How to Make Ikan Assam Pedas (Spicy and Sour Tamarind-Flavored Fish) | Easy Asian Cooking

Yesterday I made this Nyonya dish as a weekday night dinner. Once I sank my teeth into this bowl of ikan assam pedas, I was mesmerised and overwhelmed. Yeah, for those who adore Penang asam laksa (sour fish-based soup with noodles), you will definitely head over heels in love with this. Tastewise, both bears a strong resemblance, which flavor is predominantly perked up by ginger flower and polygonum. My hubby is not much of tamarind-soured soup addict, so he can't vouch for its taste. Well, it's up to you if you are going to believe my verdict or not.

Ikan assam pedas (literally translated as spicy and sour tamarind-flavored fish) is one of the epitome of Malaysian fare. While the saltwater fish (Chubb mackerel, Spanish mackerel, Threadfin or Stingray are commonly used) is the centerpiece of this dish, others secret ingredient are polygonum (daun kesum 加沙叶), ginger flower (bunga kantan 加沙花), lemongrass (香茅), red chillies, shallots and fresh turmeric (黄姜). To make the soup more tangy and savory, shrimp paste (belachan) and tamarind skins (assam gelugor 阿叁皮) are added.

Now here's the how-to recipe for ikan assam pedas (spicy and sour tamarind-flavored fish). Suffice it to say, it's such a appetite-whetting dish that leave you asking for more. Enjoy!

Ingredients :

4 Chubb mackerel or Indian Mackerel (ikan kembong)
or Spanish mackerel (ikan tenggiri)
or Threadfin (ikan senangin)
or Stingray (ikan pari)
2 pcs tamarind skins (assam gelugor or assam keping 阿叁皮)
4 stalks polygonum (a.k.a Vietnamese coriander, daun kesum in Malay or known locally as laksa leaves 加沙叶)
1 phaeomaria (a.k.a ginger flower or bunga kantan in Malay 加沙花)
3 rice bowls of water
1 tsp salt (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (to taste)

Soup base ingredients, to be blended (or pounded) :
6 shallots
2.5cm fresh turmeric (kunyit 黄姜), skinned
1 stalk lemongrass (serai 香茅), sliced finely
5 fresh red chilli peppers (fresh cayenne peppers) 红辣椒
3cm shrimp paste (belachan) 峇拉煎

Method :

1. Clean fish and discard gills and intestines, set aside.

2. Wash polygonum (daun kesum or laksa leaves), discard stalks, set aside.

3. Cut phaeomaria (ginger flower or bunga kantan) into quarter (lengthwise), set aside.

4. Using a blender or food processor, blend all the soup base ingredients until fine. Alternatively, you can use pestle and mortar to pound them into a fine paste.

5. Now pour in 3 rice bowls of water into a stockpot. Add in all the blended mixture (or pounded paste), tamarind pieces, polygonum and phaeomaria, stir well with a ladle. Bring to boil for a few minutes until the soup is fragrant.

6. Add sugar and salt to taste. Stir well. Then add fish into the soup. When the soup reaches rolling boil again, reduce to low heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Serve hot. This hot and sour fish soup goes well with steamed white rice.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

How To Make Tom Yum Soup With Shrimp and Fish | Easy Asian Cooking

Remember tangy Thai Tom Yam (Tom Yum) fish, a clear, spicy and sour soup? Well, the lingering aftertaste was haunting me and my big cravings was kicking in early this morning - I still remember how's the creeping chilli hot awaken my lethargic appetite that day. Whilst it's still early to whip up a dish at the crack of dawn, I just scoured the video from YouTube hoping to find a good Tom Yum soup recipe to satiate my gluttonous mind, at least. And voila! I found this Tom Yum soup video with a nice and rejuvenating background song - "Right Here Waiting" by Bryan Adams (Written by : Richard Marx). Enjoy!

Ingredients :

Chicken stock or chicken powder
1 stalk lemongrass
4 kaffir lime leaves (sold fresh or frozen at Asian food stores)
12 medium or large raw shrimp, trim off shrimp head, rest intact
1 white meat fish (any type, e.g. black pomfret et cetera), cut across into 2 or 3 portions
3 tbsp of tom yam paste (or alternatively 1 tsp chilli paste with soy bean oil (辣椒膏))
2 tbsp fish sauce
5 red or green bird's eye chillies (quantity adjusted to your preference), finely sliced
1 tomato
6 fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 lime, squeeze out the juice
Coriander leaves (cilantro), chopped, to be sprinkled on top of the soup
Spring onions (scallions), sliced finely, to be sprinkled on top of the soup
1 red chilli pepper (Cayenne chilli pepper), seeded and sliced (optional)
1 lime, cut into wedges, for serving (optional)

Method :



Source

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Tangy Thai Tom Yam (Tom Yum) Fish Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Home-cooked Tangy Thai Tom Yam (Tom Yum) Fish

Being born and bred in northern part of Malaysia, a state called Kedah where it borders Thai, I have the propensity to take hot and sour food to tantalize my taste buds. Sometimes I wonder if it's due to geographical factor that Kedah abounds with hot and sour fare that one can easily hunts down even in the narrow residential alley or this spicy-sour craving is inherent in my nature. Putting these uncertainties aside, one thing for sure, any Thai-or-Nyonya-inspired, -influenced or -originated food that encapsulates subtle and refined combination of herbs and spices to bring out its hot-sour-pungent flavor is captivating me, making me head over heels with the dish, leaving me feeling on cloud nine and wanting for more! Whilst Laksa still top my list, a piping hot bowl of tom yam soup comes to a close second.

