Chayote and Fresh Chinese Yam Soup

Do you know what a Chayote is?

Chayote, also known as 合掌瓜.

Translated, it means "Two palms clasp together".

Don't you think they do look like one?

I have seen them at the Asian Grocery Store, but I never know how they are to be cooked, until I chanced upon the recipe for Chayote and Fresh Chinese Yam Soup from The Chinese Soup Lady.

According to her post on Chayote, this fruit is rich in Vitamins A and C, as well as amino acids. Since it is rich in Vitamin C, maybe that's one reason why it is used commonly in soups that relieve cough and cold.

That's how they look like on the inside. I prefer to remove the skin of the fruit, just so to remove any pesticides that may stay on after thorough cleaning.

Fresh Chinese Yam is used commonly in herbal soup. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after cutting it, as the inside of the Chinese Yam is very slimy.

Since the boys were having a slight cough, and I could get both Chayote and Fresh Chinese Yam (Huai Shan) from the Asian Grocery Store, I decided to give this soup a try, hoping that the soup would help in soothing their cough ... and it did!

1-1.5 pounds Pork Meat/Ribs/Bones

3 Chayotes

50cm length Fresh Chinese Yam

1.2-1.5 litres Water

Salt to taste, if necessary.

• Wash and clean the pork meat/ribs/bones.
• Season with salt and leave overnight to marinade. The salt helps to remove the pork smell when cooking the soup!
• On the day that you are going to cook the soup, take the pork out from the fridge, and blanch the pork pieces in boiling water.
• Remove and rinse in cold water.
• Fill a soup pot with 1.2 - 1.5 litres of water.
• Wash the chayotes and fresh chinese yam.
• Remove skin from chayotes and fresh chinese yam.
• Cut the chayotes into cubes, and slice the fresh chinese yam into thick slices.
• Add the pork, chayotes and fresh chinese yam into the soup pot.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for two hours.
• Add salt to taste and serve the soup warm.

I like that this soup uses only three simple ingredients. The first time I cooked this soup, I didn not season the pork with salt prior to cooking. Hence, while I enjoyed drinking the soup, I did not enjoy the smell of the pork when the soup was simmering on the kitchen stove. As the chayotes are not really sweet, the soup is not as sweet as when I use herbs (like red dates). I added some salt to the soup. I filtered the soup using a sieve, since the boys liked their soup "clear". It was a good move, as Darling son KW liked the soup so much, he asked for a second bowl.

Subsequently, I seasoned the pork with a reasonable amount of salt and left it to marinade overnight. To my surprise, the smell of the pork was reduced tremendously while the soup was simmering on the stove! There was no need for me to add more salt to the soup when it was done cooking.

When fresh HuaiShan was not available at home, I cooked this soup using 25 slices of dried HuaiShan. The soup tasted just as when fresh Chinese Yam was used. So when you don't have the time to go to the Asian Grocery Store, dried HuaiShan works just as fine!

当归鸡汤

Time for soup, to warm the body, on a cold winter day!

I bought some Dang Gui slices during my visit back home. These packaged Dang Gui were afforable, and they were already sliced. Without the proper machine, I would probably have a tough time slicing them, and my finger! So I happily bought two packets to bring back to the woods.

DangGui, also known as Chinese Angelican Root.

Here's the explanation of the herb by The Chinese Soup Lady.

The soup recipe was adapted from Blessed Homemaker, and I made some changes to the quantity of ingredients used. I love the smell of DangGui, but I do not know if my kids will like the taste and smell of it.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of DangGui while the soup was simmering on the stove. The kids didn't complain about the smell. However, they did not like the taste of the soup, even though it was mildly sweet. Hubby dear, however, liked the soup.

2 pcs Chicken Thighs

15 pcs Yuzhu (玉竹）

15 pcs Red Dates （红枣）

8 pcs Dried Longan （龙眼甘）

3 pcs Dang Gui （当归）

1.2 litres Water

• Wash the herbs and set aside.
• Blanch the chicken thighs in boiling water.
• Rinse the blanched chicken thighs in cold water.
• Fill a stock pot with water.
• Add the herbs and chicken thighs.
• Bring the pot of water to a boil.
• Reduce heat and let it simmer for another 2 hours.
• Add salt to taste if need.

