Lotus Roots, Red Date and Old Chicken Soup 蓮藕紅棗老雞湯

Every Sunday I will make a big pot of soup that enough to last for the whole week.  This lotus root chicken soup is the soup of the week.  The lotus roots are tasty although after couple hours of cooking.  As we don't like food waste, we usually eat everything in the soup.  To replenish the flavour for the lotus root and chicken, serve them with soy sauce.  That is how my mom always does it.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Old Chicken, skin off

1 Lotus Root, peeled and chunked

5 Chinese Red Dates, pitted

10 cups Water

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. In a large soup pot, add all ingredients.  Pour in water that enough to cover all ingredients.  Bring it to a boil over high heat.  Then reduce the heat to medium and continuously boil for another 2 hours.  Add more water half way if needed.  Season with salt to taste.

Pork Bone Soup with Chayote, Carrot and Corn 合掌瓜蘿蔔粟米豬骨湯

It's the season of the year, many people seem to either get a cold or a bad cough. A pot of vegetables and pork soup certainly helps relief the dryness of our throats and even skins.

The almond seeds and apricot seeds have great benefit to our body.  They can be easily found in Chinese stores.  These two seeds share a nearly identical apparence, though their flavours are different.  Keep in mind that apricot seeds contains trace of cyanid, we should be caution on the amount of the use.

INGREDIENTS:

8 Pork Bones, rinsed

3 Chayotes, cut into big pieces

2 Carrot, chunked

3 Corn, cut into segment

3 tablespoons Almond Seeds

2 tablespoons Apricot Seeds

2 Chinese Honey Dates

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. In a soup pot, place the pork bone on the bottom.  Then add the rest of the ingredients on top.  Fill the pot with water until the water is enough to cover the ingredients.  Bring the pot to a boil over high heat. Skim off the foam on top. 

2. Reduce the heat to medium heat and boil for another 1 hour.  Season the soup with salt to taste.

[Eng Sub] 忌廉磨菇意大利肉腸湯 Creamy Mushroom Italian Sausage Soup

INGREDIENTS:

20 White Mushrooms

20 Brown Mushrooms

20 Shiitake Mushrooms, fresh

1 dozen Italian Sausages (I used honey garlic flavour)

1 cup Dry White Wine

1 cup Chicken Broth

2 cups Milk

3 cups Water

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTION:

Guinness Beef Stew 黑啤燉牛肉

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 kg Beef Brisket (or any cut of your favourite)

4 cups Potatoes, chunked

4 Carrot, chunked

2 Onions, chunked

1 head Garlic, minced

1/3 cup Flour

1.5 Beef Stock

2 cans Guinness

1/4 cup Tomato Paste

2-3 Bay Leaves

1/2 teaspoons Dried Thyme

2 tablespoons Vegetable Oil (for frying)

Salt and Pepper to taste

DIRECTION:

Seafood Stew

Although the list of ingredients look a bit long, the soup is actually simple to make.  It requires a quick sauté of the garlic and onion and then put the rest of the ingredients into the soup pot together.  I personally found this soup tastes much better the day after, when the potatoes break down more and create a creamier texture.  Enjoy this wonderful soup and stay warm!

INGREDIENTS:

3 pcs White Fish Fillets, cut into big chunks

10 Baby Squids

6 Oysters

1 small pc Smoked Salmon

4 Small Potatoes, cubed

1 Onion, peeled and cubed

1 Canned Tomatoes, halved

1/2 head Garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

2 Scallions, cut into sticks (optional)

2 cups Seafood Broth ( I used Campbell)

2 cups Water

3 tablespoons White Vinegar

2 Bay Leaves, dried

1/2 teaspoon White Pepper, ground

2 tablespoons of Vegetable Oil

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

1. To clean the squid, pull the tentacles away from the tube.  Remove the transparent soft bone inside the tube.  Remove the eye balls and ink bag.  Also, remove the teeth that are hidden under the tentacles.  Cut the tubes into thick rounds. Set aside.

2. To clean the oysters, add about two teaspoons of cornstarch on top of the oysters.  Very gently rub clean the black lines off the oysters to remove all the dirt.  Rinse the oyster with water.  Set aside.

3. In a soup pot, add vegetable oil, onion and garlic.  Sauté them over medium heat until the onion is translucent and the mixture is fragrant.  About 10 minutes. 

4. Turn up the heat to medium-high.  Pour in seafood broth and water.  Add tomatoes, potatoes, and bay leaves.  Cover the lid; boil the soup for about 15 minutes.

5. Add fish fillet, oysters, squids, and smoked salmon into the soup.  Continuously cook it over high heat until the soup reboils.  Season the soup with salt to taste.

