Herbal Soup For Cough

I had being coughing badly for the past 3 weeks and it seems that all the medicine or herbs that I had used to take before all lost their effect. So after being drag for so long, I decided to give this Herbal Soup For Cough a try. You might feel...Err.... "Crocodile Meat", how does it taste like? Friendly speaking, this soup smells and taste fishy which i guess is because of the Crocodile meat. But after all it's really a good soup to relieves cough and strengthens function of respiratory system. Just like what they said in Chinese(良药苦口) although it's might taste awful or bitter but it is definitely good for health.


Ingredients:
2 Pieces(30-50g) Dried Crocodile Meat(鳄鱼肉)
20g Nan Bei Xin(南北杏)
6 Pieces Of Dried Huai Shan(淮山)
10g Chuan Bei Mu(川贝母)
1/2 Piece Of Chen Pi(陈皮)
5 Red Dates(红枣)
2 - 3 Dried Figs(无花果)

Methods:
1. Rinse all the herbs and place it in a double boiler.
2. Add in 1 litre of boiling water and double-boiled for about 2 - 3 hours and serve.

A Day Into Confinement Dish

Today I am in mood of cooking some confinement dishes because I had this craving of eating this Black Vinegar Trotter which I had never eaten during my Confinement period. I started this craving when I saw this dish on my best friend Beechoo's baby full month celebration. I was tempting to give it a try but then I was afraid of the vinegar fragrant and taste.

But after much struggle and convince from my best pal Tracy I decided to give it a go... Wow.. and it really turns out great, thanks Tracy for introducing me to try cooking on this wonderful dish. I knew there are a lot of different ways to cook this dish depending on individual. Some just add sweeten black vinegar, some use both sweet and black vinegar while other add water and rock sugar/brown sugar. But no matter what are the ways that you choose to cook this dish, I believed it sure turns out great. And old folks believed that Black Vinegar purifies blood and cleanses the arteries of stale blood while Old ginger drives out the wind in the body. In order to prevent the vinegar being too acidic & therefore weakening the stomach, the glutinous ligaments and collagen of the pig's trotters are to serve as a lubricant.

Ingredients:
1 Pig's Trotter(ask for the front trotter)
1 Big Piece Of Old Ginger(about 300g)
1 Handful Of Black Bean
1 Small Bottle Of Black Vinegar, 375ml
1 1/2 Bottle Of Water(use the same vinegar bottle)
2 Tablespoons Sesame Oil
1 - 2 Tablespoon Rock Sugar/Brown Sugar
2 - 3 Hard Boiled Eggs

Methods:
1. Peel, wash and cut the old ginger into big pieces then flatten slightly.
2. Rinse the black beans and pat dry then set aside.
3. Heat up sesame oil in the preheated large claypot to saute old ginger till fragrant then add in the black beans and stir for a few minutes.
4. Pour in vinegar and water, covered and bring to a boil. Reduce to low heat, cook for about 1 hour remove from heat and soak the rest for over night.
5. Rinse the pig's trotter and cut into convenient pieces, wash and blanch into boiling water.
6. Remove, rinsed and stir-fry with some sesame oil in a preheated dry wok for a while.
7. Lastly bring the soaked vinegar soup back to boil, add in pre-fried trotter pieces and cooked for 20 minutes then add in the hard boiled eggs.
8. Continue to simmer for another 20 minutes then add in sugar to taste.
9. Remove from heat, soak the trotter pieces until tenders and the flavour has be absorbed. Serve hot.

Notes:
a) You can choose to add in more or less Ginger depend on your preference.
b) You can choose to cook the Black Vinegar Soup 1 day ahead before adding the Pig trotter or you can cook all the ingredients together and eat on the day itself or next day.
c) The amount of sugar added also depend on individual taste, you can omit it as well.

This is another famous and must dish during the confinement, Chicken With Rice Wine Residue. The aroma was great and it goes well with white rice.

