Asian Dishes, Poultry

Herbal Chicken Soup

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Today The Hubby and I are down with fever. Though his broke yesterday night, mine continued. The worse part about my fever is that the temperature will shoot suddenly, and then I’ll automatically pop two Panadol Extra and five minutes later, I’m A-O-K. It’s some sort of crazy virus that refuses to leave my body.

Anyway, since both our throats hurt a lot, I though I’d make herbal chicken soup. I don’t particularly like chicken soup, especially the Malay-style version where they add in ‘rempah sop’ – powdered spices for soup, usually to make soto ayam. But I do like Chinese herbal soups. When the mood strikes. Like today.

So anyway, it’s dead easy to make this soup because the ingredients are packaged at the supermarket. All you have to do is buy and clean a chicken, dump it into a pot with water, pour all the ‘magic’ ingredients into the pot and simmer over a low fire for two hours minimum. I will only eat the dish when the meat has completely disintegrated from the bones and that they are super tender. But don’t forget the salt, or your soup will just taste of plain water (an often enough mishap each time I make soup).

I bought a ready made packet with all the Chinese herbs like wolfberries, and that white stick like thingies. Then, I discovered I had this other packet which contains just the herbal seasoning in a bag, so I used both. I've used plenty of other brands, like those with ginseng in them too.

 

I had some red dates in the fridge so I decided to add them too. For added sweetness.
Picture not clear because of the steam. 😉

If you’re not Chinese and never made or had Herbal Chicken Soup, go try making one, especially when your throat feels as though a hundred thumbtacks are jammed inside. A few years ago, I even made a pot and slow cooked it on my stove for five hours. A great waste of resources but completely worth it. 🙂

Meat

Oven Cooked Slow Roasted Mutton in Ribena

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I decided to try this dish because it is dead easy to cook.  I had a kilo of mutton cubes so I cut them into even smaller pieces.  After which, I browned them and then seasoned them with salt and pepper (black, always black). Then, I transferred them into a casserole dish, and in the pot that I had browned the meat, added garlic. I then added a jug of Ribena, carrots, potatoes and two whole bulbs of garlic, skin on. I added bay leaves too. To the meat again, I sprinkled dried thyme and oregano and then poured the whole liquid into the casserole dish. Cover the dish with aluminium foil and pop in a slow oven (170 Celsius) for actually, 5 hours.

Now the actual recipe (Jaime Oliver’s) called for pieces of leg of lamb (but mutton works as well) and white wine (a bottle). I expected the liquid to dry up or thicken but after three hours in the oven, there was still plenty of liquid. I removed the foil and roasted it for another hour but by 2, my guests were already very hungry so I served the dish.

It really is pretty good served with toasted pita bread, though it would be better if served with freshly baked crusty baguette (I’m buying a few from now on at my favourite butchery to keep). The meat was tender, and even the Hubby who doesn’t really like potatoes, scooped a few onto his plate. There was too much wasted liquid and my mother told me maybe I should make a roux first so that the sauce would thicken. I’m definitely going to try this dish again, but this time, find another recipe. 😀

Brown meat.
The brown bits are all flavour!
Deglaze with Ribena and then add vegetables and seasoning.
Pour into a deep casserole dish, cover and slow roast for hours and hours.

Unfortunately, I was too busy (read hungry) to take an after picture. Just imagine the above browned, the liquid clear.  Sweet but delicious.

Meat

Wagyu Beef

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A colleague told me how she bought halal wagyu beef at a local butchery and it was divine! Super duper beef as her 5 year old son called it.

On Saturday, I asked if I could tag along at the butchery’s sale conducted at its warehouse. We spent an exhausting morning not only queuing up for the meat but also bought lots of confectionary at reasonable prices at the many other factories located nearby.

I had to buy the wagyu even though I was pretty much broke. I bought the rump. At $38 per kilo, it was a rather good bargain.

And when I went home, the first thing I did was to get the skillet out, heat it with some olive oil and placed the steak on it. When it was done, I let it cool before cutting it into manageable slices. DIVINE! So there. Even if you can’t cook two hoots, all you need is money to buy a very good piece of meat and dump it on a skillet. Just thinking about the steak makes my mouth water.

This is the rump steak. The fat at the sides melt in your mouth! The marbling is not as much as it would be on a rib eye fillet but it's good enough for me. Oh, for the joy of eating fats.
Don't overcook the meat. And don't marinade it or you won't get to taste the real flavour of good meat. Just a sprinkling of sea salt and black pepper will do.
For yesterday's lunch soiree, I put it on a bed of salad.

I am so not a vegan no matter how much I love my greens. Wagyu beef rules!

Italian, Noodles and Pasta, Seafood

Spaghetti Vongole – My Style

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I was excited when I saw a bottle of sparkling apple juice at my NTUC. Excited because a colleague had recently told me that she used this in lieu of white wine. No wonder, because using just plain water always makes my spaghetti insipid (if not using a tomato-based recipe).

Since I had that bottle, this morning I thought I’d make Spaghetti Vongole using ‘white wine’. Har har. Of course to Non-Muslims, using real white wine would be better but I stick to my dietary restrictions the best way possible. Being a teetotaler (like, duh), I had no idea initially how to open the bottle. Then, when I finally figured it out, realised that once you’ve opened the cork, there is no way to cork the bottle back. Ha ha! I was never really good at concepts. Anyway, using the sparkling apple juice really made a huge difference to the dish.

I used frozen ready boiled clams just because they weren’t selling fresh clams at the supermarket this morning. Also, I added a couple of prawns. And loads of fresh coriander. The result was really good. Oh, and fresh super-sweet baby tomatoes. I had the best dish because after I’ve cooked it, I ate it straightaway. Lazy, I didn’t separate the noodles from the wonderful broth so by the time The Hubby ate the dish, all the liquid had absorbed into the spaghetti. Hee hee. Next time, I’ll separate and make individual portions.

Imported from Spain.

 

In olive oil, add garlic till browned, a dash of chilli flakes, then in goes the tomatoes and then the prawns. Since the clams are already cooked, add them last.

 

Add the sparkling apple juice.
Add the clams and chopped fresh coriander. Add salt. At this point, keep. Don't add the spaghetti in, like what I did. Separate them. If someone wants to eat a plate, in a pan, add some of the broth and then saute with some spaghetti.
To serve, add a sprig of fresh coriander and grated parmesan cheese.
Another look at the broth. I loved them clams. I'm so going to make clam chowder when I get the chance.
Asian Dishes, Rice

Japanese Rice with Salmon and Edamame

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I’ve been in a cooking mood the last couple of days. Just yesterday, after coming home from work, I decided to cook Japanese rice. I had three small salmon pieces in the freezer and decided to add that to the rice. Then, I decided to finish the half packet of frozen edamame lying in the refrigerator by adding them to the rice too.

Marinade salmon for a few minutes with soy sauce (I used Habhal's Kicap Masin, not exactly keeping to the Japanese theme but ...oh well)

 

When cooked, flake into chunks.

 

While waiting for the salmon to cook, boil edamame and remove them from their pods.

 

When rice is cooked, mix salmon and edamame into it but be careful not to smash the salmon too much.
Serve in small Japanese bowl.
For the rice, once it's cooked, add sugared vinegar and mix well. Also, some salt.

Although I only made 21/2 cups of rice, there were plenty of leftovers and I had to keep distributing them to my poor colleagues. 😀