My hot-and-sour craving struck me badly today, so instead of my initial intention of pan-frying black pomfret, I reconstituted tom yam (aka tom yum or dom yam) paste into a broth to make tom yam soup to goes with black pomfret, called tom yam pla (tom yum soup with fish). Due to the fact that tom yam paste always comes in handy in my fridge and I just brought over some fresh herbs, chillies and some home-grown greens from my hometown, I whipped this up within 40 minutes with bare minimum ingredient-searching time. It's basically a clear, spicy, sour soup which is the assemblage of fresh lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, galangal, shallots, onions, lime juice, fish sauce, sliced red chilli peppers and a handful of bird's eye chillies to lend an extra spicy kick. Don't forget the final touch which is rather important for me, top the tom yam soup with generous sprinkling of fresh chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves. Coriander is a palate-teaser for me and it goes well with any dish.

If you're looking for tom yam recipe to cure your (or your the other half) hot and sour food craving, then look no more because this simple recipe has your answer. There may be some truth to the old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Become a discerning wife or girlfriend with below easy how-to recipe, you may have more than his heart. *giggle*

Ingredients :

500g-600g black pomfret (黑鲳鱼), cut across into 2 or 3 portions

2 small brinjals (aka eggplants or aubergines) (茄子), cut into wedges (or 1 long Chinese brinjal)

2 stalks lemongrass (香茅), trim off the very end of the root and smash with the side of a knife

1 red chilli pepper (Cayenne chili pepper), seeded and sliced

10 bird's eyes chillies, discard stems, keep whole

3 kaffir lime leaves (疯柑叶)

5 slices galangal (南姜)

(Tips: If galangal is not available, then substitute with double amount of ginger. Galangal is whiter in color than ginger but it's much more potent than regular ginger)

3 stalks coriander roots (use the root portion only) (aka cilantro) 芫茜

2 shallots (小葱), peeled and keep whole

1/2 onion, sliced

1 tomato, cut into wedges

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (酸柑汁)

3 tbsp tom yam paste (commercially available in Asian groceries, usually packed in bottle or package)

1 liter chicken stock or water

2 tbsp oil

Ingredients for Tangy Thai Tom Yam Fish

Seasoning :

1 tbsp concentrated chicken stock

2-3 tbsp fish sauce (or to taste)

1 1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste)

Method :

1. Heat up oil in a wok, saute onion, lemongrass, galangal, shallots and tom yam paste for about 2-3 minutes until it exudes aromatic flavors.

2. Pour in fresh chicken stock (or water) and bring to a boil. Add coriander roots, tomato, bird's eye chillies, sliced red chilli peppers, sliced brinjals and kaffir lime leaves. Simmer under medium heat for 5 to 6 minutes.

3. Stir in lime juice and fish sauce. Put in the black pomfret fish slices and bring to a boil again. Adjust seasoning to taste. Once dished up, sprinkle with coriander leaves on top of the soup. Serve hot with white steamed rice.

Home-cooked Tangy Thai Tom Yam (Tom Yum) Fish

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Old Cucumber Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Old Cucumber Soup 老黄瓜汤

Soup does soothe the soul, doesn't it? And it does explained why soup has became an indispensable mainstay of our family. If you're a regular of this home-cooked blog, you probably have already sniffed it out.  :-) It realized me this morning that I have been posting consecutively seven soup recipes in the last few days and it's time to switch to other staple recipes for the next blog entry.

Before digress further, I am going to feature this ubiquitous old cucumber soup as soup of the day. Distinctly different from cucumber, old cucumber (老黄瓜) is an aged or matured cucumber with golden-hued skin. With cylindrical, elongated body and tapered ends, old cucumber has a very thick and rough dried-out skin with a fleshy interior and a pocket of seeds and air.

Old cucumber (老黄瓜) is an aged cucumber with golden-hued skin

Old cucumber soup is best served at blistering hot days to tone down body heat, attributable to its cooling properties. Therein the phrase "cool as a cucumber" and it is not without merit. Extremely high in dietary fibre, Calcium and Iron, it does not only have Vitamins A, B6 and C, it also has a diuretic effect. Women who are pregnant or menstruating should take caution when consuming this. Old cucumber is to be boiled into soup with its skin intact to prevent the flesh from turning mushy after long hours of simmering and to avoid disintegration. You can either have the pocket of seeds removed or remained. I used to leave the interior seeds unscrapped but it turned out to be sour and bitter, which kept hubby and I being occupied for sometimes to iron out what was going wrong on the soup before it eventually dawned on us that the culprit was the seeds.

Add this old cucumber soup to your cooking menus in dry, scorching days to stay cool as a cucumber. This is an easy-to-prepare Chinese-styled clear, nourishing soup that many Malaysian families familiar with.

