Fried Fish Bee Hoon Soup

Before this, I never knew I could reproduce this dish at home. It is one of my favourite dishes at the food courts and I always thought that it was a difficult dish to prepare. The first thing being the soup stock, and second being the fried fish. Thanks to a friend, I now know that it is actually very simple to do. Best of all, girl and hubby gave the thumbs up! Dear princess even requested it for her lunch tomorrow. :D

Here's the recipe. Thanks M, for sharing it.


For fried fish -

Use Ang Kor Li

Seasoning:

Salt

Pepper

Spring Onions

2-3 slices of ginger

1 tbsp each of cornflour and potato starch to coat fish before frying

For fresh fish -

Use Bak Tang Fish

Seasoning:

Salt

2 tbsp of potato flour

Mix potato flour in water and put fish inside. Put in fridge for 20mins to season.

Ingredients for fish stock:

1 inch of ginger (bruised)

4 to 5 garlic (bruised)

Fish bone

1 tomato cut into wedges

Evaporated milk

Hua Teow Chiew (or Chinese cooking wine)

Method:

1. Fry in oil the fish bone, ginger and garlic till fragrant.

2. When fragrant, add water.

3. Add 2 cubes of chicken stock.

4. Salt to taste.

5. Add about 2 tbsp evaporated milk or slightly more if preferred.

6. Add 1/3 tbsp cooking wine and turn off the flame immediately.


For the noodles, I used laksa noodles or thick bee hoon. Garnishes include seaweed, spring onions and fried shallots. You might like to add Szechuan vegetable to the soup if you prefer a slightly tangy flavour. Tofu is sometimes added to this dish as well.

My magic pot

I have a new toy - a magic pot. This thermal pot is not new in the market but it sure took me a long while before getting one. I was skeptical to say the least. I mean, does it really do the job it proclaims to? Just bring the pot of ingredients to the boil and then without any electrical device, leave it for a couple of hours and it can cook on its own? It sounded too good to be true.

I paid S$49 at OG. It's a great buy really, and worth every cent of it, except that it is kind of bulky. It's a most wonderful aid for a mum like me on the go. Why didn't I invest in it earlier... I often wonder??!! Well, it did cost an arm and a leg till replicas started flooding the market. The Made in Japan ones still cost S$200-300.

In actual fact, I did pick up a pot last month from a shop in the Marina area but as their stocks were not moving quickly enough, it turned out that there was mildew on the carton box as well as within the pot itself and I only discovered it after coming home. I couldn't use it and thus had to return it to the shop. The guy who first attended to me was reluctant to take it back. He said I could just wash it off. Oh come on, use your brains a little. I couldn't possibly wash the insulation in the outer pot, could I? In any case, our health comes first and I won't jeopardize my family's health with that. However, beside him was a lady who understood perfectly and she took over him to attend to me. I told her she was very nice and understanding and she said being a female, she knew exactly how I felt. So I got my money back.

I couldn't wait to try it out the minute I got it. So I made a pot of soup for last night's dinner, using a quarter of a sharksfin melon which J had given to me.

This is what I put in the soup -

a quarter of a sharksfin melon, cut into smaller cubes
pork ribs
ikan bilis
8 red dates
3 pcs of dried scallops
1 carrot cut into cubes

I cooked that for approximately 5hrs in the pot as I was out. I came home to steaming hot soup and I added in some fishballs and meatballs, before bringing it to the boil again on the stove and then returning it to the outer pot to keep warm till dinner. The flesh was falling off the pork bones and very tender. I'm convinced. :) And the plus point was that the soup turned out to be really light and flavourful as no flavours were sacrificed in the process of constant boiling on the stovetop.

I then steamed a fish as well, (not in the pot of course) but I believe it can be done as it comes with a 2l and 5l inner pot.

Papaya & Ikan kurau Soup

That's what the inside of the green papaya looks like.

I'm out of ideas what to cook for soups for dinner so while I was at princess' swim class one day, we mums were on the topic of soups and one of them gave me the idea to make the above soup. I didn't do it immediately as it took me a while to go hunting for the green papaya needed. Just last week, I was at the veg stall, not the one I frequent, and I came across it. I picked up a small ikan kurau head as those were the 2 main ingredients which form the basis of the soup.