I do not know how suitable this soup is for kids, since DangGui is being used. But I will definitely be cooking it for myself, on those days when I feel very, very cold.

Chestnut Soup

I love soups. Soup was a regular item on the dinning table when I was young. And I miss drinking soups. Hence, whenever it starts to get cold, especially on snowy days, I will want to have a bowl of soup for dinner.

Red dates, a very common herb used in soups.

But today, the star of this evening's soup is not red dates, but dried Chestnuts (栗子). My mom had sent me a bag of dried chestnuts, and it had been sitting in the fridge for the longest time.

Today is a good day for soups. The sun is hiding behind clouds, and it is going to snow later in the evening. I don't want to do the usual soups. A goggle search brought me to Culinarytonicsoup. I was so excited when I saw this blog! It has a collection of the recipes from the old Fenying's blog! It was difficult to read, as the recipes were not classified. I was lucky to spot the recipe for the Chestnut soup halfway down the page =D

Dried Chestnuts, 栗子 1.5 cups

Dried Lotus Seeds, 莲子 1 packet (about 120g)

Red dates, 红枣 30 pcs

Spareribs/pork 1 pound

Water 2 litres

• Fill a pot with 2 litres of water.
• Wash the chestnuts and lotus seeds thoroughly.
• Note that the chestnuts already have their skins removed.
• Add the chestnuts and lotus seeds to the pot of water.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and let it simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Turn off heat and let the ingredients soak in the warm water for about an hour or longer. The idea is to soften the chestnuts and lotus seeds so that they cook faster and release their sweetness when cooking with the meat later.
• Blanch the spareribs in boiling water.
• Rinse with cold water.
• Wash the red dates thoroughly. My red dates are really small, so use less if your red dates are bigger.
• Add the spareribs and red dates into the pot with chestnuts and lotus seeds.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and let it simmer for a hour and a half.
• Add salt to taste if need, and serve the soup warm.

The lotus seeds were all broken up into very small pieces when the soup was cooked. The boys don't like ingredients in their soup. I would usually strain the soup. If the soup is too oily because of the fatty pork, then leave the soup in the fridge after straining it. The oil will solidfy, making it easier to remove when you take the soup out from the fridge much later.

I used 2 litres of water instead of the usual 1.2 litres. Actually, I started with 1.2 litres of water. But as the dried chestnuts and lotus seeds boiled in the water, I realised they absorbed quite a bit of water in order to soften. After adding the spareribs, and cooking for a while, I decided to take the risk of adding more water. When you are cooking soups, it is not advisable to add water midway while cooking as it dilutes the soup. I was glad I took the risk. The extra water added covered the spareribs, and the soup still turned out very sweet when cooked! I didn't need to add any salt to the soup. However, after straining the soup, I felt that it was a waste to throw away the chestnuts and lotus seeds. They tasted sweet! The strained soup was sitting in one small pot with the meat, while the chestnuts, lotus seeds and red dates lonely sat in the large empty soup pot. Hence, I added water to the chestnuts, lotus seeds and red dates left in the pot. Brought the pot of extra water to a boil and let it simmer for another half an hour.

The second pot is now cooking over the stove, and if it is sweet after an hour of simmering, I will probably add it to the small pot of strained soup.

Lesson learnt when dealing with chestnuts ... add more water! Can't really say how much water to add, as it really depends on how many chestnuts you have in the pot. I had both chestnuts and lotus seeds, so I would need more water when cooking this soup.

The next time I cook this, I will probably use just 1 cup of chestnuts. Will skip the lotus seeds if I don't have any. And, use 2 litres of water.

This soup is not the clear type of soup. It's a little milky. If you dislike milky soup, then this is not your kind of soup. My boys don't really fancy milky-looking soup. Let's hope they will still drink it since it's sweet =)

无花果梨子瘦肉汤

The weather in the woods has been crazy.

When we thought that Lady Spring had finally arrived, we went out in our short sleeve T-shirt and a light jacket, only to find ourselves grabbing for a thick coat the next day, as Old Man Winter turned around to say HI!

As we moved from one week of long sleeve shirts to another, we suddenly found ourselves baking under the hot scorching sun, perspiring as I sat in front of my laptop surfing the internet, with the thermometer reading went up to 32degC. Short sleeve tees, shorts and sandals is the way to go.

