Fish & Noodle Soup

Since I don't really know the "real" name to call this dish, I'll just named it as it. Yes, there's fish in it....:) I just added whatever I could remember of this dish when my grams used to cook it or when we had it at some hawker center. It's been a looonnnngggg time and there're so many versions of this soupy delight out there that I'm not even gonna to delve into it. I'll leave it as such

Being in Lawrence, fresh fish is hard to come by and when I get the opportunity, I'll take it with no questions asked... Sometimes what you don't know it's better for you. I added whatever I could scavenge from my fridge so to clear everything out before the next major shopping in town. Of course, that means it might not be as authentic as the "real" thing. Overall it turned out to be a pretty rich broth but light as well. All you need is simply fresh fish and the rest is, well, whatever you can find in the fridge..:)

Recipe
Ingredients
-Red Snapper, Whole fish preferred and then cut up to bite size pieces.
-Salted mustard, rinsed and cut up
-Tofu, medium firm to firm
-Tomatoes, quartered
-Ginger, sliced (amount depends on how much you like ginger)
-Dried Seaweed, the China type (which usually comes in a circular form)
-Shaoxing wine
-Evaporated milk, amount depends on how rich you want it to be, I used 1 cup
-Thick vermicelli noodles, soaked in cold water for about 1 hr to soften it and then cooked in rapid boiling water till done.

Method
-Clean, towel-dried and cut the fish, salt it slightly and then set aside for now
-Drain the preserved liquid from the salted mustard by rinsing it under cold tap water a few times, you don't to soak it too much or it would just be too bland for the soup but enough to rinse off excess salt.
-Cut the tofu into cubes, quartered about 3 tomatoes, sliced up the ginger, hyrate those seaweed and ready for the frying of the fish pieces
-Heat up a pot with some oil, then add in the ginger slices, fried till fragrant and add in water or stock, enough for the soup part, I used water here since I ran out of home-made stock
-I used a deep-fryer here but any wok or sauce pot will do the trick. Deep fried the fish pieces, remember not to put in too many pieces at one time or it wouldn't really fry up. You don't want to really cook the fish through, just a quick blanch in the very hot oil. Take them out and set them aside on a kitchen towel to drain some of the excess oil
-Then once the water/stock is boiling, add in the tomatoes and salted mustard. Boil till tomatoes are softened.
-Then start to add the fried fish in, simmer at this point and add in the evaporated milk and wine.
-Taste before adding salt since the mustard is not thoroughly rinsed through and also some sugar to enhance soup.
-Once everything's done, add in the tofu cubes and seaweed and switched off the stove!
-Put the cooked noodles into a bowl, add the soup with little of everything, topped it with some chopped spring onions and you're done. Enjoy!

Not your everyday cup of "tea"

Eversince my move to Lawrence I'd been in a rather nostalgic mood. Making comfort food for me is something that totally soothes my soul, something akin to the culturally more popular, chicken soup. To me, having a good bowl of Bak Kut Teh is almost zen-like. I can't resist a good bowl of steaming, peppery, "herbally" soup. All my stress just totally melt away, I really don't care what other people have to say about it being an extremely rich decadent soup that adds pounds on you, hey, can't beat having to pay for therapy!!!

There're many versions of this soup but my perference is to use Seah's Bak Kut Teh Spice pack as the base for soup and using extra herbal ingredients to put together the final flavor. Most of the time this soup is served with chinese crullers as dippers but I prefer mine with thin noodles, it's just great. On the side for dipping is sliced thai chillis in dark sauce. As you can probabaly see, there are some chinese wolfberries in the soup as well..:)

To add to all the sentimental reasons for having this wonderfully rich tasting soup, it's also a good way to keep warm through the rather severe cold weather when we moved here. Lawrence, Kansas was apparently having one of the coldest and harsher winters they had seen in years, so this soup was really served as an "internal" temperature regulator for the whole family.

In retrospect, it's the little things in life that counts. Especially with this move, I've to realise that things are just not going to be what they used to be and the only way to deal with it is to think and be positive. One of the things I like to do to maintain whatever sanity and normancy in our lives is to just cook comfort foods; foods that we can always relate to and feel comfortable with.

