Soup Archives • Mushroompride

Thai Rice Soup (Khao Tom Goong Moo) – Delishar

The family hasn’t been feeling all that well lately, probably due to the haze. There’s a lot of coughing going around at home. Appetite hasn’t been all that great, so making food that are both easily consumable, and nourishing was my way of helping the family feel better. The Thais have this as part of their breakfast, very much like how we will eat congee in the morning.

We are not a family that likes congee, especially the girls. The girls prefers something with more of a bite as compared to the mushy texture of congee. Plus, who doesn’t like slurping on soup? The broth was made with ginger and lemongrass. Ginger has many healing benefits, to aid digestion, fight flu/cold, reduce nausea, has anti-inflammatory properties, reduce muscle soreness and aches, lower blood sugar, decrease risk of heart disease, fight infections… just to name a few. And lemongrass has many therapeutic properties too. It is a good source of vitamins A and C, folate, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, potassium, phosphorus, calcium and manganese. Some of it’s medicinal properties includes analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antidepressant, antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, astringent, insecticidal, sedative, and that’s not the whole list.

When herbs and spices such as ginger, garlic, and lemongrass comes together. You can be so certain that it will be a dish packed full of flavours. The husband was dubious when he first saw a bowl of rice with clear broth. However, when he took his first spoonful, his eyes opened wider as it lit up. Looked at me and said, “Wow!”. And his face was inseparable from the bowl. lol! I used prawn and pork as my protein here, because that is my family’s preference. You can also use chicken, fish, beef, seafood, or even tofu slices with vegetable broth and soy sauce to make it a vegetarian alternative.

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In celebration of Le Creuset‘s 90th anniversary, I am hosting a 5 pcs Le Creuset Skillet Bundle giveaway worth $572! Stand a chance to win the bundle that includes:

1 Skillet 26cm in Dijon Yellow
1 Spatula medium in Caribbean Blue
1 Silicone handle sleeve in Caribbean Blue
1 Bowl in Dijon Yellow
1 Bowl in Caribbean Blue

To take part in this giveaway, simply complete the rafflecopter at the end of the post.

Thai Rice Soup Process

Thai Rice Soup (Khao Tom Goong Moo)

Delishar

250 g pork fillet sliced
16 shrimp peeled and cleaned
6 cups pork or chicken broth
3 cloves garlic minced
2 lemongrass bruised and cut to 2 inch pieces
6-8 slices of ginger
2 tbsp fish sauce or to taste
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tsp corn flour
white pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped chinese celery
2 tbsp chopped spring onion
2 tbsp chopped coriander
Juice of 1 lime
1 heaping tsp of sugar or to taste
2 tbsp sesame/peanut oil
4 servings of cooked white rice
Fried shallot to garnish
Thai chilli flakes optional

Marinate pork in soy sauce, shao xing wine, white pepper, and corn flour.
Heat pan, and add sesame oil.
Stir-fry garlic, and ginger until garlic begin to turn golden.
Add pork, and stir-fry until pork is no longer pink.
Pour in stock, lemongrass, and season with fish sauce.
Bring to boil and allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Then add prawns, lime juice, and sugar.
Allow to cook for a minute.
Add celery, parsley, and spring onion, then allow to cook until prawn is done.
Remove from heat and serve over cooked rice.
Garnish with fried shallow and thai chilli flakes.

Vegetarian variations:
Use tofu instead of pork and shrimp.
Substitute stock with vegetable stock, and use soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

3 thai rice soup

To take part in this giveaway, simply complete the rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This giveaway ends on Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at 12:00 a.m. Singapore time (GMT+8). Giveaway bundle includes: Skillet 26cm in Dijon yellow x 1, Spatula medium in Caribbean x 1, Silicone handle sleeve in Caribbean x 1, Bowl in Dijon x 1, Bowl in Caribbean x 1. The winner will be selected by random.org and will contacted by email. The winner will need to respond within 48 hours. If there is no response from the winner after 48 hours, another winner will be selected. The winner will need to self-collect the prize at Le Creuset’s office; therefore, it is open to Singapore entrants only.

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Watercress Chicken Soup – Delishar

The haze situation in Singapore has been driving me up the wall. I’m not a very outdoorsy person, but always having to stay indoors is giving me the cabin fever. Plus there’s only so much you can do indoors with the kids. They need the great outdoors / playground / pool to tire them out! lol!

We have been keeping the windows closed, and A/C turned on. When my electric bill comes, remind me not to look at it. The haze has also generously gifted us with some unwanted presents. I just got over a pretty bad fever lung infection, the kids and husband have been coughing on and off. Mostly Melody because her airways has been quite sensitive since she was a baby.

That prompted me to make chicken soup for the family. But not the western soup, but one that the Chinese is familiar with. Why watercress chicken soup? Because it’s good for the lungs, nutritious, and delicious of course! You’ll get a whole lot of vitamin A, calcium, sulphur, and chlorophyll from watercress, and protein from the chicken. Traditional Chinese Medicine believe that Watercress can help clear phlegm caused by heatiness of the body. Watercress is also diuretic, clearing facial blemishes and improves night vision. It nourishes you and at the same time helps cleanse and detoxify your lungs. Just what we need for the haze conditions! Oh, this soup will be great for people who smokes, or 2nd hand smokers too.