After baking in the heat for the last few days, I decided we needed some cooling soup, as darling son KW had started coughing slightly from the ever changing weather. I must be crazy, to be cooking soup and baking in the heat, that's everyone says to me =)

The recipe was adapted from 小小米桶的写食厨房. This soup is definitely a keeper! The subtle sweetness from the pears, topped with the sweetness from the dried figs ... wooooo ... It is plus that it uses only three ingredients! It's suppose to be "rehydrate the body", especially when the weather is dry and hot 。。。 清热润燥 。。。YUMMY!

2 Pears

12 Dried Figs

2pcs Southern Style Spareribs

1 litre Water

1. Blanch the spareribs and rinse them under cold water.

2. Wash the dried figs and pears.

3. Fill a pot with one litre of water.

4. Cut and remove the core of the pears. Do not remove the skin.

5. Put all the ingredients into the pot of water.

6. Bring the water to a boil.

7. Lower heat and simmer for another 1.5 - 2hours.

I only added a litre of water, as the pears were very juicy. The soup was very sweet, due to the sweetness of the pears, as well as the dried figs added. Mmmmm .... I want more!

党参药材鸡汤

Another cold winter day, another day for soup =)

I was surfing the web for new recipes when I chanced upon "Tong Sum Chinese Herbal Soup" from Little Corner of Mine. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe! I love chicken soup, and I love 党参. Plus, I am able to use most of the chinese herbs I have in the pantry =)

党参 and wolfberries, when soak in warm water for a couple of hours, yields a drink with mild herbal sweetness. Hence, whenever hubby dear needs to stay up late into the night to do his work/study, I will make a flask of it for him to bring to school. It is best consumed a few hours later ... the drink is sweet, and especially warming on a cold winter day in school. If you need to work late into the night, feel tired easily, have a lack of appetite ... you can give it a try.

But for now, I am happy to have chicken soup for dinner tonight!

淮山 4 sticks

北芪 2, cut into halves

党参 4 sticks, cut into 1" length

Wolfberries 1 tbsp

Red Dates 10 pcs

Dried Logan 5-6 pcs

Water 1 litre

Chicken Thighs 4 pcs

• Pour 1 litre of water into a pot.
• Put the chinese herbs, except 北芪 and 淮山, into the pot of water.
• Soak these chinese herbs for half an hour to an hour.
• Remove skin from the chicken thighs.
• Wash and clean the chicken thighs.
• Blanch the chicken thighs in boiling water.
• Rinse the blanched chicken thighs in cold water.
• After an hour, add the blanched chicken thighs, 淮山，北芪 to the pot with the other chinese herbs in it.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours.
• Add salt to taste before serving, if necessary.

The original simmering time is 4 hours, with no soaking of chinese herbs required. I do not have a slow-cooker, and I need to pick the kids up from school and can't leave the pot of soup on the stove cooking while I am out. Hence, I took a short cut ... I soaked the chinese herbs (all except 北芪 and 淮山 ) in water for almost an hour, before cooking it. Instead of 4 hours, I am going to simmer the soup for 2.5 hours.

Hmmmm ... the pot of chicken soup is simmering away as I am writing ... and the entire apartment is filled with the aroma of herbal soup .... I can't wait for dinner!

莲藕汤

I was at the Asian Mart on Sunday, and picked up a section of the lotus root. Old Man Winter had been sending the biting cold air over the Midwest, and a bowl of warm Lotus Soup would cheer us up after a day out in the cold.

The recipe is from Cuisine Paradise.

Thanks for sharing the recipe!

My kids love this soup!

1.2 lb Country Style Pork Ribs

1.5 litres Water

4-5 pcs Red Dates

1 tsp Wolfberries

5－6 pcs 淮山 (or fresh 山药 15-20cm long)

1-2 stalks 党参 (cut into 1" strips)

2 pcs 北芪 (cut strips into halves)

1 莲藕 (cut thinly into wheels)

• Wash and clean the pork ribs.
• Blanch in boiling water.
• Remove and rinse in cold water.
• Put all ingredients into the pot.
• Bring to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for 1.5 hours.
• If using fresh 淮山, add it in before drinking the soup. Bring the soup to a boil and turn off heat. If it is left in the soup for too long, it becomes very soft and break apart, turning the soup milky.
• Add salt to taste if necessary.