Ingredients :

1 medium-sized old cucumber (老黄瓜)
300g of meaty pork ribs (排骨), rinsed
1 piece of dried cuttlefish (鱿鱼干), rinsed (optional)
4 dried scallops (干贝), soaked in warm water and shredded finely (optional)
8 red dates (Chinese red jujube 红枣), rinsed, cut into half and de-seeded (optional)
A pinch of salt to taste
1500ml water

Method :

1. Soak, scrub and wash the whole old cucumber in salted water for 10 minutes. Slice old cucumber into half (lengthwise), then cut across each half into big chunks. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds as depicted in photos below.

Slice old cucumber into half (lengthwise), then cut across each half into big chunks

Scoop out the seeds with a spoon

2. Blanch or parboil pork ribs in a pot of boiling water. Remove scum visibly floating on the water surface. This is to discard fat and to produce a clear soup. Then the blanched pork ribs drained up and set aside, with the pot of water discarded.

3. Bring a 1500ml-water-filled stockpot to a boil over high heat. When it boils furiously, add in blanched pork ribs, chucks of old cucumbers, dried cuttlefish (optional), pre-soaked and shredded scallops (optional) and de-seeded red dates (optional). Toss well with a ladle.  
(Alternatively, you can use crockpot (slow cooker) or double-boiler)

4. Cover the lid and reduce to low heat, simmer for 1 - 2 hours. Skim off any scum floating on the soup surface on and off using a fine steel sieve.

5. Add salt to taste 5 minutes before heat off. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Add in all the ingredients into a stockpot filled with rolling boil water

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Great Burdock Soup with Corn and Chinese Herbs | Easy Asian Cooking

Great Burdock Soup with Corn and Chinese Herbs (药材玉蜀黍牛蒡汤)

This soup is a variation of Great Burdock Soup with White Radish, Carrot and Shitake Mushroom (牛蒡汤), with meat. I have consumed half of the 2-meter-long great burdock and decided to transform the remaining half (1 meter) into soup as well, but this time I paired with corn and Chinese herbs. Both are Chinese-styled clear soups with a distinct of sweetness, but between the two I veer on this. Maybe the flavors of great burdock, spare ribs, corn and Chinese herbs complement and working off one another seamlessly, making this soup is a winner.

This recipe was built from scratch, I just whacked all ingredients I have in hands in a stockpot. The broth tastes mostly of long-cooked pork ribs with enough Chinese herbs and great burdock to flavor, but not overwhelm.

If you have moments of brain drains in which you run out of ideas what to cook next while having Chinese herbs abound at your kitchen cabinet, you may want to try this out. The great burdock soup recipe goes like this.

Ingredients :

300g pork ribs, cut into bite-size pieces

1-meter-long great burdock (牛蒡), brush off any muds on its skin while rinsing under cold running water, cut 2-inch lengthwise, and then into half 

1 corn, cut across into approximately 2-inch thickness

3 pcs of dang gui (Pharmaceutical name : Angelica sinensis) 当归
5 pcs of dang shen (Pharmaceutical name : Codonopsitis Pilosulae) 党参
12 red dates (Chinese dates or red jujube) 红枣, halved and de-seeded
6 pcs of bei qi (Pharmaceutical name : Astragalus propinquus) 北芪
2 tbsp of qi zi (Chinese wolfberries or goji berries) 枸杞子
1500ml water

Ingredients : Great Burdock, Corn and Chinese Herbs

Method :

1. Rinse pork ribs, great burdock, corn and all Chinese herbs thoroughly and drain, set aside.

2. Parboil or scald the pork ribs into boiling water and skim off any floating scum. Blanched pork ribs is then removed and set aside. Water discarded.

3. In a clean stockpot or deep claypot, pour in 1500ml water and let it boils. When the water is rolling boil, put the blanced pork ribs, corn, great burdock and all the Chinese herbs into the pot. Turn to low heat and simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Alternatively, slow cooker (crockpot) or double-boiler can be used.

4. Add a pinch of salt to taste 5 minutes before serving the burdock soup.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Great Burdock Soup with White Radish, Carrot and Shitake Mushroom | Easy Asian Cooking

Great Burdock Soup 牛蒡汤

I have never made great burdock (牛蒡) soup before in my life. Great burdock sounds unfamiliar to me, the only impression is, I vaguely remember mom did mention that burdock possesses a myriad of health benefits before. Nonetheless, I decided to brave the unknown and hence have bought a two-meter-long burdock root home while patronizing wet market days ago. With mom's brief narration through the phone, I embarked on my burdock soup adventure, pairing it with white radish, carrot and shitake mushroom, a bowl of meatless soup that can be loosely construed as dinner. Oh ya, I shouldn't label it as an adventure, as the soup is pretty foolproof and you can't go wrong anyway. *wink*

Great burdock (botanical name: Arctium lappa) showers upon us heaps of medicinal properties as I peruse the search engine in the web. To name a few, as a blood purification agent, internal body cleanser, chronic skin disorders remedy (such as acne, eczema, psoriasis and skin ulcers), cold, sore throat and tonsillitis remedy, contains antioxidant properties for treating cancer, protects the liver from harmful toxins, treats ringworm and urinary tract infections, treat inflammation, cure diabetic, prevents water retention and etcera. With all these natural cure-all properties, great burdock is popular among health-conscious and those interested in maintaining ideal weight.

Tastes sweet and palatable, great burdock soup cleanses the palate in between eating dishes and viands of different flavors. Taste wise, the soup have nothing special to rave about, but who would have thought that this nondescript humble burdock root could boast such an astounding number of health benefits and healing properties?

