[Dessert]Orr Nee With Gingko Nut And Pumpkin

Orr Nee(芋泥) is one of the traditional Teochew(朝洲) dessert which often eaten at a Chinese Wedding banquet that symbolises unity and happiness for the newly weds. Traditionally this dessert is made using Lard oil to stir-fry the paste till it appears smooth and glossy. I still remember vividly how my dad and granny used to cook this dessert only during occasions such as Lunar Chinese New Year or praying ancestors'  anniversaries.

Since from a child till now I always have special feeling and crave over this traditional dessert with it's smooth texture, sweet taste and shallot oil fragrant. But no matter how close I replicate this dessert towards my dad standard, I can never find back that special taste that my late father used to make.

If you remember in one of my previous post I mentioned that a few months long ago, I came across a food blog known as "Maameemoomoo(a 1/2 food blog) where the author self concoct a very unique cheesecake  known as "Orh Nee Cheesecake(recipe)" that makes me felt in love at first sight. So if you love this traditional Orr Nee dessert I bet you would love her Orh Nee Cheesecake too, furthermore it is not difficult to get your hands on those ingredients too.

But now, let's take a look on how to prepare this traditional Orr Nee dessert.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
400g Yam, skinned and cut into 1" cubes
50g Caster Sugar
2 Tablespoons Shallot Oil(recipe)

Toppings:
100g Mashed Pumpkin (refer to note below)
12 Gingko Nuts
60ml Coconut Milk

Method:-

1. In a prepared steamer, steam the yam for about 20 minutes or till soften before mashing it through a metal sieve.

2. As for the pumpkin, add about 1.5 Tablespoons of water to 120g of pumpkin cubes and steamed it over medium heat till soften. Mashed and set aside.

3. Next in a large frying pan/wok heat up shallot oil before adding in mashed yam and sugar, mix well and cook  over low heat till paste is not sticky.

4. Scoop the cooked yam paste into serving bowls, top with gingko nuts and steamed it over medium heat for about 15 minutes.

5. Remove the cover of the steamer, drizzle 1 teaspoon of coconut milk into each serving bowls, continue to steam for another 3 minutes.

6. To serve, top each bowl with mashed pumpkin and drizzle of shallot oil(optional).

Note:-

~ For this recipe, I use prepacked gingko nuts which I rinse, remove the bitter pith in the seeds then marinated it with 1 teaspoon of sugar before used.

~ If you don't wish to steam the coconut together with the yam paste, you can microwave it on HIGH, 40 - 50 seconds till lukewarm and serve it as a condiment with the yam paste.

Although from the ingredients shown above this dessert might look too sinful or unhealthy due to  its fats content but I guess having a small portion of it once in a while is still quite acceptable. And I think eventually some of these traditional food or dessert will vanished in near future as most of the younger generation nowadays don't really fancy all these traditional food compared to their trend on bubble tea, donuts, fast food and etc. 

Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

All along I prefer butter cake compared to those frosted cream cake, chiffon, fresh fruits or etc that is available in the bakery. And personally I crave for those traditional rich and moist butter cakes that served together with a cup of freshly brewed English tea that will refresh your soul for a great afternoon tea session.

After trying the 1st batch of Pumpkin Butter Cake that I made into small muffin cups, we love the soft texture, buttery taste as well as the natural flavour from the mashed pumpkin. And since I have another ½ portion of leftover pumpkin in the fridge, I decided to combine this recipe with the recent Marble Cake (HERE) that I have made and come out with the "Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake".

For these two recipes here, I used Lurpak Unsalted Butter which I prefer its smooth and creamy taste that is does not make you feel queasy even after having a slices of two of the cake. As for the pumpkin I used the Butternut because I love its sweet and nutty taste that is great for soups, casseroles, breads, and even cakes.

(adapted from 茄子, 袅袅烘焙香 HERE)
Ingredients For Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 6 muffins)
100g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Caster Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter, cubes and soften
3 Large Eggs

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds
Some Shredded/Sliced Pumpkin

Methods:-

1. Cream butter and sugar till light and fluffy, add in eggs one at a time and beat till well combined.

2. Stir-in vanilla extract then fold in the sifted flours (cake flour + baking powder) in two round till there is no trace of flour in the batter.

3. Add in mashed pumpkin (refer to the preparation method below) and preferably using a balloon whisk to give the mixture some quick stir to combine the pumpkin with the flour batter.