No photograph of the soup?

Well, I was so eager to drink the soup and start dinner, I forgot all about taking photographs of the final product! The meat was very sweet, and the soup tasted good, especially after I removed most of the oil in the soup =)

炖鸡汤

While Old Man Winter was busy partying away to welcome the new year, we were happy to be enjoying our two weeks of "January Thaw". Temperatures were at highs of 2 degree Celsius, and low was only at 3 to 4 below zero degree Celsius. It was pleasant enough to bring the kids out for sledding and playing outdoors.

This week however, Old Man Winter remembered he had a job to do, and he did it with such great enthusiasm! Temperatures took a dive and plunged to 14 below zero degree Celsius this weekend! The wind blowing against the face was biting, and I had to cover my face with a scarf before heading out! With the sudden change in temperature, most of us ended our day with runny or stuffy noses. It was really comforting to have a bowl of warm soup for dinner, to end the bitterly cold day!

I ran out of pork ribs, and had only two chicken leg quarters ... it's the part where the drumstick is joined to the thigh. Decided to cook Chinese Chicken Soup (using chinese herbs), and the recipe from NoobCook seemed easy enough for me to handle.

淮山 11g

北芪 6g

党参 15g

枸纪子 23g

玉竹 23g

Water 1.5 litres

2 Chicken Quarters, skin removed

Salt to taste (Optional)

• Blanched the chicken quarters in boiling hot water.
• Remove and rinse in cold water.
• Set aside.
• Put all the ingredients into a stock pot.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 hours.
• Add salt to taste when the soup is ready.

I like the taste of this mild herbal soup. The next time I cook it, I will probably add a couple of red dates, along with the rest of the ingredients. Hmm .... lovely soup on a cold winter night....

淮山排骨汤

淮山, 又名，淮山药。

Scientific Name : Dioscorea Opposita.

Commonly known as Chinese Yam.

This is one ingredient commonly found in soups.

What is so good about this ingredient?

According to this website, it is suppose to help lower blood sugar and blood pressure, aid in digestion and anti-aging.

Usually, the dried form of this ingredient is used when brewing soups. However, I couldn't find any at the Asian Mart near our place. The boss of the Asian Mart showed me this fresh chinese yam. I had seen many soup recipes using fresh chinese yam, and I thought, why not give it a try? As mentioned in many food blogs, the inside of the yam is slimy, and the liquid sticks to the hand like very watery glue. The skin of the yam has to be removed, and remember not to slice the yam too thinly. They kind of "disintegrate" into the soup, turning the soup "cloudy" when sliced too thinly.

I'm madly in love with soups, and chanced upon The Soup Queen.

I love that the soup uses only three simple ingredients ... 淮山药, Red Dates, and Pork Spareribs.

淮山药 Length of about 20-25 cm

Red Dates 18 (Mine are really small, so put less if yours are big)

Pork Spareribs 1.2 lbs

Water 1.2 - 1.5 litres

• Wash and blanch the pork spareribs.
• Rinse the blanched spareribs in cold water.
• Put all ingredients into a pot.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for about 2 hours.

The soup is "clear" with a subtle tinge of sweetness .... 非常的清甜！Darling son KW loved it so much that he had two bowls! Mmmm ....

Seems like I will need to cook this soup more often =)

玉米滋补汤

Translation : Nourishing Sweet Corn Soup.

Yes, another winter day for soup!

I just love the taste and smell of corn in this soup.

And I love that everyone in the house like this soup!

Such great sense of satisfaction in cooking when everyone stamp their approval! I'm motivated to try more dishes!

Recipe from Fenying's blog :

4 pcs Sweet Corn

2 Carrots

15 - 30g Wolfberries

30g Yu Zhu

1.5 litres Water

1.2 lbs Porkribs

Wash and soak wolfberries and Yu Zhu in 1.5 litres of water for 30 minutes.

Add sweet corn, carrots and porkribs.

Bring to a boil.

Lower heat and simmer for another 2 hours.