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup ｜壓力煲雞肉麵條湯

There is a flu around the house.  My husband was hugging boxes of Kleenex wherever he goes and my little boy was coughing here and there.  Luckily I stayed healthy so I was able to make something comforting for them to eat.  Hope their cold will go away along with the bitter cold weather after this weekend.

Making chicken noodle soup in an instant pot does not short change the flavours.  The broth is actually rich and fragrant, and the chicken is even moister.

I added light soy sauce in this recipe to season the soup instead of salt.  I found soy sauce enhances chicken flavour while eliminating the "blank salty taste".  It keeps a depth to the broth.

My husband ate three bowls of this soup in a row and showed me a face of comfort and appreciation. It is so worth it.

Instant Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

壓力煲雞肉麵條湯

INGREDIENTS:

1 Whole Chicken, giblets removed (so it fits inside an instant pot)

4 Carrots

4 stalks Celery

1 White Onion, small

4 Garlic Cloves, peeled

1 bunch Flat Leaf Parsley, leaves only

5 cups Water

1 cup Pasta of your choice

4 tablespoons Light Soy Sauce (optional)

Salt to taste

2 tablespoons (for frying)

DIRECTION:

1. Cut the celery, carrot, and onion into bite sizes.  Cut the garlic into rounds.

2. Roughly chop the parsley; set it aside.

3. In the instant pot, add the vegetable oil, carrots, onion, celery, and garlic cloves.  Press the "Sauté" button and stir fry the vegetables until they are fragrant and slightly soft; it's about 5 minutes.  Press the "Cancel" button to turn off the heat.

4. Add chicken and pour in water.  The water is not necessary cover the whole chicken.

5. Close the lid and turn the venting knob to seal.  Press the "Manual" button once, and then press the "Pressure" button to adjust the pressure to high and press the "+" or "-" button to set the time to 15 minutes.

6. When the cooking process is finished, allow the pressure to release naturally and the floating valve goes down.  Open the lid.

7. Remove the chicken from the pot.

8. Add pasta.

9. Add Soy Sauce if you are using.

10. Press the "Sauté" button and allow the soup to come to a boil and the pasta to cook through.

11. Meanwhile, shred the chicken and remove all the bones.

12. Add the shredded chicken back into the instant pot.

13. Turn off the heat.  Stir in the parsley before serving.  Add salt if desired. 

Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup | 球芽根籃肉腸湯

This is an easy soup I enjoy making during winter time, when the sun goes down at 4pm, and I just want to cuddle my little boy on the couch instead of making dishes for dinner in the kitchen by myself.  Besides the efficiency, this rich flavour soup provides the extra water and fat we need in the winter days.  The key of this quick and delicious recipe is the quality of the sausages.  So find a reliable meat shop that sells fresh and MSG-free sausages.  

Brussels Sprouts and Sausage Soup

球芽根籃肉腸湯

Ingredients:

600 gram Sausage, cut into bite size

3 Red Potatoes, cubed

2 cups Brussels Sprouts, halved

1 Red Onion, thinly sliced

4 cups Chicken Broth

2 cups Water

3 Bay Leaves

3 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Salt and Pepper

材料：

600 克   肉腸

2 杯   球芽根籃，切半

3 個   紅薯仔，切大件

1 個   紅洋蔥，切絲

4 杯   雞湯

2 杯   水

3 片   月桂樹葉

3 湯匙   菜油

少許   鹽

少許   黑胡椒 

DIRECTION:

Silky Fowl and Garlic Soup ｜ 烏雞蒜頭湯

Silky fowl is considered most nutritious among other birds although its appearance may not as competitive.  I still remember I often refused to eat the soup when my mom made it just because it didn't look like a normal "chicken".

In fact, silky fowl tastes sweeter and more flavourful than other chickens and birds.

In Hong Kong, Silky fowl is common made into soup for nourishing our bodies in winter time, especially for people with infirmity.  It is also believed can improve skin after consuming it a period of time.

We don't cook silky fowl often because it is quite pricy here, but I will cook at least twice during the flu season to boost up our immunity.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you enjoy this recipe.

   

INGREDIENS:

1   Silky Fowl, whole

1 head Garlic

150 gram Oyster Mushrooms

Salt to taste

材料：

1 隻   烏雞 (竹絲雞)

1 頭   蒜頭

150 克   蠔菇

調味   鹽

DIRECTION:

Papaya Tofu and Fish Soup | 木瓜豆腐鱒魚湯

"A bowl of papaya tofu fish soup is a treat for such a cold and dry winter," my mom said whenever she made this soup.  It is so true to me as it always does help to warm up my body.