4. Spoon the pumpkin batter into prepared muffin case, top with shredded pumpkin or pumpkin seeds.

5. Bake in pre-heated 170 degree oven for about 15 - 18 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.


To Prepare The Mashed Pumpkin:

1. Place pumpkin cubes(without skin) into a microwave heatproof bowl together with 1 tablespoon of water.

2. Cook in high heat for 3 - 4 minutes with an interval stirring between each minute.

3. Mash the cooked and soft pumpkin with a fork and set aside to cool while preparing the batter. OR

4. You can steam the pumpkin cubes in a pot of boiling water using steaming rack for about 10 minutes or till pumpkin is soften.

As you can see from the photo despite of the beautiful swirl colours from the pumpkin and chocolate batter there are some setback of air holes which appears due to my oversight of mixing the two batters. But thanks God these flaws did not affect the texture and taste of this moist and buttery cake.

Ingredients For Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake: (makes 17cm cake )
120g Pumpkin(without skin), steamed and mashed
150g Cake Flour/Top Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
100g Castor Sugar
100g Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs
1 Tablespoon Dutch Cocoa Powder, sieved

Toppings:
Some Pumpkin Seeds, optional

Methods:-

1. To prepare the chocolate pumpkin butter cake, follow step 1 and 2 shown above for preparing the flour batter.

2. Scoop about 3 - 4 Tablespoons of flour batter into a small bowl together with 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder, whisk till well combined. Set aside.

3. Whisk in mashed pumpkin into the remanding flour batter.

4. Drop 1 - 2 spoons of the pumpkin and chocolate batter alternately into the prepared tin.

5. When all the mixture has been used up, tap the bottom on the tin on your work surface to ensure that there aren't any air bubbles.

6. Take a skewer and swirl it around the mixture in the tin a few times to create a marbled effect.

7. Bake the cake for 25 - 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Cool the cake completely before removing it from the baking tin/case, cut into slices and serve with coffee/tea.




Chocolate Pumpkin Butter Cake

Pumpkin Ondeh Ondeh

Ondeh Ondeh/Onde Onde is one of the popular and delicious tea-time snacks in Singapore. Usually they come in green colour (pandan flavour) glutinous rice balls that are sprinkled with grated coconut on the outside and filled with Gula Melaka as the inner fillings. So when you give this Ondeh Ondeh a bite it would burst in your mouth with the melted Gula Melaka oozing out from the rice ball. I love those bite-size and chewy versions with a good grade of fragrant Gula Melaka that makes you keep popping them into your mouth.

There are two different common methods on making this snack; one is made totally using glutinous rice flour while the second method is a mixture of sweet potatoes and glutinous rice flour. But now there are a lot of different varieties available in the stores such as using Yam, Chocolate, Purple Sweet Potato and etc to attract more customers.

Here are the ingredients to make the pumpkin ondeh ondeh so let's get ready on these such as:-

Ingredients: (makes 20 - 24)
150g Grated Coconut
1/4 Teaspoon Fine Salt
4 - 5 Pandan leaves, tied to a knot
15g Tapioca Flour
100ml Water
200g Steamed Mashed Pumpkin
180g Glutinous Rice Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
100g Gula Melaka(Palm Sugar), roughly chopped


These are the photo on the steps on how to make the ondeh ondeh:-

Method:
1. Cut off the skin of the pumpkin, weight about 200g and cut it into small cubes and steam them for about 15 minutes or until soften.
2. Remove it from the steamer rack and let it cool while preparing other ingredients.
3. Mix 1/4 teaspoon salt with the grated coconut and steam for 5 minutes together with the pandan leave. When done, set aside and let it cool.
4. Mix tapioca flour and water together then cook over medium heat until it forms a thick paste.
5. Remove it from heat and let it cool in a mixing bowl.
6. Next add in mashed pumpkin, glutinous rice flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt and knead to form a soft dough.
7. Pinch a bit of the dough and roll each ball into a size of a "fishball(about 15g)".
8. Bring a pot of water to boil while stuffing the filling of the ondeh ondeh.
9. Flatten a dough ball and put a bit(1/4 teaspoon) of Gula Melaka in the centre, pinch to seal the opening and roll again into round shape. Repeat this with the other balls.
10. Drop about 5 - 6 balls into the boiling water while continue making the rest. Cook the balls in boiling water until they float to the surface which takes about 2 minutes.
11. Use a slotted spoon to remove the balls from the water when they floated up and place them on the grated coconut.
12. Roll each ball in the coconut and serve warm or when cooled.

Note:
~ I also coated some of these pumpkin ondeh ondeh with some ground peanut instead of the traditional grated coconut. And it taste taste great with the pumpkin and peanut combination.


After some steaming, kneading, rolling, cooking and rolling, these are our Pumpkin Ondeh Ondeh with dual coating. I guess it would depend on individual liking on whether to pick a grated coconut coating or ground peanut or maybe "both".

These are some of the ready packed Pumpkin Ondeh Ondeh that we bought to our weekly cell group for the after session food time. Does this packing resemble to those "store bought" ondeh ondeh?

Spooky Halloween Trick or Treat

What are you planning on this year Halloween which is just two days away on Sunday, 31 October 2010? This year there are a lot of exciting Halloween activities found in most tourist attractions such as Singapore Night Safari, Sentosa (spooky event) or even some restaurants or pubs are having Halloween parties and special dining menu to brings up the spooky atmosphere.

For this coming Halloween, I would like to share with you our quick and easy "not so" spooky Halloween treat which is the "Pumpkin Soup" and "Spooky Pizza".

Frog & Pumpkin Porridge

This is one of Rey's favourite weekend lunch that I always prepared for him either on Saturday or Sunday. The method is more or less the same but then I will rotate on the ingredients depend on what he prefer during that week. Our "little master" will tell me what he wants for the day before we headed for marketing. Today's menu might sounds a bit "yucky" to some of you because of the use of "Fresh Frog". But in Asian country like Singapore, Frog porridge is very commonly found in most household where the elderly will choose it to cook porridge for kids.

Since Rey is a picky eater who don't really eat meat or vegetable on it's own. We have to work on ways to get things into his mouth, so the most easier way that both me and my mum will do is to put everything into the porridge and serve it to him as one dish meal. This is a very nutritious porridge which consists of his favourite pumpkin and potato.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
3 Pieces of Pork Ribs
1 Fresh Frog(田鸡), skin removed
60g of Pumpkin, without skin
1 Medium Potato, cut into quarters
Some Red Dates & Wolfberries
1/2 Cup Uncooked Rice
600ml - 800ml Water

Method:
1. Pre-wash the rice and soak with some water for about 30 minutes, this is enable the rice to soften and cook faster.
2. Wash and clean the pork ribs and fresh frog then blanch them in boiling water for a about 3 minutes, rinse and set aside.
3. Next bring about 600ml of water to boil then add in the pork rib, frog meat, potato cubes, red dates and wolfberries and let it bring to boil again then simmer for about 15 minutes over low heat.
4. Add in the rice(drained well 1st) and pumpkin(don't cut into small pieces, leave it as it is) let it simmer accordingly until the rice is done to your liking.
5. Season it with some salt and sesame oil if you prefer then serve.


My boy love the pumpkin to be mashed together in the porridge and serve with the soft cooked potato. Usually I cooked this dish with Cod fish but for a change today, I replace the Cod fish with fresh frog meat.

Note:
a) I bought the fresh frog from the wet market which is already without the skin.
b) I use a small claypot to cook the porridge because we love that smooth texture compare to the normal pot.

Wholemeal Pumpkin Mantou

This is a busy weekend for me as I suddenly have the urge to conquer a few recipes in my to-do-list. While waiting for my son to finish his Saturday enrichment class, I managed to stomp upon this Organic Wholemeal Flour from one of the local supermarket. It has a finer and right texture compare to another brand that I used to buy so I decided to get a packet to test out my new Steam Pumpkin Mantou recipe which I modify from the previous recipe that I made.

I modify the recipe a bit which made this rather simple and easy compare to previous one. And this Steam Mantou is full of texture when biting because of the use of the Wholemeal flour, Sesame seeds, Raisin and Wolfberries.

Ingredients:
230g Pumpkin, skin removed
250g Wholemeal Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
1 Teaspoon of Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Black Sesame Seeds
1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds
2 Tablespoons Wolfberries, cut into halves
2 Tablespoons Golden Raisin, chopped
20 - 40ml water
1 Tablespoon of Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes, rinse it with water then place them into a microwave safe bowl and cook in Microwave High for about 5 - 6 minutes with a cup of water.(Stop 2 minutes in between to give a stir to the cubes to cook them evenly)
2. When the cubes became soft, mashed them using a fork and set side to cool to lukewarm temperature before adding to the flour to form a dough.
3. Sift the flour, baking powder and yeast together then add in the sugar and stir till combine.
4. Next slowly add in the mashed pumpkin and stir using a pair of chopstick till combine, you might need to add some water in order to form a dough.
5. Moist your hand with some oil and give the dough a few knead to combine it then set it aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl to proof for about 20 - 30 minutes until double it size.
6. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions then on a lightly floured work surface, flatten each portion into a rectangular shape shown like that picture shown above, sprinkle some chopped wolfberries, golden raisin and sesame seeds then roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape then cut them into equal portion.
7. Place each shaped portion on a piece of greaseproof paper, top with some extra wolfberries and sesame seeds then arrange on the steamer rack and steam over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on the size.
8. Repeat for the rest of the portion of dough and steam accordingly. (I made about 12 Mantou with the size of about 2.5" before steaming)

Notes:
a) You might need to cook the pumpkin for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.
b) You can also replace the brown sugar with caster sugar instead.
c) This is best to serve within the same day, if not you can keep in the freezer for a few weeks, and reheat it before serving.

Steam Pumpkin Mantou - 金瓜馒头

Mantou(馒头) often referred to as "humbao" or Chinese steamed bun which is originating in China. It is made with wheat flour, water and leavening agents, they are similar in nutrition and eating qualities to the white bread of the West.

Recently, my mum has being into Mantou making with one of my son's kiddy's friend mummy. They will gather together at least once in a week to experiment with their Mantou making. So after tasting their delicious homemade Mantou, I am also interested in joining the fun of making it. For mine, I added some extra wolfberries to enhance the taste as well as a the texture.

Ingredients: (makes about 10)
250g Plain Flour
1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
40ml Lukewarm Water
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
5 Tablespoons Caster Sugar
200g Pumpkin, skin removed
2 Tablespoon Wolfberries, cut into halves
1/2 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Method:
1. Sift the plain flour and baking powder together in a big bowl, then stir in the caster sugar till combined.
2. Remove the outer skin of the pumpkin, cut into small cubes then rinse it with water and place in a microwave safe bowl and cook on High heat together with a cup of water for about 5 minutes. (Stop 2 minutes in between and give it a stir so that it will cook evenly)
3. Use a fork or food masher to mash the pumpkin cubes into paste form then set aside for later use.
4. Add the dry yeast into the lukewarm water and give it a quick stir then set aside for about 5 minutes till bubbles appeared(refer to the picutre above).
5. Next slowly add in the yeast water into the flour mixture and sitr using a pair of chopstick, then follow by the mashed pumpkin and stir till they form a soft dough.
6. Rub some oil on your hand then give the dough a quick knead till well combine.
7. Set the dough aside in a lightly flour/oil bowl and let it proof for about 20 - 30 minutes until it double in size.
8. Divide the dough into 2 or 3 portions then on a lightly floured work surface, flatten each portion into a rectangular shape shown like that picture below, sprinkle some chopped wolfberries then roll it up lengthwise into an oblong shape then cut them into equal portion.
9. Place each shaped portion on a piece of greaseproof paper, top with some extra wolfberries, then arrange on the steamer rack and steam over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depend on the size.
10. Repeat for the rest of the portion of dough and steam accordingly. ( I made about 10 Mantou with the size of about 3" before steaming)

Note:
a) Lukewarm is about 40 degree Celsius
b) The pumpkin dough will be very stick when handling, so do not worry. You can wet your hand some oil before handling the dough for easy kneading.
c) You might need to cook the pumpkin for about 3 - 5 minutes more before it will be soften depend on the power of your microwave.

This is my homemade Steam Pumpkin & Wolfberries Mantou which is freshly out from the steamer. It really taste great and different for a chance in the usual Pandan or Plain Mantou that is sold in the supermarket.

Lotus Root, Pumpkin & Pearl Bean Soup

Look at these beans, they look beautiful right? I love to add some of these Pearl Beans while cooking soup for the family. It will add a nutty flavor and creamy texture to the soup but then since it will get cook and turn soft pretty fast, you can only add them into the soup 20 minutes before the soup is done. Do not add too early or else you won't be able to find the whole bean itself.


It had being a long time ever since I used this little jewels in my soup. So today, since I had found some fresh and lovely Pearl Bean Pods in the market, I decided to use it together with some Pumpkin and Lotus Roots to make this wonderful nutty and hearty soup.