You can add some salt to taste if necessary. I prefer not to add anything, but to enjoy the natural flavors from the ingredients. This soup is neither too heaty nor cooling. It helps in increasing appetite too. This soup is definitely a keeper.

Yu Zhu Chicken Soup

Another snowy day, another day for drinking soup =)

Simple ingredients used in this soup. The soup is light, with a tinge of sweetness from Yu Zhu and Red Dates. The sweet aroma of the herbs boiling in water filled the house, while the snow fell outside the house ....

Recipe adapted from Fenying's Blog

4 pcs Chicken Thighs (Without skin)

15 pcs Red Dates

2 tbsp Wolfberries (Guoqi)

25-30g Yuzhu

1 pc Ginger (Remove Skin)

1.5 litres Water

• Wash and clean chicken thighs.
• Blanch the chicken thighs in boiling water.
• Remove and rinse in cold water.
• Put all the ingredients, except chicken thighs, into a pot.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower the heat and let it simmer for 30 minutes.
• Add chicken thighs and simmer at medium heat for another 30 minutes.
• Serve warm.

The soup is a little oily, even though I remove the skin from the chicken thighs. I guess I will just let it cool, let the oil solidify, then remove it. Can't wait for dinner to drink the soup!

栗子玉蜀黍花生汤

Chestnut, Peanut and Sweet Corn Soup!

Wow, what a long name for a soup!

Since it's winter now, cooking soups which are nourishing, usually using chinese herbs, would be beneficial for everyone in the family. Soups for improving blood circulation, for improving vision, improving complexion, for moisturizing the lungs, and many more! I'm not very familiar with many chinese herbs. The ones I have and use are the very mild type, like bitter and sweet almonds, red dates, dried figs, chestnuts, and Yu Zhu. These herbs are mild, and add sweetness to whatever soup that you are cooking.

I was really happy when I found this website. It provides recipes of many nourishing soups. The recipes were provided by a lady who specialises in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Hence, the type of medicinal benefits are also stated along with the recipe! Since I had some of the ingredients at hand, I decided I would try out the Chestnut, Peanut and Sweet Corn Soup!

Chestnut, Peanut and Sweet Corn Soup

2/3 cup, 100g Chestnuts

2/3 cup, 100g Peanuts

1.5 litres Water (I used 1.2 litres)

3 Sweet Corn (I used 2)

1 Carrots (I used 2)

10 pcs Chinese Mushrooms (I had only 7)

2 slices Ginger

1.2 lbs Porkribs

• Wash the chestnuts and peanuts.
• Pour water into a soup pot. Add chestnuts and peanuts.
• Bring the water to a boil, and lower heat.
• Let simmer for 15 minutes.
• Remove pot from heat.
• Allow the chestnuts and peanuts to soak for 2 hours or more.

While soaking the chestnuts and peanuts ....

• Peel the carrots and cut into chunks.
• Cut the sweet corns into chunks.
• Soak the chinese mushrooms in water to soften.
• Slice into smaller pieces.
• Wash and clean the porkribs.
• Blanch in boiling water.
• Rinse the blanched porkribs in cold water.
• Add the carrots, corn, chinese mushrooms, ginger slices and porkribs into the pot with the chestnuts and peanuts.
• Cover the pan and bring the pot of water to a boil.
• Lower heat and let it simmer for 2 hours.
• Serve the soup warm.

The house smelled of mushrooms as the soup was simmering away ... it reminded me of Chinese New Year, when my mother would braised Chinese Mushrooms in her slow-cooker.

有补肾益氣的作用, 常食用能增强体质, 养颜润肤

This soup is supposed to be good for our complexion (I need it!) and helps improve the body's composition. Neither too "heaty" nor "cooling". Suitable for the young, not so young, and the old. I would definitely cook it again, since everyone at home enjoyed the soup!

The Love for Soups

Old Man Winter has finally arrived.

The ground was covered with a thin layer of snow this morning. Temperature, with the chill factor, was at 10 degrees Celsius below zero. The welcomed warmth for the past few weeks was replaced by layering, snow shoes, snow pants, beanies and mittens.