PS: Just a small announcement, we have finally got into contract with the house that we were bidding on and hopefully close on this Thursday. Awfully close and unexpected but if everything turns out the way it is, we will be in a new place the week after this and "officially" start our life in Lawrence....;)

Asian Pear Soup

Two years ago one of New Year's resolution I made was to make an effort to make more nutritious type soup. Sounds a little corny but I was having a baby and being brought up drinking home made soups which claimed all kinds of cure-all-illnesses herbs, I thought it might be a good "tradition" to pass on to my little one. Now, one problem, I didn't know how to start and what "herbs" to use, it was all so complicated. Thank goodness I could depend on my grandma as a main source but she didn't know the English names for the herbs used and I didn't know if I can find those "herbs" using my brand of Cantonese. But I was determined and hence began my journey....

I started looking into books; cookbooks to be specific and found that there were quite an amount of chinese herbal soup cookbooks (very specific right??) out there. And the cherry on the top was those books were also written in English (figured for people like me...hehe). They helped A LOT!! Since then I'd accumulated a number of these books to help with my herbal soup culinary journey.....................lol

These days, rather than opening a can of cream of something (which I often did) or making wonton soup/vege soup with canned chicken stock, I would just make one of these "specialty" soup using my trusty slow cooker. Most of these soups takes a while and what could be easier than putting everything in one pot and leave it till dinner time! It's just as simple as that.

Recently I started preparing this particular soup coz Ethan started to enjoy having soups! Funny chap! I used to make a slightly modified version making into a tea for Ethan...easy consumption! As the post title mentioned, this is Pear Soup. Yes, Pear Soup, using asian pear to make into a savoury soup. Pear Soup supposedly helps rid of coughs and nourish the lungs, extremely helpful for people with coughs, minor respiratory problems, an overall goodness!! hehe...The herbs used to compliment this soup were chosen to enhance that effect. I don't know how true the claims are but so far it'd worked on my boy who had, in the past, issues with dry coughs, persistent coughs that wouldn't go away without constantly taking synthesized drugs!! Besides, get him into a habit of soup drinking too...:) A tradition hopefully he would carried onto his own family as I had...

Asian Pear Soup (4 Servings)
Ingredients
-1 Asian Pear, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
-Carrots/Apples/or both, peeled, cut into quarters ( I used carrots here)
-5-6 pieces of ribs/neck bones/half lean loin of pork, blanched to rid of "scum" and then washed under cold water.
-1 handful bitter apricot kernels/chinese almonds/bei xing, rinsed
-1 handful sweet apricot kernels/chinese almonds/nan xing, rinsed
-3-4 pieces Solomon's Seal/Yu Zhu/Yok Chok, rinsed
-3-4 dried red dates/hong zao, pitted and rinsed
-5-6 honeyed figs, rinsed
-Small handful chinese wolfberries/gei chi, rinsed
-1 medium sized dried tangerine peel/chen pi, soaked and the white pith scraped away
-Salt, optional! (I prefer mine with some sea salt)

Method
-Have a slow cooker ready, add everything into it and add enough water to cover all the ingredients.
-Set it on high for 3 hours and then on low for 2 more hours. Or at low for 6-7 hours. Add salt in soup before scooping out to serve. You don't want the salt to absorb into all those ingredients.

Note: The herbs added are from personal concoction and not "dangerous" to consume unless you're allergic to them! Used lean pork, seems to give the best clear soup and it's preferred since it's "neutral" in properties unlike chicken which can be a little too "warming" for this soup. This soup will result in a rather sweeter soup than most are accustomed to for a "savoury" soup but not overwhelming that it becomes a dessert.

Medicinal Properties (from various sources)
-Both types of apricot kernels/chinese almonds are said to have healing properties for respiratory problems, usually used as a remedy for severe colds, coughs, dry throats, laryngitis and asthma. They are also use in equal amounts together.
-Solomon's Seal also has similar properties as apricot kernels and generally use to treat illness related to the lung and throat.
-Tangerine Peel is used to counter the oiliness of the soup (the meat) and also believed to be good in treating coughs and colds. Also gives a citrusy flavor to the soup. To be used sparingly as it might be overwhelming and to take the bitter white pith off as it will turn the soup a little bitter.
-Dates in general is to emit natural sweetness to the soup although believed to increase energy levels as well.
-Chinese wolfberries is also used to give a little sweetnesss to the soup. It's traditionally used to treat diabetes as well as improve vision. Can be eaten uncooked as well if wished. :)
-Asian Pears are known to moisten the lungs hence believed to treat dry coughs and colds. It's also known as a "coolant".

Overall this is a "cooling" soup and helps in, particular, coughs and colds. I usually make this every other week and maybe not make it too much in the winter since the body then will need more "warming" soups/teas.