I was rather apprehensive in offering it for dinner but both princess and I had no problems with it. It tasted great. However, hubby didn't like it. I think he found it too fishy.

Ingredients (for 3) -

A small ikan kurau head
half a green papaya, seeds removed and cut into cubes
6 red dates
a piece of ginger approx 1/2inch (can add more ginger according to your preference)
dried scallops, approx 5-6
salt and white pepper to taste

Method -
Put everything into the pot to boil for 2hrs. Do not stir it while it's cooking in order that the fish does not disintegrate. You will end up with a messy soup otherwise. It starts off clear and ends up a milky colour. I put the dates into a stock bag so it's less messy that way. You might like to add dates halfway through cooking else the dates will break apart if boiled for too long.

Note - Apparently this soup is very beneficial to nursing mums as it helps increase milk supply.

Wednesday's dinner

Our dinner dishes two nights' ago. Used the leftover soup from day before that and added some seaweed meatballs and spinach. We had an outing with KY in the afternoon and didn't have much time to prepare dinner, so I had to plan simple things that I could whip up in a jiffy. I think I'm getting good at this - preparing for dinner in the morning haha. I did that twice last week, as was busy and out mostly, so only had minimum time to put together a quick dinner.

Fish was easy too as it was just a matter of putting the seasoning and garnishes and leaving the steamer to do all the work. Vegetables were soaked and prepared before I left the house, and there were these cheese fishcakes to be fried, and voila, dinner was ready. :) I love the fishcakes as they have cheese oozing out when you bite into them.

Rain rain go away, little princess wants to play...

Sorry for having gone missing. The exam is finally over!! Hurray!!! Now I can heave a sigh of relief. My Wednesdays are free again! Got some updates which have been accumulating...

I didn't send princess to school on Monday morning as I wanted her to get sufficient sleep and not be tired out by 4pm. She will not put on her best performance otherwise, if she'd been running around in school before that.

So we went to the supermarket near our place to pick up some stuff to bake with. My intention was to bake some brownies or little cakes for the girls, but in the end, spent too much time browsing the aisles that there wasn't a lot of time left to do so. Hehe.

Our first stop was 'Wang' for a breakfast of Mee Siam. I liked it much more than the one served at 'Toastbox'. I thought the taste was perfect as it had the right balance of sweet and sour, unlike Toastbox's one which is more on the sour side. It was a good portion for $2.90 too.

After the exam, we went together with mum, to Parkway and had a steamboat dinner in the basement food court. This was where I bought my chilli from during the CNY period. They only sell them once a year. I find that the prices have gone crazy sky high from the time when they first started this stall, way back when they were still a small stall facing the barber down in the old food court. I guess you get quality ingredients for the price you pay, such as 'live' jumping prawns, and meatballs made with real meat and not just flour. The wantons were great too, with big juicy pieces of prawns in them.

While we were at the supermarket on Monday, we came across a touch screen device which you can print recipes and tips out from. I read about it in the papers a week ago, I believe, and totally forgot about it. We had fun with it and princess came across the recipe for 'sausage pasta salad' which she wanted to try. So we went around looking for ingredients. Well, we left out the feta cheese and parsley and just made some adaptations to the original recipe. I had a packet of baby spinach and wasn't keen on getting the parsley so she said we didn't have to get that. Just use the baby spinach, so that's what I did. :)

I hadn't planned to cook at all last evening as we had a playdate lined up in the afternoon. I knew there was no way I could make it home in time to do anything. Unfortunately the weather had other plans. It was terrible, on and off rain and heavy as well. So, thankfully J gave us a lift home. She had even offered to pick us up because of the rain and she did. So kind of her, but I really do not like troubling people.