Here are some other healthy chicken soup recipes that I’ve shared a while ago: Chicken Noodle Soup (Pho Ga), Lemongrass Ginger Chicken Macaroni Soup, and Grill Chicken on Ginger Miso Soba.

Watercress Chicken Soup Process

Watercress Chicken Soup

Delishar

Bunch/bundle of watercress
3 chicken leg
6 dried dates
1 1/2 tbsp wolfberries
1 msg-free chicken bullion cube
4 cloves garlic peeled
6 cups water
salt to taste

Add everything except watercress into a pot.
Bring to boil, and allow to simmer for 15 minutes.
Remove scum from top of the broth.
Add watercress, and turn up heat, and bring to boil again.
Lower heat to a simmer, cover and allow to cook for 45 minutes.
Season with salt to taste, if needed.

1 watercress chicken soup

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Stuffed Cabbage Soup – Delishar

Napa or Nappa cabbage is a kind of Chinese cabbage widely used in Asian cuisine. It is the cabbage that is used for making Kim Chi. Napa cabbage grows into an oblong shape with large, crinkly light green leaves on the outer layers. The leaves will gradually become a light yellow colour in the inner layers.

The large surface area of each layer makes the vegetable a great choice for wrapping meat. The leaves has a sweet and somewhat celery like flavour, which makes it very palatable. The thick white part of the leaf remains crunchy after cooking, adding texture to the dish.

Some nutritional facts about Napa Cabbage:

Incredibly low in calories
Packed with anti-oxidant
Excellent source of folates & Vitamin C
Contains many essential vitamins and minerals

Personally, I love using cabbage in soup because it lends a little natural sweetness to balance the saltiness of the soup. Usually, I would make cabbage wraps with a steamer and sauce over method. However, I was craving for some boiling hot soup and cabbage wraps at the same time. So, I dropped the cabbage wraps in the broth to cook, and killed 2 birds with 1 stone.

The girls and husband was ecstatic to find out what was for dinner that night, and could not wait to dig in. Happy faces & satisfied bellies, I could not be any happier with this recipe! Don’t skip the step on scalding the cabbage leaves briefly with boiling water. This process makes it more pliable to work with when wrapping the meat.

Stuffed Cabbage Soup

Delishar

500 g minced pork
3 tbsp spring onions chopped & green part only
1 tbsp ginger grated
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp shao xing wine
1/2 tsp sugar
2 tsp corn flour
White pepper to taste
14 chinese napa / wong bok cabbage leaves
5 cups 1.2L chicken stock or water
Enough spring onion to secure cabbage
Coriander leaves for garnishing

In a mixing bowl, add pork, ginger, spring onions, sugar, soy sauce, shao xing wine, pepper, and corn flour.
Using a wooden spoon, chopsticks, or hand, stir vigorously in one direction until filling has a sticky consistency.
Leave to marinate while preparing cabbage.
In a large pan, bring salted water to boil and blanch napa cabbage until soft (about 30-45 seconds).
Do the same for the spring onions.
To wrap, scoop about 2-3 tbsp of meat filling onto an inch above the end/stem part of the napa cabbage.
Roll upwards, then tuck in the sides as you continue to roll.
Tie a butterfly knot around the cabbage roll with the blanched spring onion.
Continue until all the fillings are used.
In your wok, bring chicken stock to boil over medium high heat.
Gently drop in all the cabbage rolls, and bring it back up to a boil.
Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and allow to cook for 12-15 minutes.
Serve garnished with coriander leaves.

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Curried Pumpkin Soup – Delishar

Day 10! Based on the Whole30 timeline, day 10 & 11 is the time when most people who quit on the program caves. Day 9 was extremely tough for me. I was unusually tired, I crave sugar to get me going. Perhaps because of the lack of good night sleep the night before. My youngest came into my room in the middle of the night, crawled into bed, and asked me to snuggle her. I think she was a little anxious about having her cast and k-wires removed. Usually I’ll send her back into the room, but that night I allowed her to sleep with us. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well as I was afraid that I’ll roll over her or hurt her broken arm.

She had her cast and 3 k-wires removed, and her elbow and wrist are healing well. 6 more weeks of light duties before she can resume normal activities. Despite her limited arm movement when she still had her cast on, she was adamant about making dinner with me one evening. So I can’t say I made this pumpkin soup entirely on my own. It was team effort. She also had her chef hat and apron on while helping me out. lol!

I knew that this soup is going to put a smile on the husband’s face when he sees it. He is a big fan of soups. True enough, the first thing he said was, “This is reeeaaallly good!”. I made enough for us to have it for lunch the next day with a side salad. Soup and salad is always good. 🙂

The soup can be spicy depending on the curry powder that you use. My curry powder is pretty strong, so use a milder one if the kids are having it too. My kids aren’t pumpkin fan, so I made something else for them for dinner that night. If you have 30 minutes to spare, do give this recipe a try. I promise you it will be worth it. It’s a great make ahead as well!

