Chicken Mushroom and Fish Maw Soup

What do you remember most about your mum's (or dad's) cooking? Besides some of the few favourite dishes that I would never get tired of eating, I remembered always enjoying the different delicious soups my mom boiled. Even till today, when we are back for dinner, she would (with the help of my dad now), boil a big pot of wholesome, heartwarming soup. Truly food for the soul if you ask me. It never fails to make me feel comforted and fortunate to be able to enjoy such homemade goodness from my parents for so many years! 

Often times I tell myself I must do this for my children too. To let them remember me this way. The kind of comfort they won't be able to find elsewhere. And I strongly believe having a bowl of wholesome soup is important during dinner time. For those that follow me on Instagram would know that I ALWAYS boil soup for my family during dinner. Truth be told, I am always looking for good soup recipes that is not too complicated to cook and yet will be well received by the children.

Today I am introducing a wholesome chicken fish maw soup. Perhaps your impression of fish maw soup are those that are served during the ten course dinners. Thick consistency, almost gooey like. But again, I have to admit I enjoyed it every time! They added crab meat, sometimes sharkskin (I doubt it), some stuff that made the soup ultra sweet and flavourful. 

My version perhaps will be on a lighter side (not that gooey thanks), simpler and with ingredients that we can source easily. Ultimately we want something good that we can prep easily for the family even on busy days.

Ingredients for Chicken Mushroom Fish Maw Soup (Serves 4-6 pax)

2 whole chicken leg or 4 chicken drums (I used 3 this time because the ones I used was huge!)

100-150  fish maw (try to get better quality ones, dried and fried) 

4-6 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water

15-20 dried baby scallops

5-6 slices fresh ginger (3 slices for 2 different pots)

2 sprigs green onion, cut into segments

1000 ml water

salt, pepper sugar to taste

1 tbsp corn flour + 2 tbsp water (thickening agent)

Method:

• First, cut the stems of the soaked mushrooms. Then cut the mushrooms into half or quarters.

• In a small pot, bring some water to a boil. Add 3 slices of the finer and the green onion segments in. 

• Once it started boiling, add in the dried fish maw in. You can break the fish maw into smaller segments for easier cooking.

• Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes to remove the layer of oil and also the fishy smell if any. Cover the pot and leave it in there till needed.
• Next chop the chicken legs or drums into smaller segments. Then parboil them in a pot of boiling water for 1 couple minutes, drain and set aside for use later.

• Finally, heat up the pot that you will be using to cook the soup. Add in the 1 litre water, ginger slices, soaked mushrooms, baby scallops and the parboiled chicken pieces in.

(This is how the dried baby scallops look like incase you wonder which ones I am referring to. They are great additions to porridge and soup for flavouring and sweetening the mixture up)

• Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the fire to a simmer. Simmer for a good 15 minutes then add in the fish maw in.

(OMG my pot was so full! But it will slowly simmer down to less liquid.)

• Cook the soup at low fire for 40-45 minutes, leaving the pot slightly opened to let the steam escape. It should look like this after awhile.

• The soup has cooked down slightly, all the ingredients has released its essence while the fish maw has soaked up the goodness and soften up. You can now snip the fish maw slightly smaller so that your younger kids can enjoy them properly as well. Season well with salt, pepper and sugar to your liking.
• At this point you can choose to add in the thickening agent to make the soup gesture slightly more smooth. 

• Stir in well. Off the fire and keep warm. Serve the soup when diners are ready to eat! Enjoy!

Wholesome, delicious bowl of soup that I am sure the family will enjoy. 

If you're not a fan of chicken stock, you can also use pork ribs. But you will need at least 6-8 of them to make the soup flavourful. And remember to use baby back ribs.

You can also use more fish maw if you are a big fan of it. But since my kids are still getting "acquainted" to this soup, I shall keep it on the lighter side for now.

Do give this a try and perhaps save some for cooking noodles the next day! Check out my FB later for a video on how I used this left over flavourful soup to cook some simple stir fried noodles. :9

Have a great weekend all!

Happy cooking!

