinse and remove seed

-          1 carrot, rinsed peeled and chopped

-          1 fresh lotus root (only from wet market). Peeled, cut about slightly bigger than 1 finger thickness. Soak in water and only cook 20mins before serving. *Like to eat crunchy not soft.

·         Add water to pot and add ginger and all the dates. Bring to boil for 5 mins 

·         Boil the pork bones about 1.5 hour. (For first 15mins high flame )

·         Add carrots. When the soup is boiling again, bring to simmer low flame boil for rest of the time. Please watch the soup level not to dry up too much!

·         When soup is ready (taste sweet), can stop fire

·         At about 4pm, add some lotus to the soup and boil for callum dinner

·         At about 6pm, add the remaining lotus to cook for our dinner. (or whenever we are ready to eat)

·         NOTE: Lotus root better to buy and cook on that day. Don’t keep well.

4.     Carrot corn soup

-          Pork ribs 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          1.5 corn, chop into 3 piece

-          1.5 carrot chop

-          Half onion, chop

-          1 small piece ginger

5.     Winter melon soup

-          Pork ribs 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          A little dried longan

-          1.5 carrot chop

-          1 small piece ginger

-          Handful of wolfberries rinsed (about 1 tablespoon), soak for 5 mins before adding to soup 20mins before serving

-          1 circle winter melon (buy from wet market, ask about 2 finger thickness for the whole piece). Remove seeds, wash skin, cut away any bruise part. Chop into cubes about 2 finger thickness. Only add into soup 20 mins before serving.

6.     Old cumber soup

-          Pork ribs 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          I old cumber, deseeded

-          1 carrots chopped

·         Refer to recipe in cook book

7.     Watercress soup

-          Pork ribs 1 pack

-          1 pack of chicken breast (half of a full breast)

-          1 honey date rinsed

-          5-6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smash

-          1 small piece ginger

-          2 packs of watercress, washed removed yellowed leaves, cut a small section of roots away (about 1.5cm from bottom)  (can buy from market or cold storage)

-          5-6 red dates, rinse and remove seed

-          Handful of wolfberries, rinsed and soak 5 mins. Throw water and add berries Only last 20 mins before serving

Note:

1.       Buy corn from butcher shop across the road. They don’t have it every day so plan well ahead. U can ask to reserve, Usually they arrive Friday or sat.

2.       Most soup need to boil slow flame for 2-3hours.

3.       Use the scoop to remove excess oil or things floating on soap surface

4.       Can buy honey dates from stall in front of fruit stall or Euyan sang at clementi mall

5.       All the soup base cooking method is the same.

Grilled Soy Honey Chicken wings

My all time fav quick meal fix!
The only requirement is prepare at least 3hrs early to marinate for max flavor.

Ingredients

1. 10-12 chicken wings
2. 4 tbsp of soy sauce
3. 4 tbsp of honey
4. 2 tbsp of sake
5. 1 clove of crushed minced garlic
6. salt
7. black pepper.
8. 1 tsp fine chilli powder (or more if u like spicier)

Cooking steps

1. Rinsed chicken wings. Pat dry and poke chicken wing (esp the drumlette) randomly with fork to allow seasoning to get to the flesh. Place into prep tray or bowl

2. Season with pinch of salt (est 1.5tsp) and black pepper .

3. Add soy sauce, galic & sake Mix well.

4. Add honey. Mix well.

5. Pour chicken wings and mixed honey sauce into zip lock bag and mix well to all chicken wings for max marination.

6. keep in fridge (lay flat so that chicken wings are not stacked on top of each other) to marinate for at least 2-3 hours (for max flavor)

7. Prepare oven and set at about 200degree grill.

8. Arrange chicken wings flat on a tray together with the sauce. Sprinkle some of the chilli powder on the wings. with the (inner) side facing up.

9. Place in oven grill for 10mins. In between, check and use a brush to coat chicken wings with the marinate sauce once.

10. After about 10mins, flip the chicken wings over and again brush the wings with the sauce.
Grill for another 10mins or till chicken begin to brown (not burnt!)

