Coconut Chicken Soup

C-O-C-O-N-U-T

+

 C.H.I.C.K.E.N
+
H2O

=

Coconut Chicken Soup

Ingredients

3 coconuts

3 drumsticks or your favorite chicken parts

3 pitted red dates

3 Chinese mushrooms (pre-soak to soften and remove stem)

Few ginger slices

1 tbsp wolfberries 

Pinch of salt

Method

1. Cut away any visible fats from the chicken parts, I kept the skin intact. Blanch chicken parts in a pot of boiling water with ginger slices and pinch of salt. Blanching purges aggregated proteins, residual blood, surface bacteria and other impurities before you cook it. Discard the water and ginger.

2. Use a chopper to chop open the top of coconut. Pour the coconut water into a jug and set aside. Scrap some coconut flesh using a metal spoon and set aside. The toughest job in this recipe is to chop open the coconut, I am not good at that so I left it to the man in the house to execute the task. I have provided some links on how to chop open the coconut at the bottom of the page, if you are keen to try ;)

3. Place chicken parts, 1 red date, 1 mushroom and some coconut flesh into each coconut. Use a sieve to pour in coconut water until 2/3 full and top with 1/3 plain water till the brim.

4. Cover the coconut with the cap and steam for 1.5-2 hours. I wrapped the base of the coconut with aluminum foil as my steamer is quite shallow preventing water seepage.

5. Half hour before serving add in wolfberries and pinch of salt (really little bit of salt only).

BON APPETIT

The above is the most straight forward method. Now if you prefer something more complex to play with, refer to the alternative method:

Alternative Method

You may realize that you have a lot more coconut water than what is required. You can either enjoy the cooling coconut water on its own or cook everything in a pot instead.

So for step 3 (above) instead of putting the ingredients inside each coconut to steam, use a pot to cook all ingredients. Coconut water vs plain water ratio is the same, 2/3 coconut water vs 1/3 plain water. After boiled, simmer for 1.5hours in pot. From here you could serve your coconut chicken soup, it has more chicken taste as compared to steaming inside the coconut. At this junction, the soup is already very flavorful. But if you are as curious as me trying to see the difference between cooking in a pot and steaming in the coconut, you could scoop the ingredients and soup into the coconut to steam for 1/2hr before serving. The coconut fragrance really make the difference ;)

Online links on how to chop open a coconut

http://youtu.be/VMeYi0IAoH4

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/cookingtipstools/ss/youngcoconut.htm

Airfried Crispy Cod Steak with Ginger Plum Sauce

Oh mine, my anyhow humtam dish turned out to be so delicious. Must record down before I forget how to do it again. The steak was crispy and goes very well with the sauce.

INGREDIENTS

2 slices of big cod steaks

Pinch of salt, pepper

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 part Kentucky powder VS 1 part corn flour to coat

1 tbsp plum sauce

Ginger slices

METHODS
1. Pat dry cod steaks.
2. Marinate with salt, pepper, ginger powder, garlic powder and turmeric power.
3. Coat the steaks with Kentucky powder + corn flour lightly.
4. Spray mist oil on the steaks evenly.
5. Pre-heat airfryer and cook for 180 deg C for 15 mins, then 200 deg for 5 mins. Timing will vary according to the fish size.
6. In a wok, fry ginger slices until brown. Off flame and add plum sauce diluted with water.
7. Serve the cod steaks and drizzle the sauce on top.

Cereal Prawn

I have been lazy to update my recipes in my blog, so lazy that Grace told me my last post was more than a year ago :P Ok time to move my butt, oops.... my fingers to update before I forget all these yummy recipes.

