[$20 Budget Meal] Winter Melon, Woodear and Pork Ribs Soup, Stir-fry Nai Bai and Steamed Threadfin With Zha Cai

With S$12.00 on hand what do you usually order for dinner to feed a family of 3 - 4 person? Is it a S$3.00 packet of Chicken Rice or those mixed vegetables Economical Rice(Chap Chye Rice)? Here with S$12.20 we managed to whip up a hearty Winter Melon Soup to cool down the heat, Stir-fry Nai Bai for the greens and a plate of healthy Steamed Threadfin to increase daily protein in-take especially for growing kids.

This is a very light and refreshing soup with the nature sweetness from the sweetcorn, red dates and wolfberries. The adding of winter melon helps to cool down the body system whereas the woodear(black fungus) in Chinese herbal medicine term it is usually use to increase the fluidity of the blood and improving circulation.

WINTER MELON, WOODEAR AND PORK RIBS SOUP

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
300g Of Pork Ribs
150g Winter Melon, cut into chunk
2 Cluster of Fresh Woodears(Black Fungus/木耳), cut into big pieces
1 Sweet Corn, cut into sections
6 Big Red Dates

Method:-

1. Blanched pork ribs in boiling water for 2 - 3 minutes, remove and rinse with tap water. Set aside.

2. Bring 1.5 litres of water to boil in a soup pot.

3. Add in all the ingredients except wolfberries and when the mixture comes to boil again, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 - 40 minutes.

4. Lastly drop in wolfberries and season with salt to taste according to own preference.


Total cost for this dish is about S$6.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Pork Ribs = S$3.00
~ Fresh Woodear = S$1.00
~ Fresh Winter melon and Corn= S$2.00

This is one type of Baby Bok Choy or also known as "China Nai Bai(乃白菜)" that comes with curl and dark green leaves compared to the other type with lime green leaves. I usually bought this type "mini" veggie instead of the full-grown size to use for stir-fry as they are more tasty and crunch. And what you need to do is just trim the leaves/stalks, rinse it with water to get rid of the dirt/soil in between before cooking.

Ingredients:

1 Packet of Baby Bok Choy Nai Bai Cai(乃白菜)
2 Slices of Ginger
2 Cloves of Garlic, light pound
Pinch of Salt
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
Some Wolfberries, optional

Method:-

1. Heat up a large frying pan with 1 tablespoon of cooking oil.

2. Add in garlic and ginger, saute it for about 30 seconds till fragrant.

3. Quickly throw in drained bok choy and stir till the leaves begin to wilt.

4. Season with salt, cooking wine and add in the wolfberries, give it a quick toss before dishing it up on serving plate.


Total cost for this dish is about S$2.00 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Baby Bok Choy Nai Bai Cai(乃白菜) = S$2.00

STEAMED THREADFIN WITH SALTED PICKLES(ZHA CAI)

Ingredients: (serves 2)
1 Piece of Threafin Fillet, around 300g
50g of Salted Pickles(榨菜)
2 Stalls of Spring Onion, cut into sections
Few Slices of Ginger, jubilee
1 Chili (optional), cut into thin slices

Seasoning:
1 Teaspoon of Sesame Oil
1 Teaspoon of Cooking Wine
Dash of Pepper

Method:-

1. Clean and remove any scales from the fish, rinse and pat dry using kitchen paper towel. Set aside.

2. Rinse salted pickles under tap water, drain well and cut into 0.5cm thick strips. Put 1/2 portion of it on steaming plate together with some ginger and spring onion before placing the fish on top.

3. Top fish with the rest of the ingredients and drizzle with seasonings.

4. When the pot of water comes to boil, steamed fish over medium high heat for about 10 - 15 minute till the fish is cooked through.(you can test using a fork to flake the fish meat after 10 minutes to check)

5. To serve, drizzle some extra sesame oil and dash of pepper on it and spoon some sauce at the bottom of the fish to moist the fillet and enhance the taste.