If you wish to have great burdock soup to warm up your tummy and works wonders in your body, then below burdock soup recipe is for you.

Ingredients :

Great Burdock Soup Ingredients : (from top) White Radish, Great Burdock, Carrot, Shitake Mushroom

1 white radish, skin peeled off, cut into large chunks
1-meter-long great burdock (牛蒡), brush off any muds on its skin while rinsing under cold running water, cut into 2-inch thick slices
1 carrot, skin peeled off, cut into large chunks
4 shitake mushroom, soaked in warm water, halved
1200ml water
Salt to taste

Methods :

1. In a stockpot, pour in 1200ml of water and add in all the ingredients when it reaches a rolling boil. Cover the lid, reduce to low heat and simmer for 1 hour.

2. Add salt to taste 5 minutes before turning off the flame.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Abalone with Chicken Soup | Easy Asian Cooking

Abalone with Chicken Soup 鲍鱼炖鸡汤

Groomy October started and continues with quirky rain, hence the meal that lurking in my mind seems to be something capable of exuding a nourishing smell to my soul. Naturally it revolves a bowl of warming soup, soup and again soup. As an advocate of herbal soup, it's not hard to find redolent of herbs keep wafting from my little kitchen. And it's the right time for abalone with chicken soup makes its appearance in my dining table.

Packed with some serious nutritional punch, abalone with chicken soup ("Uncle Sun" brand) comes in as commercially available all-in-one package comprises of Astragalia 黑芪, Rhizoma, Radix Codonopsis 党参, Diosoreae 淮山, Polygonathum 玉竹, Radix Glycymhizae 甘草, two pieces of dried abalone 鲍鱼干and a small bag encapsulating special grinded herbs, abalone powder 鲍鱼粉, Luo Pian 响螺片and seasoning. Copious amount of Polygonathum 玉竹 imparts a mesmerizing sweetness whilst Radix Glycymhizae 甘草 infuses an enticing licorice taste to the soup which make it an epicurean repast on its own. Savoring this comforting soup, I can feel the lingering heat which left me a feeling that carries me a long time until night, sated and fulfilled.

Preparing this healthy soup doesn't require you to exert much effort neither does it need an advance course in cooking to prepare. It's really easy to a noob cook like me. A slight difference to other pre-packed soup which is simmered together with pork ribs, I don't parboil or blanch the chicken but I skim off scum from the soup surface at the beginning and every now and then. In my opinion, chicken emanates less fatty scum and "bone marrow" flavor as compared to pork ribs, thus I don't want to lose any flavor in the parboil liquid.

Ingredients :

1 package of abalone with chicken soup pre-mixes (I use "Uncle Sun" brand herbs and spices mix 鲍鱼炖鸡汤料, photo as below)
1 whole chicken, cut into 4 pieces and rinse
3000ml water

Pre-mix package of abalone with chicken soup with its herbs and spices

Method :

1. In a stockpot or claypot, fill in 3000ml water and wait until it reaches rolling boil. Add in the chicken. When the scum floats to the surface, skim away the froth.  (Alternatively slow-cooker (or crockpot) or double-boiler can be used)

2. Add in a whole pack of abalone with chicken soup herbal and spices pre-mixes. Cover the lid and turn to low flame and simmer for 2-2.5 hours until the chicken becomes tender.

3. Season with salt to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Bak Kut Teh ("Pork Bone Tea" Soup) Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Pronounced as Bak Kut Teh in Hokkien dialect, the phrase literally translates as "Pork Bone Tea" (肉骨茶). This nourishing meat soup which is simmered in a complex broth of herbs and spices was brought over to South East Asia from Fujian, China and has successfully paved its ways into many Malaysian and Singaporen kitchens. Today, the process of preparing Bak Kut Teh has been simplified with the easily available and commercially pre-packed package which incorporates all the grinded herbs and spices into a small bag. Touting as a tonic herbal soup to boost health, this small bag of Bak Kut Teh is the epitome of health and wholesomeness. If you take a whirl through Malaysian cities, you will soon discover that you can actually go on gastronomical adventures on such eye-stretching cheap hawker's food like Bak Kut Teh at a small prize of, as low as RM20 per claypot.

Packed with a bounty of herbs and a wallop of heat, Bak Kut Teh exudes its natural flavors from herbs and spices as well as earthy flavors from pork bones. An aromatic blast hits when the lid is lifted, sending our salivary glands into overdrive. The meat is almost falling off the bones and it doesn't take much coaxing for my daughter to chew. This is one of the soup that we indulge in from time to time as it's easy to prepare and good to the last drop. Chinese crullers (dough fritters or 油条) provides a good vessel to soak up all the Bak Kut Teh goodness whilst soy-based bird's eye chillies and minced garlic dipping sauce provides blow-your-head-off sensation!