Ingredients

10-12 large prawns
Salt and pepper to marinate

1/2 beaten egg
1.5 tbsp plain flour
1.5 tbsp corn flour

3-4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 knob butter
Few stalks of curry leaves (remove stem, rinse and drain)
1 red chili or chilli padi (depends on how spicy you prefer)
1 cup instant cereal
1/2 tbsp milk powder (optional)
1 tbsp sugar
Pinch of salt

Methods
1. Cut a deep slit on the prawn back and devein.
2. Marinate with salt and pepper for 15mins or more.
3. Coat the prawns with egg, plain and corn flour evenly.
4. Deep or shallow fry the prawns until just cooked. Set aside.
5. Melt butter in a pan, sauté the minced garlic, add in curry leaves and sliced chilli till fragrant.
6. Turn to low flame and add in cereal, sugar and pinch of salt. Fry until the cereals turn slightly brown.
7. Add in prawns and toss evenly.

Creamy Butter Prawns

The pricing for seafood is known to be expensive during Chinese New Year but not all true for this year. I learned from the news that the price for prawn has gone down instead. So here it is, more prawn dishes on the dining table ;) The recipe is available at Creamy Butter Crab page except that I replaced crab with prawn and omit curry leaves since I didn't have it. I have also added small red onion which added some sweetness to the dish.

I used 8 large prawns for this but maintained the amount of sauce quantity which will be a lot. I did it on purpose to keep the creamy butter sauce for the next day to make baked rice.

Year End Parties (with Pasta Salad & Air-fried Roast Chicken recipes)

Hosting a party can be pretty stressful especially when you need to cook for many people. Planning is important and if things can be done in advance it does help a lot so that you being the host is able to mingle with your guests. Honestly speaking I am very lousy when it comes to cooking for a big crowd as normal days I only cook for my hubby and I. Hence I still have a lot to learn on the art of hosting parties. For example a cake or cream puffs could be done a day in advance. Freshly baked bread is an ideal starter especially if you have a bread machine. Start the machine 3 hours prior to the meal time and when the timer beeps you that the bread is ready, that's the ring for the meal commencement. Serve with some butter, cheese or balsamic vinegar over some wine. Doesn't that sound great? If you have more time, soup will definitely be a crowd-pleaser when served with bread.

Another item that you could prepare earlier is the pasta salad. It has carbohydrate being the staple food and vegetables to balance the diet. If your party is for dinner, you could prepare this as early in the morning and leave it in the fridge. Recipe of Pasta Salad is found in this page.

For meat item I will go with a roasted whole chicken and this can be done in 30mins in a air fryer and an hour in the oven.

PASTA SALAD

Ingredients

1/2 box of pasta (any shapes, I used bow tie)
2 hard boiled eggs (boiled, remove shells and sliced)
2-3 potatoes (boiled till soft and cut into big cubes)
1 box of cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 Japanese cucumber (1/2cm sliced)
100g streaky bacon (cut into small pieces, rinse with water, squeeze dry and fry/air fry till crispy)
10 grey prawns (remove shells & veins, boiled till cooked)
1 box of raisin to sprinkle

Salad sauce
1/2 bottle of mayonnaise
About 5 tbsp of fresh milk (depends on how runny you want the sauce to be, amount can be adjusted)
Pepper
Few drops of fresh lemon juice

Methods
1) In a pot of boiling water with few drops of olive oil and salt, cook pasta till Al dente. Drain the water and leave aside to cool.
2) Separately prepare all other ingredients.
3) When all ingredients are cooled, prepare the salad sauce and toss everything together lightly in order not to mash the potatoes.
4) Keep in fridge until ready to serve.

These ready-cooked baby back ribs are so good, they are tender and flavorful. I got them from Foodie Marketplace and all you need is to defrost them and bake at 160 degree for 20mins. If you don't tell your guests these are store-purchased, they couldn't tell. All they will see is you bringing the tray out from the oven and serve right to their table ;) Shhhhhhhh.....

 AIR-FRIED ROAST CHICKEN

The air-fried roasted whole chicken is easy and quick. About 30mins at 180 degree C and another 5mins at 200mins C is all it takes to impress my guests. Timing varies according to the size of the chicken. The advantage of air fryer is having the flexibility to pull out the basket and check as often as you like.

