Watercress Chicken Soup

Mmmmmmm.......another watercress soup. It's amazing how many types of watercress soup I can make and at least it gives some variety to my little girl and myself then to always have the same type of watercress soup. I'm not sure if my little one would notice the difference but well......I do.

So, here's another watercress soup recipe but using chicken instead.

Ingredients:-

- 500g of chopped chicken (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- bunch of watercress, chopped

- 3 large bowls of water

- 2 pieces of dried squid pieces

- 6-8 dried Chinese red dates

- handful of wolf berries or better known as kei chi

- 3 Honey dates

1. Boil boil in a large pot

2. Once water is boiling, put in all the ingredients.

3. Boil for about 10 minutes at high fire. Then, transfer to slow cooker and boil under Auto throughout the day.

4. Serve with warm rice.

I always thought cooking soup was complicating but in actual fact, it's really easy. Easier than I expected and I can now proudly say I can boil a whole bunch of healthy soups for my daughter.

Nagaimo Yam Pork Soup

And I'm still experimenting different kind of soup as I go along because there are just so many kinds and here is one I finally managed to find the damn ingredient after asking soooooooo many people. Some of these ingredients is best to get them from high end supermarkets who sell a wider variety of vegetables from around the world than your local ones. But of course, the first would be to be able to identify them like this yam rhizome which literally drove me nuts. Lol!!!

Ingredients:-

- 500g to 1kg of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- 3 large bowls of water

- 1 carrot, sliced thickly

- 6 Chinese dried mushrooms

- 2 corns cut each into 3 chunks

- 1 yam rhizome or Japanese nagaimo, sliced thickly

- 6 to 8 red dates

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 10 to 20 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

**NOTE**

If you've got someone to watch the Slow Cooker, cook under Low for about 3 hours and then switch to Auto for the rest of the time till you want to have it. Or, you can leave it under Auto for the next 6-8 hours and it will be fine. I actually boiled mine at 6.30am and transferred to Slow Cooker at 7am under Low till 10.30am and switched to Auto thereafter; and left it till I had it at 7pm. 

So, another type of healthy soup for you and your family to enjoy.

Spinach Mince Meat Egg Drop Soup

And here I am dabbling in another soup recipe again. It comes to a point been a single mother and having a maid who doesn't cook that well and a daughter who prefers mummy's cooking, one will need to research and come up with quick kills or at least cook the night before for the next day's dinner especially.

This is a simple soup recipe as well and only needs to be served with warm rice or just taken without any carbs if one is watching their carb intakes like me.....on a consistent basis. 

Verdict: My little one had 2 bowls of it. So, it's yum. So here goes the recipe,

- 300g mince pork marinated in 1tsp of soy sauce, 1tsp of corn starch season with salt and pepper.

- 2 cloves or chopped garlic

- 1-1.5litre of hot water depending how much you're boiling

- spinach cut into 3 parts

- 2 eggs beaten

1. Stir fry garlic in the bowl with some oil

2. Add hot water into the bowl of garlic fried. Wait till water further boils.

3. Throw in the mince pork bit by bit as water is boiling

4. Then the spinach 

5. Reduce the fire and then subsequently pour the egg into the boiling soup slowly. Use a chopstick to stir the eggs.

6. Add salt and pepper to season.

7. Serve.

All done and a new recipe added to the blog. 

More Watercress Soup

Watercress Soup, anyone??? Love this vege and it's just has so many benefits to it. So, here is another version I found. Lol!!! At the rate I'm going, I am going to be a soup expert soon....

- 500g of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- 4 chicken feet

- bunch of watercress, chopped

- 3 large bowls of water

- half a carrot, sliced thinly

- 10 dried chestnut

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 20 to 30 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

So, another soup recipe to try out. It's especially good when one is busy and my little one has something healthy for lunch and dinner in case I'm not back early enough.

Another Version of Lotus Root Soup

Lol!!!! Looking back at my last few posts, I'm really going on a soup spree from the looks of it. Am I cooking other stuff? Yes I am but soups are new to me whilst my other food cooked are my regular ones already in the blog here but yes, I'll need to start dabbling in new recipes aside from soup recipes.

- 500g to 1kg of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- lotus roots, sliced thinly 

- 3 large bowls of water

- have a carrot, sliced thinly

- 1 small bowl of cooked barley

- 4 to 6 large dried figs

- handful of dried lily bulbs

- handful of eurayale seeds

- handful of dried red lotus seeds

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 20 to 30 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

**NOTE**

If you've got someone to watch the Slow Cooker, cook under Low for about 3 hours and then switch to Auto for the rest of the time till you want to have it. Or, you can leave it under Auto for the next 6-8 hours and it will be fine. I actually boiled mine at 6.30am and transferred to Slow Cooker at 7am under Low till 10.30am and switched to Auto thereafter; and left it till I had it at 7pm. 

How easy and healthy can be, right? And yes, it can be such.

Lotus Root Pork Rib Soup in Barley

I got hold of this very simple lotus root soup and trust me, it's worth a try. It was one of those busy days that I didn't have time to prepare dinner so it was boiled soup early morning so that she could have them for lunch and dinner.

According to her, she loved it and my maid said it was good too. 

Well, nothing like some healthy soup

Ingredients:-

- 500g to 1kg of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- lotus roots, sliced thinly 

- 3 large bowls of water

- 1 small bowl of cooked barley mixed with uncooked ones

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 20 to 30 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

**NOTE**

If you've got someone to watch the Slow Cooker, cook under Low for about 3 hours and then switch to Auto for the rest of the time till you want to have it. Or, you can leave it under Auto for the next 6-8 hours and it will be fine. I actually boiled mine at 6.30am and transferred to Slow Cooker at 7am under Low till 10.30am and switched to Auto thereafter; and left it till I had it at 7pm. 