This is the simple how-to recipe for Bak Kut Teh (Pork Bone Tea Soup). 肉骨茶汤食谱

Yew Chian Haw pre-packed Bak Kut Teh herbs and spices

Ingredients :

1 package of Bak Kut Teh herbal pre-mixes (I use "Yew Chian Haw" brand pre-packed herbs and spices 游建好肉骨茶汤料, photo as above)
400g of pork ribs, chopped into large chucks and rinsed
2 garlic bulbs
5 dried Shitake mushrooms, soaked and cut into halves
100g of enoki mushroom, stems discarded and soak
A handful of tofu puffs
2000ml water

Seasoning:
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
Dash of white pepper powder, to taste
Salt to taste

Dipping sauce or condiment :
5 bird’s eyes chillies, chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 pips of garlic, minced
dark soy sauce (optional)

Method :

1. Soak dried shitake mushrooms in a bowl of water until it's pliable. After being reconstituted, slice each piece into half.

2. In a stockpot filled with water, parboil or blanch the spare ribs until scum floats to the surface. Discard the froth, remove and rinse spareribs under cold running water and drain.

3. In a clay pot, pour in 2000ml of water and wait until it reaches rolling boil. Add in the blanched spare ribs, garlic bulb, Bak Kut Teh herbal pre-mixes, black dates and shitake mushrooms. Cover the lid and turn to low flame and simmer for 1-2 hours until the pork ribs become tender and all the herbal essence have been incorporated well into the soup. Skim off scum from the surface every now and then.

4. Add in enoki mushroom and tofu puffs at the last 10 minutes of simmering. Season with 1 teaspoon of dark soy sauce, adequate salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot with steamed rice and Chinese crullers (dough fritters or 油条).  It's at its best taken together with dipping sauce comprises of chopped bird's eye chilli, minced garlic in a full-bodied condiment of light soy sauce (sometimes with some dark soy sauce added in).

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Watercress and Red Dates Soup | Easy Asian Cooking

Watercress and Red Dates Soup 西洋菜红枣排骨汤

Watercress and red dates soup (西洋菜红枣排骨汤) is the usual and most-frequent soup that graces our dining table. It's perfectly suitable for novice cook who's always in the awe of the simplicity like me. I usually add dried cuttlefish or dried scallop for added taste but it's rather optional. Similar to other herbal soups, watercress and red dates soup can be simmered in stockpot (over stove top), in crockpot (slow-cooker) or in double-boiler. Just the water amount to be filled in for the latter two is lesser, as cooking technique of crockpot and double-boiler ensures there is no loss of liquid or moisture, and you'll get approximately the same amount of water as the initial water you have poured in. This is contrary to stove-top stockpot simmering which requires you to keep a watching eyes from time to time to prevent the soup from totally boiled off or evaporated.

Containing a superfluity of nutrients, watercress is chocked full of health benefits and is a cancer defence. Mom always claims that watercress is a powerful purifier and cleanser of the body especially the bloodstream. To those health-conscious, you may be interested in finding out more on medicinal uses and health benefits of watercress here. Despite the abundance of health benefits, watercress however should be eaten in moderation, some herbal writers warn that over-consumed may cause cystitis (膀胱炎) or other bladder (膀胱) problems due to its strong diuretic (利尿剂) properties. Some verbally claims that watercress should be avoided for postpartum woman. I can't verify this but I'd rather err on the side of caution.

Here's the simple how-to recipe for watercress and red dates soup (西洋菜红枣排骨汤).

Ingredients :
600g watercress
6 red dates
300g spare ribs, cut into pieces
1 carrot, cut into big chuck
1 potato, cut into 4 pieces
1 piece dried cuttlefish (optional, for added taste)
1200ml water
salt to taste

Method :

1. Rinse watercress, then pluck the tender shoots with its leaves intact, discard the main longish stems.

2. Blanch or scald spare ribs in a boiling water for a short while. Skim away scum from water surface. Remove blanched spare ribs and discard water. This is to reduce the scum and oiliness in the soup.

3. In a clean stockpot or claypot, pour in 1200ml water and when it reaches rolling boil, put in all the ingredients into the pot. Turn to low heat and simmer for 1-2 hours.

4. Char the dried cuttlefish over the fire (I usually use my stove top) and shred the charred cuttlefish into thin long threads using hands (You can pound it using pestle and mortar to ease shredding process). Add the shredded cuttlefish into stockpot with other ingredients to impart a unique "cuttlefish" flavor to the soup. (Alternatively, you can add some pre-soaked dried scallop substituting dried cuttlefish. If you do that, just soak the dried scallop into water and shred it into thin threads, without charring).

5. Add salt to taste 5 minutes prior to turning off the flame.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Sharkfin's Melon Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Shark’s Fin Melon Soup 鱼翅瓜汤

Honestly, I’ve never even heard of sharkfin's melon (鱼翅瓜) for the past 31 years in my life. Hence I was taken aback by the name of "sharfin's melon" when the affable vegetable-seller in Sunday wet market told me so. Touted and assured by the stall owner as an ingredient for soup with same simmering method as winter melon, I was intrigued to haul one back for I know it'll be something new on my culinary repertoire.

Using the same cooking technique as my other ordinary soups, the soup went over well. Upon lifting my ladle to adjust the taste after long hours of simmering, it suddenly dawned on me why the name spell so. The cooked flesh of the sharkfin's melon bears a strong resemblance with shark's fin as when it's cooked, the melon becomes pliable and crumbles into transparent threads. Also reminiscent of translucent glass noodles (a.k.a cellophane noodles or Chinese vermicelli 冬粉), the flavor of sharfin's melon as mild as its appearance suggests, which basically picks up the flavors from surrounding ingredients it's cooked with. Thus, I added some red dates, Chinese goji berries (枸杞子) and carrots to impart certain level of sweetness to the soup, in addition to the earthy flavors of the pork ribs. Besides imbuing sweetness to the soup, red dates and Chinese goji berries also have the propensity to boast such an astounding number of health benefits. You can find health benefits for TCM in my previous post on Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup.