Dinner is served:)

Braised/ Simmered Jap style Pork Belly

Ingredients

• 600 grams pork belly - skinless
• 45 grams ginger - fresh (~1 1/2-inch length) sliced into coins
• 12 grams garlic (~2 large cloves)
• 6 grams niboshi (~ 10 dried baby sardines)
• 1/3 cup sake
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar – granulated/ or rock sugar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon of dark soy
• 1 tablespoon of mirin

Cooking Steps

1. Cut the pork into cube size.
2. Put the pork belly, fat side down, in a non stick/ clay pot that's just large enough to hold the pork in a single layer. Put the pot over medium high heat and let the pork fry undisturbed until it's golden brown on the fat side.
3. Flip each piece over and brown the other side, then transfer to a plate. wipe off excess oil.
4. Add the ginger, garlic, and dried sardines and and fry until browned and fragrant.
5.  Add the sake and boil until you no longer smell alcohol.

6. Add the water, sugar, soy sauce, salt, mirin and return the pork to the pot. Bring to a simmer and then turn down the heat and cover with a tight fitting lid.
7. Simmer until the pork belly is tender and fall-apart (about 2 hours depending on your pot conduction).
8. Strain the braising liquid and if you are going to serve the kakuni right away, skim off the extra fat. It's best if you let this sit in the fridge overnight though as this gives the meat a chance to absorb more flavor, and it will make removing the excess fat a lot easier.
9. To serve, gently reheat the pork belly. Slice and serve with some of the braising liquid, hot mustard and steamed greens.

Fried Shrimp Paste Chicken

Chicken soup Seafood/Minced porrk/ Abalone porridge

Making something light and simple today. Chicken soup porridge with minced pork and abalone. You can play around with the ingredients to include other seafood like prawns if you like as in the 2nd photo.

Abalone porridge with Minced pork

Seafood porridge with minced pork and carrots & oyster mushrooms

The key to this is having a nice chicken broth to make the meal tasty, without the use of salt and sugar.

You will need to prepare the chicken stock before hand.

Chicken stock preparation

Ingredients for chicken stock

- 2.5 litre of water
- 3 fillet of chicken breast.
- 1 inch of smash ginger, without skin
- 1/2 stalk of spring onion, the lower white half.

Chicken stock cooking steps

1. Boil 2.5 litre of water. Add the smash ginger and spring onion. Bring to boil with lid cover
2. Add the chicken breast and turn the flame down to medium and close lid to boil.
3. After 30mins, the soup should taste of chicken stock, reduce flame and boil for another 45mins to hour at small flame. Once the soup taste naturally sweet, you are done.

Ingredients to make the porridge

- to serve 2 pax, 1 cup of jasmine white rice.
- minced pork, portion for 2
- 1 red carrot.
- abalone, portion for 2
- prawns (optional)
- 1 rinsed spring onion, chopped.
- some sliced ginger

Abalone minced pork cooking steps (after chicken stock is ready)

1. Rinse rice until water is clear. Add to cooking pot.

2. Add enough water to cover the rice by over 3 inch. (doesnt matter if its more since I will be throwing the excess away. However, it cannot be too little)

3. Cook the rice over medium flame and stir occasionally to prevent it sticking to the pot base.

4. Throw away any excess water when rice is almost ready and add chicken soup to cover rice into the rice pot. Continue to simmer.

4. Meanwhile in separate pot, stir fry sliced ginger and garlic with sesame oil till slightly brown. Add minced pork, chopped abalone sides, chopped carrots (and whatever ingredients you like to add to your soup porridge) and stir. (For those who like heavier flavor, u may add salt, soy sauce and pepper) Add a dash of sesame oil for fragrance.

5. When ingredients are cooked, add to the porridge simmering in chicken soup stock.

6. Only Add fresh prawns now to the mix if you like to have some.

7. When prawns are cook, remove form flame and scoop into bowl. If you prefer it to be more soupy, add more soup into the porridge.

You are done. You may add dash of pepper and fish sauce for taste if you like but its optional.