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Delishar

4 cups 1L chicken/veg stock*
1 yellow onion diced
3 cloves garlic smashed
800 g pumpkin cut into 1 inch cubes
1 large carrot cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste

Toppings

2 cups baby kale
20 g walnuts
2 tsp olive oil
2-3 tsp curry powder
Salt and black pepper to taste
Olive oil to drizzle optional

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Heat pot on medium high heat with 1 tbsp oil.
Add onion to cook until softened, about 1 minute.
Then add garlic to cook until slightly browned.
Pour stock into pot, add pumpkin and carrot.
Bring to boil, and lower heat to medium low.
Simmer 20 minutes until carrot and pumpkin is tender.
Remove from heat.
Heat pan on medium high heat with 2 tsp oil.
Blend with immersion blender until smooth.
Bring it back up to a boil.
Season with curry powder, salt, and black pepper to taste then remove from heat.

Toppings

Saute baby kale with salt and pepper.
Remove and set aside.
Add walnuts into pan and toast.
Remove to cool, and chop into smaller chunks.
Serve pumpkin soup with sauteed baby kale and chopped walnuts.
Drizzle a little olive oil over the soup to finish.

I used Imagine’s No Chicken Stock that is whole30 compliant and available at cold storage.

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‘Shark Fin’ Melon Soup (鱼翅瓜汤） – Delishar

I admit… I actually do like the taste of shark’s fin soup, although I really do not care about having the actual fins in my soup. In fact, I’ve stopped consuming shark’s fin soup years ago. Each time it was served at a wedding or dinner celebration, I’d politely say no, thanks.

Since CNY is just around the corner, I thought it’d be a great time to share with you this shark’s fin-free soup. I used Shark Fin Melon to substitute the actual fins. Definitely much cheaper, more nutritious, kinder to the sharks and the eco-system.

This recipe is super simple and speedy to put together. I used Mizkan’s Yosenabe ready to use soup base to help me with this recipe. Yosenabe soup base is a light soup base with a combination of four stocks – bonito fish, kelp, scallop and chicken. It goes extremely well with seafood as it brings out the natural sweetness of the crab in this recipe.

Mizkan’s products can be found at major supermarkets. Here are some other ways you can use Mizkan’s products:

‘Shark Fin’ Melon Soup

No sharks are hurt in the making of this soup, all thanks to shark fin melons as the substitute.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 6 minutes

1 pack Mizkan’s Yoso Nabe soup base
1/2 Shark Fin Melon Skinned and cubed
250 g canned crab lump meat
4 pcs dried chinese mushrooms rehydrated & thinly sliced
2 pcs dried wood ear fungus rehydrated & thinly sliced
1 egg lightly beated
3 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp water

To Serve

Black vinegar
White Pepper
Fresh coriander leaves

Skin the sharkfin melon and boil in lightly salted water for 15 minutes. Until it’s soft and shredding.
Drain and allow to cool, shred the melon with a fork. I discarded the base of the melon that doesn’t shred.
Bring soup base to a boil.
Add mushrooms and wood ear fungus. Then bring back to a boil.
Add crab lump meat and bring to boil.
Then drizzle in corn starch slurry while stirring to thicken the soup.
Stream in the beaten egg while gently stirring soup.
Bring back to boil & remove from heat.
Divide soup into serving bowls and divide the shredded shark fin melon to each bowl.
Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with black vinegar & white pepper.

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Fish Soup Beehoon – Delishar

We are into week 2 of our semi-lock down. I sure hope things will start to look a little brighter from now on. Since the movement control order, I’ve been seeing a lot of people posting more home-cooked meals. It’s nice to see people starting to cook again, and trying to cook for the first time. That’s what we can do right now is to take care of ourselves and our love ones.

I’m also hearing that some are running out of ideas on what to cook. Here’s a healthy 30-minute one-pot recipe to add to your repertoire. A versatile recipe for you to clear leftover bits of vegetables laying in your crisper. The magic of this dish is from the Chef’s cut wild-caught Alaskan Pollock that I got from The Alaska Guys. Cooked frozen, direct from the freezer, saving me time.

The diamond-cut bite-sized boneless pollock pieces are caught wild, cut, and individually frozen in Alaska. It has a similar flavour, texture, and appearance to its well-known cousin, Cod. These flaky white diamond pieces are loaded with nutrients and low in calories. Just what we need to watch out for right now!

There are only 70 calories in every 85 grams, and delivers more than 17 grams of low cholesterol protein. High in omega 3 & 6, minerals, vitamins, and ZERO carbs! Ha, no wonder I’m in love this fish so much!

The Alaska Pollock fishery is the largest sustainable fishery in the US so we can feel good knowing that we are eating a fish that is abundant and so well managed that it will be available for generations to come. Wild Alaskan seafood not only delivers superior flavours and better nutrition, it is also environmentally responsible as well. If you are interested to find out more, click here. Let’s cook, shall we?!