Sharkfin's Melon (a.k.a spaghetti squash) with green-speckled skin

The name for the melon varies in regions, if you haven't figure out what it's about, sharkfin's melon is also known as spaghetti squash (or its binomial name Cucurbita ficifolia) in some countries. Wikipedia will allay your myth and scepticism about sharkfin's melon here.

If you have abundance of Chinese herbs (red dates and Chinese goji berries) in hand like I do and tired of going over and over again with the stereotype home-cooked soup, you may want to add sharkfin's melon soup into your realm of soup one day (if you haven't do so).

鱼翅瓜汤食谱

Ingredients :

1/8 of shark’s fin melon, cut into large chucks
300g pork ribs, cut into chucks, rinsed
8 red dates, halved and seeds removed
2 tbsp wolfberries, rinsed
1 carrot, skin peeled and cut into large chucks
1000ml water

Method :

1. Parboil or blanch the pork ribs in rolling boil water in a pot. Drain and set aside.

2. Discard the rind of shark’s fin melon, cut the melon to large chunks and scoop out the seeds using a spoon.
(Tips : If you find the process of prying the seed troublesome and time-consuming, you can try to boil the sharkfin's melon in a pot of water until it starts to soften and partially pull apart, then cool it down with ice water before using a spoon to scoop out the seeds.)

3. In a stockpot, pour in 1000ml water and bring to the boil. Place the blanched pork ribs, sharkfin's melon chunks and the rest of the ingredients (except goji berries) into the pot.

4. Reduce to low flame, put on the cover and let it simmers for about 45 minutes or longer if possible. Add goji berries 10 minutes prior to turn off the flame. Add salt to taste at the last 5 minutes of simmering.
(Tips : Alternatively slow cooker or double-boiler can be used but with longer time needed.)

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup (药材乌鸡清补汤)

My devotion for Chinese herbal soup will not simply end with papaya soup with American ginseng and black chicken and double-boiled ginseng roots and chicken soup, instead it marks a beginning of yet another soup chapter. I have been away for a while back to my hometown and obliged with copious amount of Chinese herbs by my mother. Being a discerning mom, she never fails to remind us to replenish our bodies with soul-soothing and nourishing Chinese herbal soup every now and then. Now only you know that my tiredless advocacy for Chinese tonic soup is actually attributable to my mom's inheritance. I have to admit, I’ve been jumping on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) bandwagon with much enthusiasm. For those young generation preferring in green and safe medicine for treatment of chronic conditions, tendency to use herbs in home cooking is becoming more and more prominent. Chinese herbs as a curative food can be complemented by western medicine which is best known solution for acute conditions. This herbal black chicken soup is also widely consumed during confinement at Chinese homes for healing purposes and well-being boosting.

My mom always raves about the goodness of black chicken to me. Sweet in taste, neutral in nature (not being warming or cooling), black chicken tonifies and nourishes the Yin of kidney and liver and bring down fevers that are associated with Yin deficiency (养阴退热、补益肝肾). When I did my rare Sunday morning wet market browsing with my mom few days ago, she unhesitatingly grabbed me a whole black chicken to bring back to Penang. With this, I have no excuse of not boiling herbal chicken soup due to not able to snap up one in Penang Lip Sin wet market.

This tonic soup is comforting, nourishing and to top it all, nothing beats the warmth and affection embraced by a great mother!

For this Chinese herbal black chicken soup (药材乌鸡清补汤), you'll need :

Ingredients :
1 whole black chicken 乌鸡

Chinese Herbs (quantity as illustrated in photos below) :

Chinese Herbs Ingredients for Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup

Chinese herbs with their medicinal uses as listed below. Images start from upper left, clockwise :

qi zi (Chinese wolfberries or goji berries) 枸杞子
Channels (meridians) entered : liver, lung, kidney

Effects : Nourishes and tonifies the liver and kidney, helps eyesight, improves blurred vision, alleviates sore back, strengthens the leg and stomach,  improves circulation, boosts immune function, promotes longevity.

功效 : 养肝，补肾，滋阴，明目，益气等。

yu zhu (Pharmaceutical name : Polygonatum odoratum) 玉竹

Channels (meridians) entered : lung, stomach

Effects : Nourishes Yin, promotes the production of body fluids and relieves dryness syndrome.

功效 : 养阴，润燥，除烦，止渴。治热病阴伤，咳嗽烦渴，虚劳发热，消谷易饥，小便频数。

bei qi (Pharmaceutical name : Astragalus propinquus) 北芪

Channels (meridians) entered : lung, spleen

Effects :  Treatment of Qi deficiency, spleen deficiency and Yang deficiency, weakness and fatigue, numbness of limb, morbidity after stroke, sweating, treatment of diabetes, promotes pus discharge and tissue regeneration, promotes diuresis to reduce edema. 