The exact amounts of the ingredients in the recipe are not critical here.  You can always add more or less of them to suit your taste, or even skip the tofu and add more papaya instead.  Keep in mind that you will want to look for a young papaya and not the ripe one, so that the soup can find a better balance between the delicate taste of the seafood and the natural sweetness in the tropical fruit.

Papay Tofu Fish Soup | 木瓜豆腐魚湯

Ingredients:

1 Rainbow Trout, scaled and gutted (but any type of fish will almost works here)  

1 Young Papaya

2 Carrots

450 gram Firm Tofu

7 cups Water

2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

Salt to taste

材料：

1 條  鱒魚，去鱗和腮腸 (可用其也魚代替)

1 個   木瓜

2 條   紅蘿蔔

450 克   硬豆腐

7 杯   水

2 湯匙   菜油

少許   鹽

DIRECTION:

Coconut Chicken Soup | 椰子煲雞

Unlike many other kinds of chicken soup, this coconut chicken soup carries a light consistency and fruity flavour, which keeps your body warm and without a mouth of grease.  The bonus of this recipe is that, while the soup is simmering on the stove, the exotic coconut fragrance fills the whole kitchen and let you forget the bitter cold weather outside anymore.

Coconut Chicken Soup | 椰子煲雞  

Ingredients:

750 gram Chicken Thigh, boneless

400 gram Fresh Coconut (the brown and hair type)

7-10 Red Dates, pitted

15 gram  Dried Wolf Berries

5.5 cups Water

材料：

750 克   雞脾肉，無骨

400 克   新鮮椰子

7-10 粒   紅棗，去核

15 克   杞子乾

5.5 杯   水

DIRECTION:

Oatmeal Turkey Meatball Soup | 燕麥火雞肉丸湯

In addition to the extra fibre, the oats also give a tenderer texture to the meat balls that suit the appetites of younger kids.  It is the dish that can boost up the body in a winter day.

  

Oatmeal Turkey Meatball Soup

營養麥火雞肉丸湯

Ingredients for Meatballs:

450 gram Ground Turkey

1 cup Whole Oats

1 Onion, diced

1 Egg

1 tablespoon Sugar

1/3 teaspoon Salt

Ingredients for Soup:

4 cups Beef Broth

4 cups Water

1 cup Carrots, bite size

1 cup Celery, bite size

1 cup Button Mushroom

1.5 cups Tomatoes

1/2 cup Chickpeas

1/3 cup Cilantro, minced

Salt to taste

DIRECTION:

Peanut, Lotus Root and Chicken Feet Soup | 花生蓮藕雞腳湯

A pot of good soup is very essential on our dining table in winter.  It helps nourish our dry skin while it warms up our body, as my mom often said.  Usually after lantern festival in late September, when the lotus plants have faded, there are an abundance of lotus roots available in the local markets.  Mom loved to buy them because they were not only nutritious but also inexpensive.

    This recipe was one of the lotus soups she would frequently make.  The collagen from the chicken feet and the starch in lotus root gelatinized the soup, that gave the soup a thick, hearty consistency.  As a child, my brother and I would fight over the peanuts in the soup, or had a chicken feet-eating competition.  Those were very good memories of this wonderful soup. 

The photo above is the traditional way my mom and many other people in Hong Kong ritually serve this soup.  It is a light broth served with some rustic cuts of lotus root, a handful of peanuts, and one or two chicken feet.  People prefer to enjoy the soup served with all these ingredients, although they may not plan to eat them.  This is a common way to enhance the perception of flavour through sight.

    However, light broth isn't very popular in my own family.  My husband and my son like soup with a thicker body.  Wanting them to try some "Chinese flavour", I adapted this recipe using a common Western technique: PUREE!  Excluding the chicken feet, I blended the soup with all the ingredients and then boiled the mixture down to the thickness they liked.  It turned out to be another winter favourite.

    This soup gets a strong nutty flavour from the peanuts, which goes amazingly well with the chicken feet.  Lotus root itself has a very mild flavour, but you can still taste the sweetness in the soup.

If you can't find any raw peanuts, raw walnuts will be a very good substitute.  Or, you can replace the chicken feet with bones, or even pig knuckles.

Peanut, Lotus Root and Chicken Feet Soup

花生蓮藕雞腳湯

Ingredients:

3-4 Segments of Lotus Root

1/3 cup Raw Peanut

10-15 Chicken Feet

Salt to taste

材料：

3-4 節   蓬藕

1/3 杯   生花生

10-15 隻   雞腳

調味   鹽

DIRECTION: