Korean Chicken Soup

This Korean Chicken Soup is one of the MUST HAVE soup for the Korean during summer days. They usually stuff all the ingredients in a small chicken and double-boiled it over slow heat. But for smaller family, you also can use chicken drumsticks or pork ribs to achieve a similar taste and texture for this soup.


I find this is rather an interesting soup because of the ingredients used. Like Gingko nut, which is normally used for dessert instead of savory soup. And from the above photo you will also wonder, "Is this Soup or Porridge?". Because I used the slow cooker to simmer this soup over low heat for about 2 hours and it became slightly thicken due to the glutinous rice which will make it taste even better. But for those who prefer a clearer soup base, perhaps you can follow the cooking method below or just simmer in slow-cooker for 1.5 hrs instead. Other than gingko nut and glutinous rice, I also use a new ingredient known as Burdock(click link to find out more) which give a unique Root fragrant to this soup, which taste a bit like Ginseng.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
1/4 Cup Glutinous Rice,糯米
2 Chicken Drumsticks,鲜鸡腿
2 Medium Dried Mushroom,香菇
1 Stem Of Burdock,牛蒡
2 Cloves Garlic,蒜
8 Fresh Gingko Nuts,鲜白果
8 Fresh Chestnuts,鲜栗子
3-4 Ginger Slices,老姜片
4 Red Dates,红枣
1/2 Tablespoon Salt
3 Cup Water, 750ml
1 Stalk Spring Onion
Some Black Pepper Powder

Methods:
1. Soak mushroom till soft with 1 cup of water, cut away the stalk and retain the water for later use.
2. Wash and soak glutinous rice for at least 30 minutes, drain and set aside.
3. Wash, trim and blanch chicken drumsticks in boiling water then rinse and set aside.
4. Wash and cut the burdock into 3cm long, blanch in boiling water, drain and set aside.
5. Wash the garlic and light pound it with the back of the knife. Cut spring onion into thin slices and set aside.
6. Remove the shell and skin of the fresh Chestnut(click link to find out more on removing the shell).
7. Add all ingredients in a pot together with 3 cups of water and 1 cup of the mushroom water and bring to boil.
8. Simmer over low heat for about 20 - 30 minutes, season with salt to taste then sprinkle with some spring onion and black pepper, served.

Notes: This version of Korean Chicken Soup contain more ingredients, for those who prefer less ingredients you can also try this: Ginseng Chicken Soup With Glutinous Rice

Cranberries Cinnamon Roll

Opps! Another bread collection for Today's Breakfast. As I was making a batch of the Cranberries Cream Cheese Bread for my aunty, I decided to use half of the dough to make this Cranberries Cinnamon Roll. It's indeed very easy to prepare, just need to sprinkle some brown sugar and cinnamon powder to it.... so simple and yet so delicious........Sometime I think bread making is very simple and full of creative ideas, just as long as you get hold of the kneading process of the dough. Then with the dough, you can creative different kinds of bread according to your creation.

Ingredients: (make about 7 buns)
150g Bread Flour
50g Plain Flour
10g Milk Powder
30g Sugar
1 Medium Egg
½ Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Instant Dry Yeast
85ml Ice Water
25g Butter/Margarine
40g Dried Cranberries, finely chopped

Methods:
1. Mix bread flour, plain flour, milk powder, salt, sugar and dry yeast till well blended in a big mixing bowl.
2. Next add in Egg, and use finger to mix it well and slowly add in the cold water while you knead the mixture till combine then add in the butter and knead to form a pliable & elastic dough.(you might not need all the ice water, just add slowly while kneading so that it will come to a rough dough consistency then add in the butter)
3. This process may take quite a while, about 30 mins or so.
4. The dough will be wet & sticky at first (and kinda messy as well), but keep on kneading (without adding oil or water) until dough no longer sticks to fingers & is glossy on surface.
5. And if you're about to give up just like I did, DON'T!
6. When the dough is done, add in the chopped cranberries slowly and mix till well combine.
7. Place the dough in the mixing bowl, wrap it up and set aside in a warm place to allow dough to fermentate, approx. 45 minutes - 60minutess,(depend on the weather, or you can place it in the oven with a bowl of hot water beside it) the dough must at least double in size after fermentation.

For The Cinnamon Fillings:
1/2 Tablespoon Or more Cinnamon Powder
1 Tablespoon Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Soft Butter
1 Egg, lightly beaten
Some Almond Flakes

Methods:
1. Roll the fermented dough roughly into a 30cm by 25cm rectangle shape.
2. Spread a thin layer of butter on the dough surface and sprinkle some cinnamon powder and brown sugar evenly around the surface.(Adjust the amount by personal preference.)
3. Roll up the dough on the wider side downwards evenly, cut the rolled up dough into 6 or 7 equal parts.
4. Place the cut dough into paper mould with the cut surface facing upwards.
5. Leave it to continue ferment until it fill 80% of the mould.
6. Brush the dough with egg wash and sprinkle some almond flakes on the surface, you can spinkle some extra cinnamon powder if you prefer.
7. Bake in a preheat 180 degree oven for about 15 minutes or till golden brown, remove and set aside to cool.

Green Carrot & Cordyceps Soup

Last few weeks it seems abit difficult to find Green Carrot around my area. So when I managed to get hold of one yesterday, I decided to use it for this Green Carrot & Cordyceps Soup. With the Green Carrot and Cordyceps stem, this soup give up a very fragrant, refreshing and sweet taste which make you wanted to have a second refill in the soup bowl. You might want to give this a try during hot weather as it's a very good soup to clear the heats in the body.


Ingredients:
300g Pork Ribs(排骨)/2 Chicken Drumsticks
1 Medium Fresh Huai Shan(鲜淮山), around 200g
1 Medium Red Carrot(红萝卜)
1 Medium Green Carrot/Green Radish(青萝卜)
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi(枸杞子)
4 Red Dates(红枣)
2 Tablespoons Foxnuts(茨实)
1.5 Tablespoons Cordyceps Stems(干冬虫草)

Methods:
1. Wash and blanch the pork ribs in boiling water, rinse and set aside.
2. Wash, peel and cut the red carrot, green carrots and huai shan into thick sections.
3. Rinse the rest of the herbs ingredient and set aside.
4. Bring a pot of 1.5 litres of water to boil and add in all ingredients, boil on medium heat for 10 minutes then simmer on low heat for about 1.5 hours.
5. Or you can transfer to a slow cooker on Low heat and simmer for 2 - 3 hours.
6. Season with some salt or chicken stock cubes and serve warm.
This is the picture of Green Carrot/Green Radish. You can find it in most vegetable stalls in the wet market. It will give out a very refreshing and sweet taste when used to make soup.

Bacon, Mushroom & Cheese Tart

Make this Bacon, Mushroom and Cheese Tarts for my guest yesterday night dinner and everyone love it very much. The taste of the filling is just right and the case is very crisp and yummy. Thank Tazz for sharing this wonderful recipe.... Another test proof recipe from Tazz's kitchen.....

For my version, I actually pan-fry the chopped bacon in some olive oil for a while till fragrant then I spread it evenly onto the tart case itself. As I thought this might make the bacon more fragrant when bake.....