This is a soup that is said, to be effective in improving qi and provides energy. Well, to be honest, I don’t quite care about the effects, as long as it is tasty then I love it! And I like Chinese herbal soups too! Here is the Huang Qi (Astralagus) and Dang Shen (Codonopsis Pilosulae Radix):

INGREDIENTS
15g huang qi (黄芪)
30g dang shen (党参)
1 tbsp wolfberries/geizi (杞子)
30g Chinese yam (淮山)
30g fu ling (茯苓)
1 kampong chicken or faux meat for vegetarian
3 slices of ginger
2 dried scallops
Some salt for seasoning

METHOD
1. Put all Chinese herbs in 3.5L of hot water, bring to the boil.
2. Add in chicken, scallops and ginger, reduce to low heat and cook for 4 hours.
3. Season with salt and serve hot.

This Burdock Soup is very tasty, with all natural taste, and I didn’t add any salt it was already so tasty. Of course, I know, the faux meat is already salted. LOL! Oh, if you are not vegetarian, you can use beef, chicken or pork instead.

Just to re-emphasize, burdock is a very good food. It regulates blood circulation, prevents high blood pressure, heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, stroke and lowers blood sugar. It is also believed to prevent cancer related disease. You can also cut this into thin slices and stir fry with other veggie to eat.

INGREDIENT
1/2 burdock (choose the thick ones)
1 carrot
1 corn
4-5 dried scallops (or 2 only if yours is big)
Some Faux meat (approx 200g)
1 tbsp QiZi (杞子)

METHOD
1. Put all ingredients into 3.5L of water, bring to boil.
2. Turn to slow heat and continue to cook for 4 hours.
3. Season with salt if you like.

Note: If you cook with conventional gas stove, then you need 3.5L water. I cook with induction cooker on power 3, I only use 2L or it will be too ‘watery’.

I love this dish when we eat out. Until now, when I cook it, only then I realize how unhealthy this dish is, but I LOVE IT!!!

I have to confess, I don’t like to eat fish this way… I prefer fish fillet, no bone or head for me to handle. LOL! Next time I will repeat this, with fish fillet.

INGREDIENTS
2 medium fishes
5 egg-yolks
1 tbsp evaporated milk
5 tbsp butter
10 chili padi
2 stalks curry leaves
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 tsp salt
Some oil for frying
Some tapioca flour to coat fish

METHOD
1. Heat up oil. Wipe some salt on fish, coat fish with the flour and fry fish till crisp. Set aside.
2. Mix egg yolks and evaporated milk well.
3. Heat butter in wok until melted. Slowly pour in egg yolk mixture, keep stir-frying until the egg become shredded.
4. Add chili and curry leave, continue to stir fry until fragrant.
5. Add the fried fish to the wok. Add sugar and salt. Stir well.
6. Drain out the excessive oil and serve hot.

I ran out of things to cook today. I don’t have a car to drive, couldn’t go to the market, and what I have in my freezer is a pack of frozen Dory fish fillet. So, I made this sweet & sour fish fillet – not the conventional fish (garoupa) but this dory fish. The taste is great, but I still prefer Garoupa. I got my recipe from Kuali, improvised a bit due to the availability of ingredients!!

INGREDIENT
2 packets of frozen Dory fish (each costs about RM3 to 3.50 if you buy from Carrefour)
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2-3 tbsp oil
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 onion, diced
1 tomato, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced.
[Add this if you like:
1/2 red capsicum, cut into wedges
1/2 green capsicum, cut into wedges
1/2 pc of pineapple, cut into wedges]

Sauce (combine):
1 tbsp sugar or to taste
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp white vinegar
4 tbsp tomato sauce
2 tbsp plum sauce
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp tapioca flour, mixed with 1 tbsp water for thickening

METHOD
1. Clean fish and cut into 1″ pieces. Season with salt and pepper. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
2. Rub fish with beaten egg and coat with tapioca flour. Deep-fry in hot oil till cooked and crispy. Remove and place on a serving plate.
3. Heat up oil, saute garlic and onions until fragrant.
4. Add tomato and cucumber [also capsicums + pineapple if you use any].
5. Stir-fry briskly. Pour in sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Add thickening, then pour over fish. Garnish with spring onion and coriander leaves if you want. Serve immediately.

Since I rejected meat, I have been starving from nice soups. MIL and Mom think boiling soup must use chicken bones or pork ribs, or it will not be nice.

