Chicken, Longan and Burdock Soup

Remember my "Seah's Emperor Herbs Chicken" post which I have posted in late October. This is part II of the post on how I used the other half of the chicken which I have mentioned in that post about cooking this "Longan Burdock Soup".

This is another version of my "burdock" soup which use chicken parts for those who prefer chicken flavour soup. But if you are interested about the recipe using pork muscle on the Double-Boiled Pork Muscle with Burdock Soup you can always refer to the link HERE.

These are the ingredients and steps for making the chicken soup:-

Ingredients:-
1/2 Portion of Chicken, about 500g
200g of Burdock(牛蒡), cut into sections
10g of Yuzhu(玉竹)
10g of Dried Longan(桂圆肉)
6 - 8 Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon of Wolfberries(枸杞子)2
1.2 Litre of Water

Method:
1. Rinse the herbs and set a side while preparing the chicken.
2. Clean, trim and rinse the chicken, cut it into halves or quarters then blanched it in boiling water for about 3 - 5 minutes. Remove and rinse well.
3. Bring 1.2 Litre of water to boil in a big pot, add in all the herbs and let it simmer on medium low heat for about 5 minutes before adding the chicken.
4. When the mixture comes to boil again after adding the chicken, transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cook it on AUTO mode for about 2 - 2.5 hours.
5. Serve it warm before meal or together with steam rice.

Burdock is a root vegetables that is high in fibre, low in calories and contain moderate source of iron and calcium which is good for the body. With adding of dried Longan to this soup it nourishes the heart and the spleen and at the same time works well for treating tensions, palpitation, insomnia and forgetfulness which makes this a great soup for the whole family.

Green Bean Soup With Sweet Potato

Green Bean Soup is one of the common local dessert that can be easily found in most households or dessert stalls at the food centres. For us, we love to add in some chunks of sweet potato and serve it with drizzle of both or either coconut milk or gula malaka syrup. The aroma and taste of the gula melaka blends perfectly into this dessert which makes you definitely go for a second helping.

I have heard from some Chinese physician that Green Beans (绿豆; Mung Beans) can clear Heat; ease mental stress; reduce blood glucose level and stimulate the secretion of body fluid. This is the reason why most of our parents or grandparents always love to prepare some green bean soup for the family during hot weather to cool down our body heat.

These are the ingredients and steps on how to prepare my version of green bean soup :-

Ingredients: (serves 4)
150g Green Bean(绿豆)
1 Medium Size Orange Sweet Potato
50g Sago
10 - 15 Pre-packed Ginkgo Nut, optional
1.5 Litre Water
1 Bundle of Pandan Leave
Rock Sugar/brown sugar to Taste

Optional Toppings:
Some Coconut Milk
Some Gula Malaka Syrup

Method:
1. Rinse a few times and remove any dirt or spoilt green beans from the pool then set them aside and bring a pot of 1.5 litre of water to boil.
2. Next remove the outer skin of the sweet potato, cut it into chunks and add them together with the green beans into the boiling water.
3. Rinse the pre-packed ginkgo nut and remove any greenish pith in the middle of the nut then marinate it with about 1 tablespoon of castor sugar and set aside.
4. When the green bean mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and let it simmer over medium low heat till the bean begins to soften or cracks open. (takes about 15 minutes or so)
5. Add in the rinse sago, marinated ginkgo nut and pandan leave then continue to simmer till the sago becomes transparent.
6. Removed the pandan leave, add in rock sugar to taste.

Note:

~ You can add in more water if you prefer more soupy dessert.

~ You can make some Gula Melaka sugar by boiling 2 part sugar to 1 part water till the sugar completely dissolved, sieved away any residues, cool and you can kept it in the fridge in a glass bottle till further usage.

I guess it all depend on individual taste and preference while preparing the green bean soup. Some might just like the traditional way of adding sago while others might prefer adding some glutinous rice or even extra chunks of sweet potato to make it a quick meal. No matter which methods, I am sure there is always one prefect recipe from each household. If you do prepared green bean soup at home, perhaps you can share with us some of your ingredients and tips too :p

Vietnam Delight ~ Bún Thit

Bun Thit is a simple and delicious meal in Vietnam consisting of cold rice vermicelli mixed with fresh vegetables and usually topped with barbecued pork. Served with nuoc cham sauce(pouring sauce) which is a good summer dish that is light, low fat, healthy and cooling.

Mum who has being to Vietnam shared with us this version of “Bun Thit” in Singapore taste much better compared to those she had in Vietnam because their sauce there are far too sweet towards her liking.

The dish is served with mixture of fresh vegetables such as beansprout, lettuce, Vietnamese basil, various kind of mint leaves and fish sauce. Other than all the fresh vegetables, this dish also comes with a layer of rice vermicelli that top with grilled lemongrass chicken, some toasted peanut and green onion. Overall it has a very special refreshing taste due to the "mint leaves" and fresh ingredients used.
Price: S$5.00 per bowl

Would like to try out their beef noodles and Vietnamese spring roll too. You can find this Vietnam Delight just beside the Hakka Abacus seeds stall located at basement 4 of Food Opera, ION Orchard.