功效 : 补益肺气，用於气虚，脾虚，阳虚，体弱疲倦，肢体麻木，中风后遗症，自汗，糖尿病。排脓，生肌。利尿消肿。

dang gui (Pharmaceutical name : Angelica sinensis) 当归

Channels (meridians) entered :  heart, liver, spleen

Effects : Tonic for blood and for regulating the menses, lubricates bowels to correct constipation, reduces swelling, expels pus, relieves pain.

功效 : 补血活血，调经止痛，润肠通便，是中药妇科良药。

red dates (Chinese dates or red jujube) 红枣

Channels (meridians) entered : stomach, spleen

Effects : Treats weakness, shortness of breath, lassitude, lack of appetite, loose stools due to spleen deficient

功效 :  强筋壮骨，补血行气，滋颐润颜。

dang shen (Pharmaceutical name : Codonopsitis Pilosulae) 党参

Channels (meridians) entered : lung, spleen

Effects : Corrects blood deficiency, invigorates Qi (lack of appetite, fatigue, thirst, diarrhea, vomiting, polapse of uterus, stomach, rectum due to spleen deficient), improves digestive system.

功效 : 补中益气，养血补肺。

huai shan (Pharmaceutical name : Dioscoreae Oppositae) 淮山

Channels (meridians) entered : spleen, lung, kidney

Effects : Invigorates Qi, nourishes Yin, controls spermatorrhea and reduces urination.

功效 :  补脾养胃，生津益肺，补肾涩精。

1000ml water

Seasoning :

Salt to taste

Chinese Herbs Inventory for Gladys Kock Home Cooking

Chinese Herbs Ingredients for Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup

Method :

1. Cut whole black chicken into 4 big chunks, trim any excess skin and fat. Rinse black chicken and all Chinese herbs thoroughly and drain, set aside.

2. Parboil or scald the black chicken into boiling water and skim away any excess or visible fats. Black chicken is then removed and set aside.

3. In a clean stockpot or deep claypot, pour in 1000ml water and let it boils. When the water is rolling boil, put the black chicken and all the Chinese herbs into the pot. Turn to low heat and simmer for 1 to 2 hours. Alternatively, slow cooker (crockpot) or double-boiler can be used.

Simmer Chinese Herbal Black Chicken Soup in a Claypot

4. Add a pinch of salt to taste 5 minutes before serving the herbal soup.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Double-boiled Ginseng Roots and Chicken Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Ginseng roots and chicken soup provides the perfect meal-in-a-bowl at lunchtime. Taste of this tonic soup is pleasant and flavorsome with natural sweetness in the palate.

There's something supremely comforting about hot soup, especially when you prepare it yourself at home, the aroma ensures that the pleasure starts long before you lift the ladle. Soup, especially Chinese herbal tonic soup, is the most frequent dish serves our dining table maybe due to my tiredless advocacy of it as a dietary supplement and herbal remedy. Due to this, soup has become so entrenched in my life.

The recipe calls for double-boiling (炖/燉), which is a controlled heating technique that you place the chicken soup in a pot and then place that pot in boiling water in another larger pan or pot. This technique ensures there is no loss of essences from the food being cooked without scorching or drying it and it's often used to prepare delicate food and Chinese herbal medicines.  Alternatively, you might run into a stovetop apparatus called a double boiler, a specialized pot with two layers, the top vessel contains the food to be heated and is fitted into the lower pot which holds the boiling water. 

For the convenience of preparing the soup, my hubby has tweaked the technique from double boiling into stewing by using crockpot (or slow cooker). This allows unattended cooking overnight and will be ready in the next morning. Well, I should say there's some advantages of  this long slow crockpot cooking, besides leaving the gelatinised tissue in the meat without toughening the lean muscle fiber, cooking the soup in a crockpot keep the washing up minimal due to its low cooking temperature and also glazed ceramic or porcelain pot make cleaning very easy.

For those who think cooking dinner is a chore, this foolproof approach will transforms mealtime into a hassle-free experience yet enhances the flavors and taste of the entire soup. The chicken is so tender that it just slips off the bone and provides melt-in-your-mouth morsels.

Follow this simple tonic chicken soup recipe to impress your family and guests.

洋参须炖鸡汤食谱

Ingredients :

1 kampung chicken, cleaned, skin removed and cut into 4 pieces
50g ginseng roots (洋参须)
10 red dates (红枣), seeds discarded
2 tbsp Chinese Wolfberries or qi zi (杞子）
1000ml water
salt to taste

Method :

1. Blanch chicken in boiling water for a short while. Remove and set aside.

2. Put all ingredients into a double boiler and double-boil at high heat for 4 hours. Alternatively, you can use crockpot (slow cooker) and stewing it overnight (Or you can set to slow-cook before leaving for a day's work, and will be ready on return).

3. Add salt to taste. Serve hot.

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Snow Fungus & Fish Maw Soup Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

A hearty and healthy fish maw soup. This chinese soup is a rich mixture of fish maw, prawn, canned bai lin gu (Pleurotus ferulae mushroom,百灵菇), snow fungus, water chestnuts and carrot, made this a great meal on its own.


Am currently yearning for "uncommon" soup, and I decided to cook snow fungus & fish maw soup when stumbled upon this recipe. I have been intrigued sometimes ago to simmer some kind of soup which resemble texture of sharkfins soup , apart from my commonly simmered soups with melon, radish, carrot, corn, lotus root, dried scallop, chinese herbs etc.