I found a recipe book on vegetarian soups. They are surprisingly delicious. That’s why I have been boiling a lot since early this year. I don’t really use any faux meat like many would guess. Natural vegetable ingredients can make soup even more delicious than meat based soup. And here is one example: Black Eye Beans and Peanuts Soup with Potatoes (马铃薯眉豆花生汤):

INGREDIENTS
100g black eye beans (眉豆)
100g peanuts
500g potatoes
6 red dates
2 slices ginger
1/4 dried tangerine peel
[You may add 6-8 dried oyster if you are not vegetarian]

METHOD
1. Wash peanuts and soak for 2 hours.
2. Wash black eye beans and soak for 30 min.
3. Peel potatoes and cut into chunks.
4. Wash and core red dates.
5. Soak dried tangerine peel until soft and remove pith.
6. Bring 1.5L water with dried tangerine peel to the boil. Add all other ingredients and bring to the boil again. Reduce to low heat and continue cooking for 2 hours.

Again, without any seasonings, this soup is very delicious. You may add some salt if you like.

Kids normally don’t like to eat carrot. I always camouflage carrots into my kids’ favorite food, and this is one of it. Whenever I make this dish, my kids would eat a lot and very quickly, never realizing they also ate so much of carrots!

INGREDIENTS
1 packet of fish paste
(alternatively you can buy 1 tenggiri fish and scrap out the meat yourself)
2 eggs
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 tbsp tapioca flour melt in 1/4 cup of water
Some salt and pepper to taste
Some oil for frying

METHOD
1. Mix all ingredient in a bowl.
2. Heat up oil in frying pan.
3. Use a soup spoon to scoop out the fish mixture, drop into oil with medium heat, fry until golden. Serve hot.

I have been frying fish a lot lately, and am quite worried about it being unhealthy. So, would like to try steaming instead. I don’t like plain steaming, so tried to add in some ‘junks’ – basically whatever I could I find in my fridge! LOL!

I wiped some salt on the fish, lined in the plate. Then, chopped all the ingredients: tomato, coriander and some celery.

The fish looks like over crowded with those stuff. But I think the coriander and tomato compliment the fish quite well. No fishy smell despite many days in freezer. The tomato actually brings up the fish’s taste very well. A good combination…

Oh ya, not to forget, I also sprinkle some spices: pepper and oregano. I also quite fond of using oregano on fish.

Tell you what… this is the best-est soup I have made so far. Happened that my in-laws were here for dinner when I made this soup. Father-in-law keep saying that it was delicious.

Then DH came home without much appetite. He didn’t eat much, but he told me the soup was very nice.

Here comes the red radish, tomatoes and apples soup!

Well, I was supposed to use beetroot instead of red radish, but I bought the wrong one. Turned out it was okay and I am happy!

INGREDIENTS
1 large red radish
2 tomatoes
2 red apples
1 corn cut
2 stalks celery
2 potatoes
2 slices ginger

METHOD
1. Peel the skin of red radish, potatoes, tomatoes and cut into pieces.
2. Wash apples, remove core and cut into pieces (keep the skin).
3. Wash and cut celery into pieces.
4. Remove corn leaves, wash and cut into 3 chunks.
5. Bring 1.5L water to boil. Add all the ingredients and bring to boil again.
6. Reduce to low heat and cook for 2.5 hours.

I did not add any seasonings, and it tasted so well. I think you should not add any salt to help reducing sodium intake. It is so good that, if you add, it might even spoil the soup.

The other day when I boiled the Chinese Burdock (Cobo) soup, I used only half of the very large radish. Trying to clear my fridge, I took out whatever ingredients left from previous cooking and made this pot of soup. This can be made vegan if you omit the dried mussels – it tastes equally good (I added because I wanted to eat it!).

Ingredients
1 corn cut into 3 segments
1 medium radish or half a large one, cut into large pieces
1 tomato wedged
2 stalks of celery, cut into chunks
1/2 carrot, cut to chunks
1 pc (150gm) pumpkin sliced
6-8 dried mussels, washed and soaked (can be obmitted to turn this into vegetarian soup)

Method
1. Bring 1.5L water to the boil.
2. Put in all ingredients and bring to the boil again.
3. Turn to low heat and boil for 2 hours.

If you like, you may add some salt to taste, but my family prefers it this way without seasonings. The soup is very tasty with natural sweetness. Again, Isabel gobbled up the corn!

Well, I think most people know how to fry rice, so this post looks like a bit useless to many. :p Anyway, I think the rice is very tasty, so I just wanna share!

INGREDIENTS
2 cups of rice, washed and steamed with 4 cups of water. Set aside for frying later.
1 cup of corns
1 cup of chopped vegetarian Charsiu
1 bowl of finely chopped onion (about 2-3 onions)
Some oil for frying
3-4 eggs, lightly beat with some soy sauce for seasoning
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Some salt for seasoning
[If you want, can add 1 cup of chopped carrots too]

METHOD
1. Heat oil in wok.
2. Saute onion until fragrant and transparent.
3. Add in rice, corn and charsiu, fry until rice loosen up and heated up.
4. Add in soy sauce and mix well.
5. With high-heat, slowly pour in egg mixture while keep on stir frying.
6. The rice will be sticky, keep stir frying until the wok finally become light and no longer sticky (it will have very nice fragrance).
7. Season with salt and serve hot.