Food Opera
#B4-03/04

Opening Hours:
10.00am - 11.00pm daily

Dessert Ministry (甜品部)

These two years Singapore is surrounded by all kinds of dessert shops from either Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan or local home brand. Last month, “Dessert Ministry(甜品部)” which opens by Edmund Koh(the founder of Singapore 1st Homegrown fast-food restaurant, Super Dog) has set its foot at level 1 of Cathay Orchard Cineleisure. From a glance on their menu you could find wide varieties of mouth-watering desserts and drinks which inspired by concocted recipes from both East and West.

While waiting for the desserts to arrive, we started with a scoop of this Homemade Mango Ice Cream that is freshly made from mango that are imported from Thailand. Each spoonful leaves you with the lovely mango scent scattering around in your mouth with bits of fresh mango in it. And for those who loves ice cream, you could also try their “Ice Cream Series” on Matcha, Black Sesame or Strawberry too.

For Mango Lovers who always ordered Mango dessert, this "Mango Supreme - 芒果至尊" is a not-to-be-missed item when you visit Dessert Ministry. As the name suggests, “Supreme” consists of all kinds of “mango” items such as their homemade premium mango ice cream, mango pudding, fresh mango cubes, scoops of watermelon and honeydrew as well as pomelo in a sea of mango puree. So how can you resist all these wonderful ingredients in one combination?
Price: S$8.80 per plate

On the other hand, this “Mixed Fruits Sago in Papaya with Lemon Jelly - 爱玉西米三瓜盅” was not really towards our liking compared to the Supreme Mango above. We find this mixed fruit combo seems to be a bit too complicated in taste with all the mixture of items. Perhaps by removing either the sago or lemon jelly would be a better choice.
Price: S$6.50 per plate

What is your preference in ordering cream paste dessert? Do you like almond paste, black sesame paste, peanut paste or? For me, almond and black sesame paste is always one of my favourite choices compared to the rest. In Dessert Ministry you can either order “Individual” or “Combo” flavour with extra sticky rice balls as sides to go with the paste. According to Chef Meis, all these paste are freshly made from roasted and grind ingredients that sieved through once in order to achieve an extra smooth and creamy texture. And each day he would also sample all the ready cooked paste in order to make sure that they are all of good quality before serving to the customers. Too bad Chef Meis shared that the black sesame paste is not up to his standard for that day so he could not serve it to us. But he recommend this "Almond and Peanut Cream - 花生杏仁糊" combo which I really love it's smooth and creamy texture.
Price: S$5.50 per set (serves with 3 sticky rice balls and crushed peanuts)

For a Durian craze like me, this "D24 Durian Sago - 榴莲西米露" would definitely be something new to challenge our taste buds. Imagine having a mouthful of pure D24 durian together with some fresh coconut juice and runny bits of sago tingling around in your mouth. You would have to try this at least once in order to experience the combo of these two fruits together.
Price: S$5.50 per bowl

When comes to the drinks menu, Dessert Ministry also have their special range of cold and hot drinks that can either quench your thirst or nourish your body. While flipping through the menu I was fascinated to this “Red Date with Longan Tea - 红枣桂圆奶茶” because the usual longan tea that we used to drink is without milk and it is normal boiled with some ginger. So when Chef Meis brings out this pot of freshly brews tea, I was totally amazed by it’s lovely fragrant and milk infused taste with the Longan tea.
Price: S$5.50 per pot (serves 2)

With the recent Bubble Tea trend current bursting among the KOI and Gong Cha lovers; here we have some healthier choices from either pure fruity base or adding of fresh milk or coconut milk to go along with their toppings such as pearls, jelly, aloe vera or sago. This cup is one of their popular choices known as “Papaya Milk and Honey Jelly - 木瓜奶昔爱玉爽”. You can see it is divided into 3 different layers of colour where the white at the bottom is “fresh milk”, follow by honey jelly and orangey red for the fresh papaya juice. This is a very refreshing drink that is good for digestion and provides extra dose of calcium for your bones.
Price: S$3.80 per cup

This is the Daifuku (大福) counter which is located beside the cashier. According to Chef Meis he could made around 80 Daifuku per day with array of fillings such as Durian, Strawberry, Mango and Matcha. And the most pouplar choice from patrons would be the "D24 Durian Daifuku" @ S$4.20 for 2 pieces.

You definitely won’t missed out this shop with it bright and glaring furnishing of Yellow Wall, Red and White Chairs with a huge wall poster on their signature “Supreme Mango Sago with Pomelo” in the m. And for your information, Dessert Ministry is just next to Burger Bench & Bar (read more HERE) so after your movie you can either grab some burger or dessert for supper.

Lastly, I would like to thank Mr Jansen Siak from Word of Mouth Communications Pte Ltd and Dessert Ministry for hosting this tasting event.

Dessert Ministry
8 Grange Road
#01-03 Cathay Cineleisure Orchard
Singapore 239695
Telephone: 6887 5347

Opening hours:
Sunday - Thursday: 11.00am – 11.00pm
Friday, Satursday & PH: 11.00am – 2.00am