I rekindled my love for soup two weeks ago. Since I was learning to cook them, the thought of cooking up a pot of Apple Soup immediately warmed me up! These days, soups have been showing their presence at the dinning table ..... So far, we have had Apple Soup with Porkribs, Peanut Soup, ABC Soup, Chicken Soup (using ready-packed ingredients) and Bak Kuet Teh. Tonight, we will be having Apple Soup ... again ... but with a different recipe =)

The Apple and Porkribs Soup which I cooked last week required some chinese herbs, like sweet and bitter almonds, dried figs and Yuzhu (Rhizoma Polygonati Odorati). It can be frustrating when the supply of chinese herbs run low when you intend to use them in cooking and you realize that you have no time to go out to get it. While surfing the internet last night, I finally found a substitute recipe from NoobCook. I made some changes to the amount of ingredients used though ...

Apple Soup

1.2 lb Pork Spareribs

1.2 litres Water

4 Gala Apples, Peeled and cut into chunks

10 Red Dates

1 Yellow Onions, Peeled and cut into chunks

• Remove fats from the pork spareribs.
• Wash and blanch the spareribs in boiling water.
• Rinse the blanched spareribs in cold water.
• Fill a pot with 1.2 litres of water.
• Add the apples and onion chunks into the pot.
• Add the red dates into the pot.
• Add the pork spareribs.
• Cover the pot and bring the water to a boil.
• Lower heat and let simmer for another 2 hours.
• Serve the soup warm.

Yummy Sweet Soup! The yellow onion added sweetness to the soup, while the apples added a refreshing taste to it. This is a indeed a good substitute recipe!

Now I know what soup I will be cooking frequently in Fall next year. A good way to use up the many extra apples we get from apple picking!

Bak Kuet Teh!

My lunch today, while the kids and hubby dear were at school ... A bowl of steaming hot rice, with Broccoli, sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, and a bowl of warm Bak Kuet Teh!

It's funny how we take things for granted.
When we were back home, there were many stalls at the hawker centres selling Bak Kuet Teh. You eat rice and drink the soup, and eat the meat that goes into boiling the soup. Sometimes, they even serve the meal with a small pot of tea! We had never ordered this soup while we eat out. But when you far away from home, you yearn for food back home, even if it means food you normally don't eat while back home.

I cooked the Bak Kuet Teh using a ready-to-use spice mix which I brought along with us when we went into the woods. It was very easy to cook. Since I already had the spareribs cleaned and fats removed, all I needed to do was to boil the water, put in the spareribs and spice bag, and let the stove do the rest of the work! The garlic cloves were added towards the end ... half an hour later, and it took another 15 minutes before I get to have a bowl of steaming hot Bak Kuet Teh! Heavenly!

Peanut Soup with Spareribs

Winter has finally arrived!

There is still no snow, but the temperature has started to go below zero degrees Celsius at night. It's nice to stay indoors, especially so when you have a bowl of steaming soup for dinner.

Peanut Soup with Spareribs

1/2 cup Small dried scallops (Can reduce to 1/4 cup)

2 cups Peanuts (Can reduce to 1-1.5 cups)

1.2 lbs Spareribs

1.4 litres Water

• Remove excess fats from the spareribs and clean them.
• Blanch the spareribs in a pot of boiling water.
• Remove the spareribs and rinse them under cold water.
• Set aside for use later.
• Fill a big pot with 1.4 litres of water.
• Rinse the dried scallops and leave them in the pot of water to soak.
• Rinse the peanuts and put them into the pot.
• Put the blanched spareribs into the pot.
• Bring the pot of water to a boil.
• Lower the heat and let it simmer.
• Cook for about 2 hours, or more if you like the peanuts to be softer.

The peanuts were crunchy, but not hard. The meat was tender and sweet, and darling KW loved eating the shredded pieces (I shredded the huge pieces after the soup was done) of pork soaked in the soup.

I think I put a little too much dried scallops, as the soup was really sweet! The next time I cook it, I will try with just 1/4 cup instead of 1/2 cup of dried scallops. Hope it doesn't affect the sweetness of the soup. I could have added more water into the pot with that 1/2 cup of scallops, but my pot was really small! Any more water and the water would boil over ... while boiling soup, the most important thing to note is that do not attempt to add more water while the soup is cooking. It will affect the taste of the soup, and dilute the sweetness. If you want more water, do it before you start cooking. As for the dried scallops, I read from some food blogs that they use dried cuttlefish (can be found in most Asian Grocery stores) instead of scallops. But since I had some scallops at hand, I need not purchase any cuttlefish. The fact is, I don't reallly like the taste and smell of it =p Well, I guess I will give it a try when I finish my supply of dried scallops.

