Coconut Chicken Soup

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

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 C.H.I.C.K.E.N
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H2O

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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

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.  

Winter Melon with Chinese Almonds Soup 南北杏冬瓜汤

My mum is a Cantonese so from young I am used to drinking Cantonese-style soup. To bring out the full flavor of  Cantonese-style soup and enjoy soft tender pork ribs we always cook the soup for at least 2.5 hours. I am still practicing this way when I cook on weekends, however for weekday the soup needs to be less time-consuming. So in order to achieve that I have replaced the pork ribs with anchovies.

 南北杏冬瓜汤，清凉润肺止咳喘 

Although lately it hasn't been so hazy but I believed that we had lodged in a fair amount of particles into our lungs during the hazy period when PSI shot up to 400. Brewing some cooling beverages and soups will help to relieve the heatiness and sooth our throats. Winter melon is good in relieving heatiness, it has a cooling property and the Chinese almonds will benefit our lungs and throats.

Ingredient

1 piece of winter melon 400-500g

1 carrot

Handful of dried anchovies (rinsed and put inside soup stock/filter bag)

1 honey date

6 red dates

3 tsp sweet Chinese almonds (nan xing)

1 tsp bitter Chinese almonds (bei xing)

Salt to taste

 Method

1) Bring a pot of water to boil.

2) Cut winter melon into cubes and slice the carrot.

3) Add all ingredients (except for salt) to the boiling water and boil for 5 mins.

4) Reduce flame to medium-small, cover the lid and cook for 30-40 mins.

5) Add a pinch of salt to taste.

Other dishes I have cooked to complete the meal, stir fry bayam spinach with egg and bulgogi.

  

Easy Meatball Soup

Weekday is also a rush rush affair when it comes to cooking dinner after work. Usually I will cook my soup and leave it inside my thermo pot overnight and the next day the family will get to enjoy very flavorful soup. But sometimes I will just feel like having some light soup to go with my meal. This meatball soup is one of it, easy and fast to whip up.

Ingredient
MEATBALL & Seasoning (marinate for at least 30mins, I leave it overnight)
200g minced pork (can use chicken too)
1/2 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tsp Chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 tbsp corn flour
Pepper

SOUP
Handful of dried anchovies
4 seedless red dates
1-2 tomato
Spring onion as garnish
Any other ingredient like carrot/yam/mushroom/etc (I used yam since I am left with a bit of it)

Method
1. Fill up half a pot (18cm) with water and boil.
2. Put the anchovies inside a stock filter bag, tear the red dates into small pieces for quicker release of flavor. Place both ingredient into the boiled water, boil for 5 mins and another 15 mins in small fire.
3. Cut the tomato into wedges and add in.
4. Switch to high fire and use a small spoon to scoop the marinated minced meat into a ball shape and add into boiling soup. Let the meat cook for 5-10mins.
5. Garnish with shopped spring onions.

Pig Maw & Fish Maw Soup

I never harbor the thought of making pig maw (pig's stomach - zhu du) soup as the cleaning of the stomach is too much of a hassle I heard. But I changed my mind when I came to learn the supermarkets do carry cleaned & cooked pig maw. Wow, that will make my life a lot more easier to try cooking this soup. Over the weekend I have attempted the Dual Maw Soup (pig & fish maw):

Ingredient
1 pk of cleaned & cooked pig maw (about 250g)
1 pk of chicken backs (as stock)
1 piece of fish maw (pre-soak with hot water to soften)
4 chinese mushroom (pre-soak to soften)
2 slices of ginger
4-5 garlic cloves (peeled & slightly cracked)
1 tbsp white peppercorns
1/2 pot of water (I am using 24cm pot)
Salt









Method
1. Parboil chicken pieces to remove blood.
2. Boil 1/2 pot of water and add in all the ingredient except salt.
3. Boil for 5 mins then switch to low fire to simmer for 3.5 - 4 hours or until the pig maw are soften.
4. Add salt and serve.

Tips
You can adjust the level of spiciness, try the soup after you have boiled for 2hours and add more peppercorns if you find the level is too mild.

Cream of Mushroom

There are 2 types of mushroom soup, one is blended finely where you can simply gulp the whole bowl down. I prefer the other type when I can savor the bits of mushrooms while enjoying the rich flavored soup. Sharing this recipe here so that all my friends get to enjoy this chewable mushroom soup ;)

Ingredients
250g Swiss white mushrooms
(I bought a pack of sliced mushrooms, its cheaper than whole mushrooms. Photo below shows some slices in a bowl of minced onion and the purple bowl at the back is minced mushrooms)

2 tbsp large yellow onion
1 knob butter
1 cup chicken stock
200ml cooking cream (I use Emborg brand, 200ml per pack)
1 tbsp white cooking wine
1 tsp cornflour
Black pepper
Dried dill (garnishing)

Method
1. Mince the onion.
2. In a blender, blend 1/2 portion coarsely and 1/2 finely. This is to create different bite sizes.
3. In a saucepan, melt the butter and sauté onion till fragrant.
4. Add mushrooms and fry until the water released from the mushrooms dry up.
5. Add cream, stock and black pepper. Bring to boil and simmer for 10 mins.
6. Mix some water to the cornflour and add to soup as thickener.
7. Simmer for another 10 mins while stirring constantly.
8. Add cooking wine and cook for a min before serve.
9. To serve, sprinkle some black pepper and dill or parsley as garnishing.

Beery Good Chicken Soup

Chanced upon this interesting recipe of using Tiger beer to cook chicken soup (http://tasteoftime.blogspot.sg/2011/01/tiger-tiger-in-soup.html by Gina Choong), I must try it to see whether it is really that easy with just a can of beer to whip up a bowl of good soup. I substituted the beer brand and pickled garlic with normal garlic, the rest I followed closely. To my surprise, the soup turns out very flavorful with beer fragrance and a very mild taste of beer. Come, let's cheers with this bowl of beery good chicken soup  yumyumyumyumyumyumyum.........seng!

Ingredients
2 boneless chicken thighs (chop into big chunks)
1 garlic clove (slice thinly)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp szechuan peppercorns
1 bottle of Hoegaarden beer (cold from the fridge)

Method
1. Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil in pot.
2. Saute garlic till sides turn slightly brown, becareful not to burn it.
3. Add chicken and stir fry 3 mins over high heat.
4. Add beer, szechuan peppercorns, salt to cook till it boils.It is interesting to see a pot of bubbles :)
5. Cover with lid and simmer over small heat for 10 mins.
6. Off flame, remove excess oil using a sieve and serve hot.

Notes
I have people asking whether this soup is suitable for children. Well we all know that alcohol evaporates during cooking but wait.... Some of it, not all. Read up this article before you decide whether you want to make this soup for your children. http://www.islamtomorrow.com/alcohol_cooked.asp