Done!!!

Watercress & Chicken Soup

Another soup experiment. I absolutely find it much easier to make these dishes especially when I have to be back late or might be away. At least, my little one is fed and has a decent meal. That's all that matters for me.

So, another soup it is then. Do not underestimate the watercress veg. It has numerous benefits and I guess that's why most Chinese continuously have this in their soup menu. It helps prevent cancer, it's high on antioxidant, high on vitamin A and C and helps with overall wellbeing. And the best part of it is that I never add salt or pepper in my soups that I boil as it best taken as natural as possible.

Well, I loved it and so did Caitlin.

Ingredients:-

- 3 large bowls of water.

- 500g chopped chicken

- 2 carrots cut into cubes

- 1 bunch of watercress vege

- 1 palm full of Chinese almonds 

- 2 dried Honey Dates (different from those dried chinese red dates)

1. Boil water 

2. Once water is boiling, put in all the ingredients.

3. Boil for about 10 minutes at high fire. Then, transfer to slow cooker and boil under Auto throughout the day.

4. Serve with warm rice.

It's good for lunch and dinner served with warm rice. Sometimes, for my little girl, I'll just fry an egg to go with her rice and that's just one healthy meal for her.

Old Cucumber Pork Ribs Soup

Another soup try out. Lol!!! It wasn't too bad if my maid had not turn off the slow cooker instead of turning it to Auto after 3 hours been boiled under Low but it was tasty nonetheless.

Ingredients:-

- 500g to 1kg of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- old cucumber, cut into blocks (core the seeds out with a teaspoon)

- 3 large bowls of water

- 4 dried oysters

- 8 dry Chinese red dates (makes the soup sweet)

- 4 small dry scallops (makes the soup absolutely yummilicious)

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 20 to 30 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

**NOTE**

If you've got someone to watch the Slow Cooker, cook under Low for about 3 hours and then switch to Auto for the rest of the time till you want to have it. Or, you can leave it under Auto for the next 6-8 hours and it will be fine. I actually boiled mine at 6.30am and transferred to Slow Cooker at 7am under Low till 10.30am and switched to Auto thereafter; and left it till I had it at 7pm. 

A very easy and healthy recipe. Enjoy.

Well till my next recipe......

Deep Fried Sweet and Sour Siakap

I love fish but I'm generally not a fan of frying them but I know my little one loves deep fried fish especially in sweet and sour sauce and how then can I decline my little one and here's a recipe. Easy and fast and definitely yummilicious according to my girl.

Ingredients:-

- 1 whole fish

- 2 cups oil for frying

- lemon to clean fish

Sweet and Sour Sauce Ingredients

- 2 inch ginger, sliced thinly

- 1 shallot, finely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1/4 cup tomato sauce

- 1/4 cup chilli sauce 

- 1 tbsp of white vinegar

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1/4 cup water

- 1tsp cornstarch mixed with 1/4 bowl water

1. Clean the fish and pat dry.

2. Use sharp knife to split the fish in the middle like a butterfly and use lemon to clean at the underbelly of the fish.

3. Pour oil and heat at high fire. Once oil is hot, put in the fish to fry. 

4. After fish is deep fried, remove and place on a plate covered with paper towels to absorb the excess oil.

5. Then remove paper towels and leave fish on a serving dish.

6. To make sauce, heat a bit of oil and stir fry ginger, onions and garlic for a minute or two and then pour in the Sweet and Sour mixture and stir for about 2-3 minutes.

7. Add cornstarch mix and stir quickly.

8. Pour sauce over fish and serve.

Done and ready to be eaten. Caitlin nearly polished the whole fish as the fish was also crispy. Nothing is more satisfying watching my own daughter loving all my cooking. I'm a happy mummy. 

Lotus Root Soup

My first attempt on one of those more traditional Chinese soup which I grew up eating. I'm no expert of making Chinese soup as it requires herbs and all and I never seem to understand what is needed but coming across someone on FB who actually took the time to take pictures prior to cooking and after cooking made it easier for me to copy. All I did was take the pictures to a herbal shop and ask for help. The rest I just stood very long at a supermarket, trying figure out which was what. Lol!!!!!

But truly, it was worth it and I'm amazed the soup turned out fantastic. No salt or sugar or pepper was needed. Just absolutely a healthy soup which can be taken just like that or taken with warm rice.

Ingredients:-

- 500g to 1kg of pork ribs and soft ribs (depending how many people you're cooking for)

- lotus roots, sliced thinly 

- 3 large bowls of water

- 1 small bowl of dry lotus seeds (white looking nuts)

- 10 dry Chinese red dates (makes the soup sweet)

- 6 small dry scallops (makes the soup absolutely yummilicious)

1. Boil some water over high heat first and then pour over the pork. This removes the murky looking stuff from the pork or else your soup will turn out murky. You may do it twice if you wish but make sure you have 2 rounds of boiling water with you then.

2. On a separate pot, boil the 3 large bowls of water.

3. Once boiled, throw in all the ingredients including the pork and allow to boil under high heat for about 20 to 30 mins.

4. Then, transfer the entire pot and pour it into a Slow Cooker to cook.

**NOTE**

If you've got someone to watch the Slow Cooker, cook under Low for about 3 hours and then switch to Auto for the rest of the time till you want to have it. Or, you can leave it under Auto for the next 6-8 hours and it will be fine. I actually boiled mine at 6.30am and transferred to Slow Cooker at 7am under Low till 10.30am and switched to Auto thereafter; and left it till I had it at 7pm. 

My daughter had a portion for lunch and it was alresy yummy and she had it for dinner, too. Talk about having something healthy.

So, there is sure going to be more soup coming up.