ABC Soup

I love soup and I love this ABC Soup!

I don't know why it's called ABC soup.

Maybe because the ingredients used are simple, and cooking it is as easy as ABC? Or is it because it's full of Vitamins A, B and C?!

Hubby dear cooked this (after researching on the internet on how to cook it) on Saturday evening, since it was a long Thanksgiving weekend. The elder boy loved it so much, he had three bowls of soup for that evening! We omitted some ingredients which are normally used, like potato. I think the next time we cook it, we can add a ear or two of corn into the soup ... YUM!

Ingredients

1.5 lb Pork Spareribs

1 Large Yellow Onion

1 Large Tomato (You can add more if you like)

4 sticks Celery, Diced

4 sticks Carrots, Diced

2 ears Corn, halved (Optional)

2 Potatoes, Peeled and Cubed (We omitted this)

1.3 litres Water

• Remove any traces of fats from the spareribs.
• Blanch the spareribs in boiling water for a couple of minutes.
• Rinse the spareribs in cold water.
• Prepare a big pot and fill it with water.
• Put all the ingredients into the pot.
• Bring the water to a boil.
• Lower the heat, and let it simmer.
• Cook the soup for 2 hours.
• Remove the thin layer of oil, if any, with a spoon.

This soup is very sweet, and not too oily, as hubby dear did a good job in removing most of the fats on the spareribs.

Thank you dear, for the delicious soup ... I really miss drinking it!

Apple Soup with Porkribs

Old Man Winter has been reluctant to show his presence. I'm not complaining, as I am still enjoying the higher than normal temperatures. However, the sky starts to darken by 5pm. A bowl of warm soup for dinner never fails to lift my spirits. I love soups, especially clear soups.

Cantonese style? Even better =)

Pork ribs and apples soup.

It is suppose to be a good Autumn/Winter soup.

It moisturizes the lungs, and is good for coughs. It is easy to prepare too.

A soup spoonful plus of Bitter & Sweet almonds

A soup spoonful of YuZhu (Optional)

A few sweet dates

A few dried figs

1.5 pounds of pork ribs

- I used the country style pork ribs which is quite meaty

1.2 - 1.5 litres of water

5 Gala Apples

• Remove fats, if any, on the pork ribs.
• Blanch the pork ribs in boiling water. Remove and rinse in cold water.
• Peel and cut the apples into smaller pieces.
• Fill a big pot with 1.2 - 1.5 litres of water.
• Put all the ingredients into the pot, including the pork ribs.
• Bring the water in the pot to a boil.
• Lower the heat and let it simmer for an hour.

The soup may be a little oily. Try to use a tablespoon to remove the oil.

If you are not eating the cooked apples, scoop the apples, dried figs, sweet dates into a sieve. Mash these ingredients and drain the soup absorbed by them into another bowl. Pour the soup back into the pot.

Serve the soup warm.

How about the pork ribs?

Surprisingly, they are super tender and sweet!

I shred them and eat it with steaming hot rice and broccoli. Sprinkle some furikake on the bowl of pork, rice and broccoli if you want more flavor.

Mmmm ... steaming rice with warm sweet soup on a rainy night ...

Cabbage Soup

I love soups.

I love clear soups.

And I love drinking soup on cold winter days.

For this soup, no meat is required as the onions and dried figs add lots of sweetness to this simple soup.

1/2 Cabbage, shredded

8 pcs Dried Figs

2 Small Yellow Onions

500ml Chicken Stock (Store-bought)

• Clean and cut the cabbage.
  
• Cut the onions.
  
• Put the cut onions and cabbage into a big saucepan.
• Add the can of chicken stock to the pot.
• Add more stock/water if you necessary.
  
• Soak the dried figs in warm water for 15 mins.
• Add the water and dried figs to the pot.
  
• Add more water if necessary.
  
• Bring the pot to a boil.
• Lower heat and simmer for another 20 minutes, till the figs and vegetables are soft.
  
• Add salt to taste if necessary.

.... I'm missing my mom's soup back home ....