Soup have always been the mainstay of my family meals, as this is the easiest dish to imbibe especially for my daughter. After hours of simmering, all the essense of the ingredients must have been incorporated into the soup and this ease body digestion.

To make it flavourful (for extra oomph), I added in some spiced vinegar (黑醋) and it's really stimulating the appetite upon first sip of soup!

Fish maw (large fish gas bladder, in chinese 魚鰾,花膠) is usually served braised or in stews, and mostly used in soups. It often served in chinese households during chinese new year and is considered a food delicacy in some Asian cultures and one of the luxury ingredients in chinese cuisine. Fish maw is regarded as a nourishing tonic which is said to promote blood circulation and general health.

Fish maw need to be soaked for an hour until it's pliable, then rinse and scrub clean. If you're not comfortable with fishy odour (which most of us do!), the pre-soaked fish maw then bring to boil with a stalk of spring onion, a slice of ginger and half a litre of water, for roughly 10 minutes. Then remove the fish maw and shred.

雪耳鱼鳔羹食谱

Ingredients : 材料

1 tsp oil 1小匙油
1 tbsp shao xing wine 1大匙绍兴酒
50g fish maw, soaked until soft and shredded 50g 鱼鳔，浸软，切丝
1 piece canned bai lin gu,shredded 1块罐头百灵菇，切丝
1 piece snow fungus, soaked and cut into small pieces 1朵雪耳，浸软，切小块
6 water chestnuts, peelded and shredded 6粒马蹄，去皮，切丝
1 small carrot, peelded and shredded 1小条红罗卜，去皮，切丝
150g prawn meat 150g虾仁

Seasoning : 调味料

1 tsp salt 1小匙盐
1 tsp chicken stock granules 1小匙鸡精粉
1/2 tbsp light soya sauce 1/2大匙生抽
2 tbsp shao xing wine 2大匙绍兴酒
1 tsp sesame oil 1小匙麻油
Dash of pepper 少许胡椒粉
1000ml water 1000ml水
2 tbsp corn flour, mixed with 4 tbsp water, for thickening
2大匙蜀粉，加入4大匙水，搅匀，打芡用
2 egg white, beaten 2粒蛋白，打散

Method : 做法


1. Heat up oil, add in shao xing wine and followed by all the ingredients and seasoning. Bring to boil and then simmer at low heat until all vegetables are cooked.
烧热油加入绍兴酒，再加入全部材料和调味料，煮滚至熟。

2. Thicken with corn flour water and then mixed in beaten egg white. Serve hot.
打芡，加入蛋白搅匀，即可上桌享用。

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage

Papaya Soup with American Ginseng & Black Chicken Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Traditional low fat and healthy herbal soup recipe which offers excellent medicinal virtues, is brothed with papaya, black chicken and american ginseng, also a great confinement recipe for breatfeeding mums.

I like to broth traditional Chinese-styled soups especially whenever I feel the body is in need of some replenishment in one area or another.

Papaya Soup with American ginseng and black chicken is said to nourish kidneys, replenish blood, enhance digestion system and strengthen bones and tendons. This traditional low fat and healthy herbal soup is also a great confinement recipe for breastfeeding mums. The selected papaya should not be too ripe (1/3 ripen, with the criteria of papaya's skin slightly greenish-yellow in color).

As for black chicken, beyond being evil-smelling or bitter-tasting, the soup however, is tinged with sweetness from sweet dates and papaya. Black chicken enriched in protein, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin A, B1, B2, C, E, and it helps to replenish blood and Qi (boosting), liver and kidneys, expel body heat and regulate menstrual ailments. Traditional Chinese medicine has held that chicken soup made with black chicken meat is a curative food where it is usually used to make broth and braising.

Concocted from American ginseng, sweet almonds and sweet dates, the soup incorporates all the herbal essence in promoting general health. American ginseng is root of a plant similar to Korean ginseng, but it has the Yin properties which helps to clean excessive Yang in the body, whereas sweet almonds (sweet apricot kernels) target the lungs and sweet dates target the stomach and spleen.

After imbibing a bowl of this soup, overall balancing out the yin and yang within seems to be compromised.

(Philosophy of Yin and Yang in the sphere of food : Yang foods are believed to increase the body's heat (raise the metabolism), while Yin foods are believed to decrease the body's heat (lower the metabolism). The ideal belief is to consume both types of food to keep the body in balance).

A healthy chinese tonic soup recipe laid out as below.

Ingredients : 材料

1 whole black chicken (rinsed, chopped)

1 papaya (peeled, diced)

40g sweet almonds (南杏)

20g American ginseng(sliced)(花旗參)

2 sweet dates (蜜枣)

5 bowls water

Seasoning : 调味料

Salt adequate

Method : 做法

1. Scald the black chicken into boiling water. Drain up for use.

将黑鸡沸过水，捞起沥干备用。

2. Bring the water to boil into a boiling pot. Put in all ingredients and bring to boil. Simmer for 2 hours with mild flame.

煲滚清水，倒入全部材料煮沸，再以中火熬约两小时。

3. Season with salt. Stir well and ready to serve.

下盐调味搅匀后即可上桌。

Check Recipe Index for more recipes

Go Back To My Homepage