Ingredients:
300g Pork Ribs
1 Medium Section of Lotus Roots, about 200g
10 - 15 Pearl Bean Pods (珍珠豆)
1/4 (200g) Wedge of Australia Pumpkin, cut into thick chunk
1 Medium Carrot, peel and cut into thick slices
5 Red Dates(红枣 )
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries(枸杞子)
4 - 6 Cloves Of Garlic
2 Slices Of Ginger

Methods:
1. Wash and trim the pork ribs then scald in boiling water and rinse again.
2. Wash, peel and cut the lotus roots into thin slices.
3. Remove the beans from the pods and rinse well.
4. Heat up the a soup pot with some oil, then saute the ginger and garlic till fragrant then add in the pork ribs, lotus roots and carrot, stir and saute for another 2 - 3 minutes on very low heat.
5. Add about 1.5 litres of water and bring it to boil.
6. Simmer the soup for about 30 minuter then add in the pumpkin and pearl beans and continue to simmer for another 20 - 30 minutes
7. Season it with salt or stock cubes according to your preference.

Notes:
a) I use the Australia Pumpkin which is more Orange in colour and sweeter compare to the local pumpkin which is more towards the yellowish colour side.
b) You can replace pork ribs with lean meat or chicken according to your preference.

Assorted Hakka Abacus Seeds

This Hakka Abacus Seeds dish, where mashed yam is mixed with flour and shaped into round pellets that look like abacus seeds. The beads are usually stir fried with a simple sauce of minced garlic, shallot pork, dried shrimps, firm beancurd and shitake mushrooms.

My mother-in-law is a Hakka and she used to make this dish for us at least once a month. And after eating her version of abacus seeds, actually I had wanted to try it out very long ago. So after seeing the Pumpkin Abacus Seeds from MyCoffee blog. I decided to give this dish a try by making two different types of flavour in one go.


So for my Assorted Abacus Seeds, I had the traditional Hakka Yam beads as well as the Pumpkin beads from MyCoffee's blog. As for the side ingredients, I had include those that my mother-in-law used to put in. Finally, I had my own version of Assorted Hakka Abacus Seeds from Cuisine Paradise Kitchen......It tastes very Q and Spongy which my mum and hubby loves.....

Ingredients For Yam Abacus Seeds:(make about 30-35)
300g Yam, cut into small slices
100g - 150g Tapioca Flour
1/4 Teaspoon Pepper
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
A Pot Of Ice Water

Methods:
1. Steam the yam slices until soft then mash it while still hot.
2. Slowly stir in tapioca flour till combined(you might not need all the flour, it all depend on the wetness of the mashed yam) then add in the rest of the seasoning and oil and knead into a smooth dough.
3. From small round balls and make a dent in each one with your thumb to from the abacus seed shape(about 2cm wide) and set aside.
4. Bring half pot of water to boil then cook the beads until float, remove and plunge into the pot of iced water(this is to stop the cooking process of the beads and make it more Q and spongy) for 1 - 2 minutes then drained and set aside.

Notes:
Do not put too many beads into the boiling water at one time, allow some room for them to float around.

Used the same ingredients and methods for the Pumpkin beads, replace the yam slices with pumpkin slices and you might need more tapicoa flour(about 200g-250g) because mashed pumpkin contains more moisture than the yam.

Ingredients For Side Fillings: (enough for 50-60 beads)
300g Pork Mince/Belly Pork
2 Pieces Of Small Firm Beancurds, shredded
4 Dried Mushroom, soaked till soften
50g Black Fungs, soaked till soften
50g Dried Shrimps, soaked till soften
5 Cloves Garlics, finely chopped
4 Shallots, finely sliced
Sauce:
100ml Of Water, from soaking mushroom
1/2 Teaspoon Chicken Stock Granules
1/2 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
For Garnish:
1 Stalk Spring Onion, finely chopped
3-4 Small Chillies, finely sliced
1 Tablespoon Dried Shallot
Some Pepper

Methods:
1. Marinate the pork minced with 1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce, 1/2 Tablespoon Sesame Oil, 1/4 Teaspoon Pepper and 1 Teaspoon cornstarch, set aside in the fridge to marinate for about 30 minutes or more.
2. Shredded the soaked mushroom(reserved the water), black fungus and lightly pound the dried shrimp and set aside.
3. Preheat the pan with some oil then saute the shredded beancurd until golden brown, drained and set aside.
4. Add about 2 Tablespoons Of Oil in a pan, add in the sliced shallots and saute until slightly golden brown, add in garlic and pork mince.
5. Saute the pork until almost cooked then add in mushroom, black fungs, dried shrimp and continue to stir until fragrant and cooked through.
6. Next add in the beancurd and sauce upon boiling add in the cooked abacus beads and simmer for another 2 minutes on low heat.
7. Serve hot with garnish.