Ingredient
1 spring or small chicken (that can fit into Air fryer)

Seasoning
1 tsp Oyster sauce
1/4 tsp Dark soya sauce
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1/2 tsp Sesame oil
Pinch of pepper

Note: I am using kitchen measuring spoons, they are bigger compared to cutlery spoons.

End year is all about parties and food, from Christmas's eve all the way to New Year day. One whole week to celebrate with food. Here are some photos of what I had cooked up with:

Hairy crab 大闸蟹 season is here

What is your indulgence for the Autumn season? How about these seasonal freshwater hairy crabs 大闸蟹 which make their appearance around October. These crabs are small, hairy and the roe is the one we are looking forward to. The best way to cook these crabs is steaming in order to savor the original taste. We chanced upon Cold Storage selling the crabs at a promotional rate of 2 for $9.90. It was definitely a steal compared to restaurant pricing at $30+ per crab. We bought 2 pieces and had them steamed for supper indulgence.

Hairy crabs is the easiest to prepare, they are very clean from freshwater so don't need much hassle in cleaning. And since they are so small you don't even need to chop them up. The best way to eat them is to steam. Doesn't that sound absolutely easy to prepare?

Ingredients
Hairy crabs
Ginger slices
1 tbsp of Chinese wine

Methods
1) Do not untie the string, use a brown husk scrub and clean the crabs inside a bowl/pail of water. You will notice that the water is hardly dirty.
2) Place the crabs and ginger slices into a steaming plate and steam for about 15 mins.
3) Drizzle Chinese wine a minute before switching off the flame.
4) Serve hot and you can either eat it on its own which is the way I prefer to savor this delicacy. Or dip into Chinese black vinegar with shredded gingers.

Hairy crab has a "cooling" properties so Chinese believes that it should be consumed with ginger tea after the feast to balance the body system.

Shark's Fin Melon with Clam Soup 鱼翅瓜啦啦汤

A very interesting vegetable and not many people is aware of its actual name 'Cucurbita ficifolia'. In Asia, it is commonly known as the Shark's Fin Melon as the pulp strands are used to make soup, quite similar to shark's fin soup hence the name.

 

Ingredient
1 slice shark's fin melon (about 1/4 of melon)
1 carrot
Handful of dried anchovies
1 honey date
800g-1kg white clams

Method
1) Soak live clams in a bowl of salted water to keep them fresh and split out sand. Rinse and remove from water only just before you want to cook them.
2) Remove skin and seeds of shark's fin melon, cut into big chucks.
3) Peel carrot and cut into big chucks.
4) Bring a pot of water to boil, add in honey date and dried anchovies. I will put the anchovies into a soup stock bag before adding in. Boil for 2-3 mins and simmer for 1.5 hours or until the melon flesh turn to shark's fin texture.
5) Turn the flame to high bringing soup to boil and add in the clams, cover the lid and once you see all the shells open up. Off flame and serve immediately. Do not overcook the clams, they will chewy if cooked for too long.

Hairy Gourd with Meatball Soup

Ingredient

1 hairy gourd

1 carrot

150g minced pork (could use lesser depends on which much meatballs you want)

1 honey date

Handful of dried anchovies (buy those meant for soup)

Salt

marinade for the meat :
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 inch ginger (minced finely)
Dash of pepper
1 tsp cornflour 

Method

1) Marinate the minced pork for 30mins or leave it overnight.

2) Peel the hairy gourd and halve it lengthwise, use a spoon to scoop and discard the seeds, slice into small piece.

3) Peel the carrot and slice it.

4) Fill a pot of water and bring it to boil. Rinse the dried anchovies and put into a stock bag then add to the water.

5) Add in the honey date, hairy gourd and carrot. Boil for 2-3 mins and simmer for 30 mins.

6) Roll the marinated minced pork into small balls.

7) Bring the soup to boil and add in the meatballs. Once the meatballs are cooked, add a pinch of salt to taste.

8) Serve.