dried Shitake Mushrooms

Carrot Corn Tomato Mushroom Soup

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Carrot Corn Tomato Mushroom Soup

I tend to use only two types of meats for my soup base. Either pork ribs from Indonesia or carcass of chicken. Both yields a very lovely soup with my preference leaning more towards a pork base flavoured soup. But I tend to leave out the meats that flavours the soup when naming them because it just gets too wordy. Don’t worry, I will still make mention of them in the ingredient listing.

So today’s soup puts a twist to the ever popular ABC soup. The confinement recipe is great for mummies who are breastfeeding, somehow what you eat is what baby will grow to love when they grow up. I am adding dried shitake mushrooms into the soup today and I know that it will taste absolutely fantastic.

Just an update on the soup that I was trying out, the Carrot Radish Bamboo Burdock Soup. Interestingly the soup was suitably muted, which came as a surprise as I was sure the taste of the soup would have a strong radish or burdock flavour. Instead there was no outstanding ingredient that stood out. It tasted very nice.

Recipe

Ingredients

250 grams of Pork Ribs
1 medium sized Carrot
1 ear of Corn
1 large Tomato
4-5 pieces Dried Shitake Mushrooms
Salt

Method

1. Boil a kettle of water. Peel and chop the carrot into chunks. Chop the corn into 8 pieces. Quart the tomato. Soak the mushrooms and then slice them. Place the frozen pork ribs into the pot. Then add the rest of the prepared ingredients into the pot.

2. Once water is boiled, add into the pot. Add salt to taste. Boil at high heat for 20 minutes.

3. After boiling, place the pot into the thermal cooker and come back 12 hours later to have it for dinner.

Bon Appetit!

Teochew Steamed Pomfret

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Teochew Steamed Pomfret

The most basic recipe in my arsenal of home cooked recipes, the white pomfret steamed in Teochew style. You may also wish to check out my other recipe Teochew Steamed Garoupa if you prefer another type.

The White Pomfret has accompanied our family feasts for many years now, I have been eating this fish since my childhood, steamed to perfection this way. In fact it is one of the few recipes that I used since starting my gastronomic journey.

This recipe is simple and basic. Dried shitake mushrooms, tomatoes, preserved salted vegetables (aka kiam chye), preserved salted plums and ginger. Garnished with Chinese parsley, and it is a perfect dish. I particularly like using this fish for Teochew style steaming  because the flesh is very succulent and sweet when cooked perfectly.

Recipe

Ingredients

A medium sized White Pomfret (maybe about 800-900 grams)
50-60 grams of Kiam Chye (shredded thinly)
2 medium sized Tomatoes (quartered)
5 pieces Dried Shitake Mushrooms (soaked and sliced)
2 pieces of Preserved Salted Plums
A few slices of Ginger
3 stalks of Chinese Parsley

Method

1. Wash and gut the pomfret. Or you can get the Fishmonger to help you gut the fish. Of course if you want to keep the fish fresh till the day you’re gonna eat it, it is recommended to keep the guts intact.

2. Place one crushed salted plum in the gut of the fish. Also place a few slices of Ginger in the stomach of the fish as well. This helps rid the stomach of the fish of any smells or bitter taste.

3. Soak the mushrooms in hot water and snip off the stems, then slice them. Continue to soak after slicing. Cut the tomatoes into quarters. As for the kiam chye, shred them thinly.

4. Sprinkle the shredded kiam chye on the centre of the plate. Then lay the pomfret on top of the salted vegetables. Surround the fish with the tomatoes and sliced mushrooms. Place the other crushed salted plum on the plate.

5. Steam the pomfret a good 20 minutes at high heat. Once it is done, garnish with chopped parsley. Allow the heat to wilt the parsley a little before serving. Shiok!

Bon Appetit!

Teochew Steamed Garoupa

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Teochew Steamed Garoupa

The Garoupa is undoubtedly one of the best fish to be prepared in the Teochew style. The flesh when well steamed and cooked would be firm and flaky, sweet and succulent. It is truly a fish in a class of its own.