Total cost for this dish is about S$4.20 with breakdown shown below:-
Cost of Ingredients:
~ Threadfin = S$3.50
~ Salted Pickles = S$0.30
~ Ginger, Chili and Spring onion = S$0.40

Cold Stone Creamery @ Orchard Central

On 12 March 2011, Cold Stone Creamery has its grand opening of their first outlet at Orchard Central, Singapore. Just a few weeks back during our weekend shopping along Somerset area we will draw to Cold Stone by it's attractive advertisement banner and Hip Hot music along the pathway outside Orchard Central. Within a few metres away from their outlet, we already can see quite a number of people queuing outside of their doorway waiting for their turn to try this new products.

Here we ordered their Signature Creation which is known as Chocolate Devotion that consists of Chocolate Ice Cream, Chocolate Chips, Brownie and Fudge serve on plain waffle cup at S$8.90. After ordering, we proceed to the waiting counter to see how their "fry" the ice cream with the mix-ins  and also some of the amazing "stunts" perform by the count staffs  as they threw the prepared ice cream up in the air and catch it back with the waffle cup.

Although for us there is nothing fancy or with "WOW" facts about this ice-cream as to compare with some other well-known local choices such as Ben and Jerry or Haggen Daze. But ust for your information, at Cold Stone you can mix and match your favourite ice cream in different serving sizes or just pick up their Signature creation from the following choices:-

~ “Like-it”(4 oz) Signature creation costs S$5.50;
~ “Love-it”(6 oz) Signature creation costs S$7.90; and
~ “Gotta-Have-it”(8 oz) Signature creation costs S$9.90.

On top of that you can also choose some add on such as plain waffle cup for S$1.00 or chocolate dipped-waffle cup for just S$1.50 to go with the ice-cream.

You can also take a look at their Signature Creations(click HERE) via their website. If not try your creativity by picking up any flavor of your choice and infuse it with different combinations of toppings ranging from chocolate chips, brownies, fruits, Oreo and etc.

To create your own (1 Flavor with 2 Mix-ins):-
~ “Like-it”(4 oz) costs S$5.90;
~ “Love-it”(6 oz) costs S$8.30; and
~ “Gotta-Have-it”(8 oz) costs S$10.30

Cold Stone Creamery

181 Orchard Central
#01-09/10
Singapore 238896
Telephone: 6634 1015
Website: http://www.coldstonecreamery.com.sg


Operating Hours:
11.00am – 11.00pm, Daily

[Dessert] Bo Bo Cha Cha(摩摩查查)

Bobo (Bubur in Malay) Cha Cha is a popular Nyonya dessert make of coconut milk together with sweet potatoes, yam(taro) and colourful tapioca cubes.You can eat this dessert either warm or cold with shaved ice and they taste wonderful with a mixture of texture from the sweet potatoes and chewy tapioca cubes with luxury coconut milk base.

There are a few methods on cooking this Bobo Cha Cha dessert where you can put all the mixture together and simmer till cooked or steamed the sweet potato mixture separately while preparing the coconut soup base.

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 Packet of Bobo Cha Cha Premix from Top Gourmet
1 Packet of Colourful Tapioca Flour Cubes
200ml Coconut Milk
Pinch of Salt
Cane Sugar to Taste
A Bundle of Pandan Leave, tied into knot
1 Litre of Water

Method:-

1. Prepare a pot of water and bring it to boil, add in the colourful tapioca flour cube, simmer over medium heat(stir on and off to prevent them from sticking to each other) till they float to the surface.

2. When they became translucent and cooked, drain well and transfer them into a bowl of cold water. Set aside.

3. Bring 1 litre of water to boil over medium heat, add in pandan leaves and simmer for about 5 - 7 minutes.

*4. At the meantime, rinse the sweet potato and taro cubes in two rounds before adding it into the prepared pandan water.

5. Simmer the sweet potato mixture till soften then add in cane sugar to taste.

6. Lastly, stir in coconut milk, salt and cooked tapioca flour cubes, keep stirring to prevent mixture from curdling. Remove from heat after it boils.

OR Alternative Way:
(Steaming Method)

*4. Rinse the sweet potato and taro cubes then steamed it over medium heat for about 8 - 10 minutes until cooked.

*5. Sweeten the pandan leave water with cane sugar then stir in coconut milk and salt, keep stirring to prevent mixture from curdling. Remove from heat after it boils.

*6. Place cooked sweet potato and taro in a bowl together with some cooked tapioca flour cubes.

*7. Ladle some hot/cold coconut milk mixture over it and serve.