Easy Gourmet Pumpkin Soup

Apologies for the slow posting this week, but my laptop has been giving me problem lately. I am actually using my husband's now and have to get mine fix over the weekend. *haiz* Luckily I still have a couple of recipes in the flash drive that I can share with you all this week. Else I'll be MIA in the coming 2 weeks! Anyway, these 2 recipes are really easy to whip up and it actually took me less then 2 hours to get them on the table. First recipe is this delicious pumpkin soup that taste like from a fine dining restaurant but yet it can be so easily prepared at your own kitchen. Don't believe me? Just check it out for yourself:

Okay, maybe the presentation need some work, but I can guarantee you this soup taste really good. Don't like pumpkin? Don't fret, you won't feel like you're drinking pumpkin soup! I know most Asians don't usually fancy such thick, creamy soup since it doesn't go with the vegetables and dishes on the table. But having this soup occasionally on a lazy weekend, serving it with some salad or bruschetta is quite a delight too. :P

When I was in California, I made this so often since my husband and I love it very much. Plus having it during winter was so comforting! Downing it with some simple toast and we are already feasting, hahaha! This soup taste like restaurant gourmet soup that will surely impress your family and guests. But you will be surprise how simple the ingredients are involve, check it out:

Ingredients for Simple Gourmet Pumpkin Soup: (Serves 5-6) (adapted from Foodnetwork.coml)

1 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrots, peeled and diced
1 apple, peeled and diced
2 cups fresh pumpkin, roasted and diced
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leave (omit if not available)
2 cups chicken stock
1 cup fresh cream
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 portabella, sliced

• To roast the pumpkin, preheat the oven to 200C. Peel and dice the pumpkin and place on baking dish. Sprinkle salt and black pepper over the diced pumpkin and coat with some olive oil. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes till tender. Note that dice the pumpkin smaller to save roasting time.
  

• In the meantime, heat up a large pot with the butter. Add in diced onions, apples and carrots. Stir and cook till slightly tender. Add in the dried thyme, bay leaf and the roasted pumpkin.
• 
• Continue to cook till mixture is slightly mushy. Add in the chicken stock and cream into it. Cook the mixture till just boil. Off the fire and let cool slightly.
• 
• Then remove the bay leave. Blend the mixture till creamy and return the mixture into the pot and heat up again, but no need to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. (I only added pepper, the soup was already very flavorful!)

• In a saute pan, heat a tsp of oil and saute the sliced portabella till soften and cooked. Sprinkle some black pepper and salt and garnish over the pumpkin soup if desired.

If you prefer a healthier version, you can choose to omit the cream. Else, live a little...pour on the cream and taste the heavenly creamy soup. ;))

Hope this soup will be served at your dinner table too. It's really a nice simple gourmet soup that is so easy to make. Try it and you will know how delicious this is. ;)

Still not used to this laptop, so will post the other recipe some other day.
Hope to see you folks soon.....cheers all!

Something Wholesome For The Day

Nope, no chocolate Swiss rolls nor buttery cakes today. I think it's been awhile since I last posted something more nutritious to share. So today, I'm gonna make something more wholesome. :) I guess it's best to be a little more watchful of our diet once in awhile right? Good for the body and mind. :) First up is a nutritious soup that I boiled up today for my family. Its call Chicken Soup with Fresh Chinese Yam & Carrot (鲜淮山红罗卜鸡汤). I got this recipe from a soup cookbook I got awhile back; The World of Nourishing & Fine Soup by Kenny Chen.

I made a few amendments to the recipe. I replaced the chicken with some pork spare ribs for soup, since I have some in the fridge. And I also increase the amount to make enough for 4 adults. This soup is so easy to prepare, plus the ingredients are easily accessible.

Best of all, it's delicious! Curious about it's medicinal purpose? Here it is:

Functions:

• Strengthens the kidneys and control nocturnal emission.

Features:

1. Fresh Chinese yam (淮山）helps tonify "qi" (气) and nourish "yin"(阴). It is also helpful in digestion, anti-aging and strengthens the cellular immune system.
2. Carrots are nutritious and help to prevent flu, ease tension, relive fatigue and clean the intestine and stomach.
3. Lotus Seed nourishes the spleen, improves digestion, prevents diarrhea, calms the spirit, strengthens the kidneys and has astringent properties.
   

