Tuesday 4 July 2006

Trio Carrot & Fish Paste Meatball Soup

Saw this original recipe from one of the cookbook call "Local Taiwan Food, 台湾小吃". In the recipe, it used pork strip instead of pork mince to coat with the fish paste. And for the soup base, they only use red and white carrot instead of the trio carrot that I used.

The process of making the fish paste meatballs is rather easy, it's sort of like the "Fuzhou Fishball, 福州鱼丸" that we had here. As you can see from the picture, I used the cookie cutter to cut out leaves and carrot shape from the carrots slices to make the soup look more appearling so that my dear son will find it interesting.


Ingredients:
200g Pork Mince/Pork Fillet
200g Fish Paste, 鱼浆
1 Medium Red Carrot, 红萝卜
1 Medium White Radish, 白萝卜
1 Medium Green Radish,清萝卜
4 Red Dates,红枣
1/2 Tablespoon Gou Qizi,枸杞子
1/4 Chinese Cabbage,白菜
1.5 Litres Water
1 Teaspoon Salt
Some White Pepper
Some Dried Shallot and Oil

Methods:
1. Marinate the pork mince with 1/2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce, 1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil, 1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine, 1/2 Tablespoon Cornstarch and 1/4 Teaspoon White Pepper for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
2. Wash and cut the carrots into small cubes or patterns that you prefer.
3. Wash the Chinese cabbage and cut into bite pieces.
4. Bring a pot with the 1.5 litres to boil, then add in the carrot pieces, red dates and gou qizi then bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes on low heat until carrot tender.
5. Roll the pork mince into small round shape then coat with the fish paste to form another round shape like the size of a fishball.(wet your hand with some water so that the fish paste won't stick to your hand)
6. Bring a small pot of water to boil, drop in the meatballs one at a time, and cook until all meatballs float up, dish and drained.
7. Bring the soup to boil again, add in the Chinese cabbage, simmer until tender then add in the meatballs and bring to boil again.
8. Season with salt and serve with some dried shallot and chopped spring onion.

Notes: If you are using pork fillet, just wash the pork, cut into thin strips then coat with fish paste and drop into the pot of boiling water and cooked until float then remove. Posted by Picasa

Steam Cod Fish With Crispy Bean

The very first time I had this similar dish is from Crystal Jade restaurant which is their famous "Steam Fish With Crispy Bean". It was very delicious to go with plain rice. But after searching almost all places for that "crispy bean,豆酥 " sauce, I finally gave up. Because I asked alot of places and they don't seems to know what is this crispy bean. Until recently, I saw one of my friend pamy's blog, she managed to find this bottle crispy bean paste in Cold Storage at Takashimaya. So without any delay, I quickly go and grab a bottle to try out this "Steam Cod Fish With Crispy Bean". Like what pamy mention, this small bottle can only used around 2 to 3 times and it's rather costly.


Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Cod Fillet, about 500g
50g Crispy Minced Bean
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
Some Spring Onion and Chilli, finely chopped

Methods:
1. Rinse cod fish, pat dry and place on a plate.
2. Marinate it with salt for about 10 minutes.
3. Place cod into steamer, steam over high heat for about 10 minutes, remove.
4. Saute the crispy bean in a non-stick pan over low heat until golden and fragrant.
5. Remove and pour over onto the cod, sprinkle with some spring onion and chilli, serve hot.

Notes: Actually there is another type of crispy minced bean(豆酥) which is sold in a ball shape and needs to be ground before use. The finer it is ground the more flavourful the taste it. But too bad, we can't really find it in Singapore. For those who know where to get it, please kindly leave me a message. Thanks.Posted by Picasa

Monday 3 July 2006

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 Posted by Picasa

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