I had to think really fast and plan a menu right away and so we had 'sausage pasta salad'. I also had some cream of broccoli soup with the stock from the bbq chicken bones leftover from the chicken I bought a couple of days back to make the mango chicken wrap. I had stripped the chicken of all the flesh and the rest of the flesh was used for a pasta stir fry during the week which I had no time to take photos of. The worst part was I had run out of pasta, haha, and we had to use the Hello Kitty ones. Not sure if hubs realised. ;)

Cream of Broccoli

Sausage Pasta Salad


Recipe (serves 4) -

Ingredients :

6 thin beef sausage (I used chicken)
350g short pasta (e.g. shell, penne, fusilli)
1 red onion, peeled and sliced thickly
250g punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup parsley, roughly chopped
200g feta cheese, crumbled
4 tbsp olive oil

Method :

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the pack. Drain. Set aside in a large bowl.

2. Mix 1 tbsp oil into the onions and place on the BBQ flat plate with the sausages. (I put them in the oven). BBQ or bake them for 10mins or until the onions are soft and caramelised and sausages are cooked through.

3. Cut the sausages into bite-sized pieces and toss together with all other ingredients in a pasta bowl. (I actually cut them before baking.)

Enjoy!

More food

Guess I really have nothing to blog about so been blogging quite a bit on our meals at home. Haha. But as you have noticed, I've finally started cooking again. Wonder how long that will last. ;)

I was a very good wife and mother today, hehe, cooked two meals as well as cleaned the floors and tidied up a bit. You'll hardly find me at home as there is always something to keep us occupied. Well, from time to time, I have to get rid of some of the mess that accumulates all the time. Just like the house was spick, span and tidy early this noon, is now filled with toys again all over. But at least the floor is clean. :)

With last night's leftover soup, I added some pasta and made lunch. If you look closely, you would be able to spy the carriage, castle and Cinderella. The Pokemon faces are also cute.

I came across this seasoning in Cold Storage yesterday and was attracted to the picture of the lovely grilled drumsticks. So I decided to buy a packet to try out. Got fresh drumsticks and thighs from the market this morning and marinated them for a couple of hours. I don't know if the taste is authentic but it was delicious.

Made a baby spinach, crabsticks & meatball soup. The soup looks oily but is actually not. It's pretty clear and light, just that the flash catches the oil in a non-flattering way.

And this other one also caught my eye during my grocery shopping trip. I don't know if Muar is famous for their otah, but I loved it. Worth a try.

Well, unfortunately the picture can't tell you too much about the taste. I'm not good at presentation. :P

A home-cooked meal

I hate having to cook every day. It gives me a headache, and it doesn't help that nobody in the family can tell me what they want to eat for dinner. I was very sure I was going to make a pot of soup today and I also knew that I had xiao bai chye in the fridge from my last trip to the market. But the main dish was a bit stressful to come up with. I had a pineapple in the fridge, and finally decided that I'd do a pineapple chicken dish. So here you have it... bai chye with Foochow fishballs, carrots, and tofu soup. And a sweet and sour chicken stir fry with pineapples and assorted veggies.

Potato, Leek & Lentil Soup

For lunch today, I made Potato Leek soup. I actually wanted to make the Asparagus Leek soup that Daphne made. I'm trying to put hubs on a light diet so have to think of stuff that he will like. However, at the market this morning, I couldn't find any asparagus. According to Daphne, it's out of season. I suppose that's why my regular vegetable seller didn't carry them. If I'm not wrong, his veg are usually imported from Oz thus we get lovely broccoli, asparagus, etc.

Since I already picked up some leeks, I was trying to work out in my mind what kind of soup I could make, then remembered the potatos I had back home. So that settled it.

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

3 medium potatoes
2 or 3 leeks, chopped (I used 2) - make sure all the sand is washed out properly
500ml stock (I had some chicken stock)
200ml water (I thought the liquid looked too little) - You can also use milk
1 cube of vegetable stock (or chicken even)
1/6 cup red split lentils
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1tbsp butter

Method :

1. Boil potatoes and remove skin when cooked.
2. Bring stock and water to boil, add lentils followed by potatoes. Mash potatoes in stock.
3. Saute leek in butter till translucent. Add to stock.
4. Simmer over medium to low heat. Add salt, pepper and veg cube stock.
5. Add cream and serve with bread.