Ingredients:
4-5 Chicken Wings, cut into half
1 Tablespoon Of Shredded Ginger
2 Tablespoon Sesame Oil
1/2 Tablespoon of Red Grain Rice Wine Residue
1/2 - 3/4 Cup Glutinous Rice Wine
Marinade:
1 Tablespoon Red Grain Rice Wine Reside
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Glutinous Rice Wine/Cooking Wine

Methods:
1. Rinse chicken wings and cut into pieces. Season with the marinade well and marinated for about 30 minutes.
2. Heat up 2 Tablespoons of sesame oil then add in shredded ginger and fry till fragrant then add in the wine residue.
3. Add in the marinated chicken pieces, stir-fry till well combined and aromatic then pour in the glutinous rice wine and stir well.
4. Then simmer with cover over low heat for 5 minutes or till cooked through. Remove and serve hot.

Prawn & Pork Mince Doufu

I love to eat this type of Pan-fry Doufu dish that is usually available in the coffee shop economical rice stall(Chup Chye Peng), it usually goes well with white rice because of it gravy.

You can purchase this doufu in the wet market from those selling bean sprout and bean curd stall. It cost about 60 cents for a piece which can transform into a wonderful and nutrition dish for the family.



Ingredients:
1 Piece Of Pan-fry Doufu
50g Of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
50g Minced Pork
6-8 Medium Prawns, shelled & devein
1 Stalk Of Spring Onion, chopped
1/2 Brown Onion, cut into wedges
1 Small Tomato, cut into cubes
1/2 Tablespoon Of Mince Garlic
2 Tablespoons Of Oil
Seasoning Sauce:
2 Tablespoons Abalone Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Oyster Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
Some Pepper
3/4 Teaspoon Potato Starch
120ml Water

Methods:
1. Wash and cut the doufu into big cubes and pat dry on kitchen paper towel and set aside.
2. Preheat the pan with 1 tablespoon of oil and pan-fry the doufu until golden brown on all sides, removed.
3. Next add in the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and saute the onion wedges and minced garlic until fragrant then add in the mince meat and prawns.
4. When the meat is almost done, add in the mixed vegetables and diced tomato.
5. Stir till well combined then add in the fried doufu and seasoning sauce.
6. Bring it to boil and simmer for 1 minutes, remove from heat and stir through the spring onion.
7. Dish up and garnish with extra chopped spring onion and chilli. Serve with rice.

Notes:
a) If you don't like to used minced pork, you can replace it with diced roast pork.
b) You need to buy the doufu that is suitable for pan-fry not those used in soup.

Stir-Fried Pork Fillet With Longans

This is an very interesting dish that used Fresh Longan as one of the main ingredients. Actually the original meat ingredient used is fatty beef but I replace it with Pork Fillet(mei rou,梅肉) which is more tender and juice. Since now is Longan season, for those who loves to eat this fruit maybe you can give a try to this dish.

Longan(龙眼) it is also called guiyuan (桂圆) in Chinese. They are round with a thin, brown-coloured inedible shell. The flesh of the fruit, which surrounds a big, black seed, is white, soft, and juicy. Dried longan are often used in Chinese food therapy and herbal medicine. In contrast with the fresh fruit, the flesh of dried longans is dark brown to almost black. It is Low in calories and a good source of Vitamin C and potassium.


Ingredients:
20 - 25 Fresh Longans, removed shell & seeds
300g Fatty Beef/Pork Fillet, thinly sliced
1 Stalk Of Spring Onion, cut into sections
3 Slices Of Ginger, shredded
Some carrot slices

Marinade:
1/2 Tablespoon Light Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Dark Soy Sauce
1 Teaspoon Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon Cooking Wine
1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
1 Teaspoon Cornflour

Methods:
1. Marinate the meat with the above marinade for at least 30 minutes or more.
2. Shell and remove the seed from the longans, rinse and set aside.
3. Heat about 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Sesame Oil/Oil in a wok, saute the ginger, spring onion and carrot until fragrant then add in the meat and stir-fry until almost done.
4. Add in longans, stir-fry quickly for about 30 seconds or so then remove and serve.