It’s one of my favourite fish for my Claypot Fish Head recipe where I would try to get the red variety of the fish. Delicious. There was no way of going back to any other variant of fish after tasting the Garoupa prepared in the claypot fish head style.

Tonight’s dinner is a presentation of this fish in classic Teochew style. Steamed with tomatoes, kiam chye, dried Shitake mushrooms and preserved salted plums. A few slices of Ginger to remove any awkward bitterness in the stomah, and the dish would be complete and ready.

Recipe

Ingredients

1 medium size Garoupa fish
20-30 grams of Kiam Chye (sliced)
5 pieces of Dried Shitake Mushrooms
2 medium size Tomatoes
2 pieces of Preserved Salted Plums
2 inches of Ginger
2 stalks of Spring Onions

Method

1. Defrost the fish (assuming that you are like me, storing the marketing of the week in the freezer). Meanwhile, slice the kiam chye (aka preserved salted vegetables) and quart the tomatoes. Decorate the metal plate (I use the metal plate for steaming all my fishes) with the prepared ingredients.

2. Soak the dried mushrooms in hot boiling water until softened. Then slice into large chunks. Also decorate the plate, surrounding the fish with the mushrooms. Slice a few pieces of ginger and stuff it into the stomach of the fish. This helps to rid the fish of any bitterness.

3. Place a preserved plum into the stomach cavity of the fish and crush another to be placed on the plate. This helps to flavour the fish as well as the fish stock that is expressed from the fish during steaming.

4. Steam the fish for at least 20 minutes at high heat. Garnish with spring onions if you like. Serve hot.

Bon Appetit!

Glutinous Rice

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Glutinous Rice

Glutinous Rice

My wife’s friend used to bring delicious glutinous rice made by her mother and everytime her mum made it, we would get to taste some. It was the most delicious glutinous rice dish ever and I swore to myself quietly that one day I too would try to make the most delicious glutinous rice dish.

And that day is today. The inspiration to cook delicious glutinous rice struck me this morning on the way to work and I knew that I cannot escape not making it.

So here, this is my first attempt at making delicious glutinous rice. I know it will be delicious. I tried it. And true enough, it is delicious.

Recipe

Ingredients

400 grams Glutinous Rice (soaked and drained)
60 grams Dried Shrimps (also soaked and drained but in hot water)
6 pcs Dried Shitake Mushrooms (soaked in hot water, then sliced thinly)
4 pcs Garlic (minced)
4 tsp Light Soy Sauce
2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
2 tsp Oyster Sauce
2 tsp Hakka Rice Wine
Half bowl of Water
White Pepper
Sesame Seed Oil (drizzle)
Olive Oil

Optional

Meat from 1 Chicken Thigh or;
100 grams of Pork Belly

Method

1. Heat olive oil in pan, then when oil is sufficiently heated, fry garlic, mushrooms and dried shrimp until fragrant (add chicken or pork belly if you like). After that’s done, throw in the drained glutinous rice. Some say the longer you soak, the better it is. I soaked maybe 10-15 minutes, you can soak overnight if you like.

2. Fry the glutinous rice over medium heat for a while and combine ingredients. Then add the pre-mixed sauces (which you would have already mixed in a separate bowl) into the frying pan and give it a good stir fry until all the ingredients are covered with the sauce. Continue frying for another 5-8 minutes. Once sufficiently fried, drizzle a thin layer of sesame seed oil over the rice. Powder the white pepper over and give it a good mix.

3. Next scoop the rice into a large bowl or round metal pan. Flatten it nicely. Wet the rice with water, I pour about half a bowl of water into mine. After that, steam the glutinous rice over high heat for about 45 minutes. The rice should be softened by then, if not, add more water and continue to steam at high heat. Do a taste test and if the rice is too dry, wet the rice with a little more water. The end result should be soft fluffy, sticky delicious glutinous rice.

Bon Appetit!

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Soak Glutinous Rice

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Dried Shrimp

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Dried Shitake Mushrooms

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Compacted Glutinous Rice