Pumpkin & Assorted Bean Soup

Remember the Cranberry Bean(click link for more details) that I had used for some of the soup recipes before. Today we are going to have another soup using these beautify peal bean together with some kidney beans and pumpkin to stew a wonderful soup of the day.

Kidney Beans-红腰豆
A dried kidney shape bean that is reddish brown in color, strong flavored and has a slight mealy (powdery) texture. The beans can be cooked as their own dish or can be added into other dishes, such as chili, casseroles, refried beans and salads. They are available dried or in cans, precooked. Kidney beans also provide large amounts of foliate and tryptophan. It also benefits the Spleen and invigorates the Stomach, expels Heat and Dampness. As with all dried beans, they should be sorted and washed before cooking. Soaking ahead of time reduces cooking time.


Ingredients:
1/4 Pumpkin(南瓜), about 300g
20 Pods Cranberry Bean(珍珠豆)
100g Kidney Beans(红腰豆)
300g - 350g Pork Ribs(排骨)
1 Medium Fresh Huai Shan(鲜淮山), about 200g
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(枸杞子)
1 Piece Of Dried Tangerine Peel, 陈皮

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and blanch the pork ribs in boiling water. Rinse and set aside for later use.
2. Wash, peel and cut the pumpkin into 4 large pieces.
3. Wash and soak the kidney bean for about 30 minutes, drain and set aside.
4. Soak dried tangerine peel till soft, then scrape off the pith.
5. Remove the cranberry bean from the pod, wash and set aside.
6. Bring a pot of 1.2 litre of water to boil, then add in all the ingredients except the cranberry bean, reduce the heat and let it simmer for about 1 hrs or until the kidney bean is tender then add in the cranberry bean and continue to simmer for another 20 minutes.
7. Or you can transfer the boiled soup to a slow-cooker and simmer on LOW heat for 2 hours then add in the cranberry beans and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes season with salt and serve.

Pumpkin, Cranberry Bean & Cordyceps Soup

Sick of eating and drinking of peanut soup? Why not give a try to this "Pumpkin, Cranberry Bean & Cordyceps Soup". Cranberry Beans(珍珠豆) have a nutty flavor and creamy texture. It's rounded with red specks, which disappear on cooking. These beans are a favorite in northern Italy and Spain. In Singapore, cranberry beans are known as "Pearl Beans", which is a literal translation from its Chinese name and they are sold fresh in their pods in most vegetable stalls.

For Today's soup, we will be using this special bean to stew soup with pumpkin, dried cordyceps stems and pork ribs. This soup will taste sweet and nutty because of the cranberry beans and pumpkin. Do give it a try, if you happen to see some of these beautiful beans laying around at the vegetable stall near your area.


Ingredients:
300g Pork Ribs,排骨
300 - 350g Pumpkin,南瓜
20-25 Pods Of Cranberry Beans,珍珠豆
20g Dried Cordyceps Stems.干冬虫草
4-5 Red Dates,红枣
1 Tablespoon Gou Qizi,枸杞子

Methods:
1. Wash, trim and blanch pork ribs in boiling water, rinse and set aside.
2. Wash, peel pumpkin and cut into thick slices.
3. Remove the Cranberry Beans from the Pods, wash and drain.
4. Wash dried cordyceps stems, red dates and gou qizi, drained and set aside.
5. Bring a pot of water(about 1.5 liters) to boil, add in all the ingredients except the beans, bring to boil and simmer on low heat for 1.5 hours then add in the beans and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes.(You can cook on slow cooker using low heat for 2 hours then add in the beans and continue to simmer for another 30-45 mins)
6. Season with salt and serve.

Pumpkins, Peanuts & Pork Ribs Soup

Got this recipe from one of the cooking forums and it a taste similar to red bean sweet soup because of the added kidney beans and pumpkin. Overall this soup is very nourishing and healthy and it is suitable for everyone in the family too.