Ingredients for Chicken/Pork Soup with Chinese Yam and Carrots:
160g Chinese yam (淮山), peeled and cut into large chunks
80g red carrots (红罗卜), peeled, and cut into large chunks
16 lotus seeds (莲子)
6 dried black dates (南枣) *
1/2 chicken or 250g pork spare ribs (鸡肉／猪肉)
~600ml water (清水)

*Note that original recipe calls for red dates. But I used dried black dates instead since I much prefer its taste.

Method:

• Scaled raw pork spare ribs in boiling water, rinse and put into stewing pot with water. Start the fire going.
• Add lotus seeds, dried black dates and start to boil it. Once it boils, lower heat to a simmer and let it stew for a good 1.5hrs.
  
• After 1.5hrs, add carrots and continue to slow boil for another 30 minutes.
• Lastly, add the Chinese yam and let it boil together in the soup for another 15 to 20 minutes before turning off the fire.
• Add salt to taste. Simple as that! :))
  

A little salt and that's all it needs, the soup taste great. I have been boiling this for numerous times now and finally decided to post to for everyone to try. Hope you folks will like it. :)

The next wonderful recipe is from Carol 自在生活. The recipe is called Custard Wholewheat Rice Buns 卡士達全麥米餐包. Rice? Yes, rice is incorporated into the dough, something different isn't it? But I chose to make this mainly because I have this packet of organic wholewheat flour seating in my pantry for a while now. :P Furthermore, I love Carol's blog and recipes. I even bought one of her latest cookbook, heehee.

For this, I followed her bread recipe closely except for the fillings. Here is Carol's recipe for easy reference:

Ingredients for Custard Wholewheat Rice Buns:
For Custard:
Set A: 1 large egg and 20g caster sugar
Set B: 130ml fresh milk and 10g cake flour
Set C: 5g of unsalted butter and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
(For pictorial steps, refer to Carol's blog)

Method:

• Mix Set A's egg and sugar together till well combined.
• Set B: Sift cake flour into the milk and whisk together till there's no lumps.
• Gradually add the mixture of Set B into Set A mixture and whisking at the same time. Place this mixture in a heat prove pot and over medium flame.
• Be watchful of the mixture and stirring constantly till it thickens.
  
• Remove from the flame and add the butter and stir till it melts. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.

Rice tang zhong: 100g cooked rice and 300ml water

• In a heat prove sauce pot, cook the rice with the water till it reaches porridge stage.
• I blended mine to make it smooth and no lumps. Set aside to be used later on.

Main Dough:
230g tang zhong rice porridge
200g bread flour
100g wholewheat flour
3g instant yeast
30g caster sugar
1/8 tsp salt
40g unsalted butter

egg wash

Fillings:
custard cream (from above)
red bean paste (optional)
Cranberry cream cheese

Method:

• Mix all the ingredients together except for the butter together till get a pliable dough.
• Continue to knead the dough till its non sticky and elastic. Then add butter and continue to knead till it passes the "window test".
• Put the dough into a big bowl. Cover with cling wrap and let it prove for 30minutes till double.
• Divide the dough into 9 equal portions. Flatten each portion with your hands to drive the air out. Roll it into square shape, cover and let rest for 20 minutes before shaping.
• Flatten the dough to drive the air out. Roll each out into a circular disc with a rolling pin. Place about 1 tbsp of desired filling and seal the edges tightly. Repeat for the rest of the dough portions. Cover with cling wrap.
• Let it prove for about 45 minutes or until the dough has risen to 80 % of the depth of the baking tin (22cmX20cmX5cm). Lastly, brush with egg wash and make your own "markings" if you filled the buns with different fillings.
  
• Bake @ 180C in the oven for 20 to 22 minutes until golden brown. Once done, remove from the oven and remove from tin immediately to cool on the rack.
  

Although the wholewheat rice buns are not as fluffy and soft like white breads, it was still wholesome and delicious. I would eat this anytime, since it's good for the body. :)

Hope what I've posted today can help give you some motivation to make something wholesome for your love ones at home. I'm sure they will appreciate it. Try it and let me know if you like them.

Signing off now, hope you all have a healthful day!