Soft Tofu Vege soup

Ok, Gregg and I feel like having a light dinner. So I was thinking of the tofu (protein) and some vegetables soup.

Recipe soon.

Joanne Bo Bo Cha Cha

I never seen or tried the Bo Bo Cha Cha with banana in it. Joanne, originally from Penang, Malaysia, was making this dessert on the Labor Day weekend. The first thought about banana in Bo Bo Cha Cha was, Very Interesting!!!! Of cos, I am a foodie, I would try anything people make for me. For those who dont know about this Malaysian dessert, it is a coconut based dessert. There are yam, sweet potatoes, taro, pandan leaf or pinescrew leaf, tapioca balls and black eye peas. Soothing and comforting dessert in fall and winter.

Asam Laksa

At first I was thinking of making some soup from the corn broth (water from cooking the corn) but I saw some asam paste in my fridge. So I instantly thought of Asam Laksa because I have mostly all the ingredients, have some sole fillet in the freezer, lemons and grapefruit in the fridge. Have the vietnamese coriander (daun kesum) and peppermint in the frontyard. Gosh, it was so good and a little spicy for my partner, but we loved it. FYI, Asam Laksa is a very popular noodle soup in Penang, Malaysia. The taste should be sour, fishy, sweet and spicy. Try this out, easy to prepare and healthy as well. Get the Asam Laksa paste at the Asian Market in your area. If not, ask your friends who live in the big city like New York and San Francisco to send it to you. Enjoy!

Recipe:-

1 packet Penang Asam Laksa paste (any brands from Malaysia)
1 small can Sardines
4 cups Water or Chicken Broth or any type of clear broth
3-4 stalks Lemon Verbena or Vietnamese Coriander
Salt and/or Fish sauce

Garnishing:-

Leftover Roasted Chicken - shredded
Grapefruit - section
Peppermint Leaf
Lime

Method:-

1. Mix the paste, sardines, water or broth and vietnamese coriander in a pot and boil.
2. Add salt to taste. Fish sauce is optional.
3. Cook the rice noodles separately according to the instruction given on the bag.
4. Put all the cooked ingredients in the bowl and garnished.
5. Add some lime juice to taste. The Asam Laksa should be little sour, sweet and spicy with lots of fish flavor.

"Anda Boleh"

Healthy July 4th leftovers

This is one of the leftover makeovers I made after July 4th. Corn, vietnamese meat patti, hard boil egg, lots of mint and bean sprout, good chicken broth, home grown tomatoes and instant noodle. Easy, fast and healthy for you.

Recipe soon.

Spring Herbs Noodle Soup

Me and my partner want to eat healthy these days. We want to have lean healthy body for the summer vacation. Today I made Spring Vege Noodle soup, very simple and easy. I used the chicken stock I have in the freezer. Try it out and you will love it. Oh, you can prepare this soup and put into small containers and freeze it for future consumption.

Ingredients:-

Chicken Stock or any kind of stocks

Baby carrots

Tomatoes

Bow Ties pasta

Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnishing:-

Cilantro

Sliced Fresh onions

Dill

Chives

Mint

Vietnamese coriander

Sugar Peas

Methods:-

1. Boil the chicken stock in a pot, together with carrots and bow ties pasta, approximately 15 min, on medium high heat. Remember to add some water if it is reducing.

2. Add in tomatoes and cook for few minutes, until you can see the tomatoes get soft.

3. Add the garnishing and cook for a min or two. Then salt and pepper to taste.

"Anda Boleh"

Beef Ravioli Dumpling Soup

Dear all. Have you ever thought of using the leftover "whatever" ravioli with tomato sauce for a soup of the day? Well, I did. See, my philosophy is pasta is pasta, whether in angel hair shape, round, square or curly shape. Then, just like making your chicken noodle soup, as easy as you can imagine. I can make this less than 30 min, better than Rachel Ray (my opinion about her show is, she does not need to prep, thats why 30 min cooking). But my style of cooking or shall I say, my Less than 30 min cooking is including prep. The Real Chef Chong's 30 minutes cooking. Besides leftover ravioli my partner brought home from the Company's lunch, I used the pork dumplings in my freezer to compliment the pasta and some pea shoots from my backyard. See, easy, light and save lots of money.

Ingredients:-

Chicken broth (when you have some in the pantry)
Leftover Beef Ravioli with tomato sauce (you can used any leftover ravioli provided that have the tomato sauce)
Pea shoots
Few Frozen Pork Dumplings
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:-

1. Boil the chicken broth until bubbly.
2. Add in the frozen dumplings and cook for at least 4 minutes.
3. Throw in the ravioli and pea shoots, cook for another 2 minutes.
4. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Garnish with few pieces of roasted chicken in your fridge.

Tips:- I used the beef ravioli with tomato sauce because of the soup will have the tomato taste. Dont use the sauce with cream in the soup for this. I will come out with another recipe when I tried it one day. :)

Chicken Top Ramen soup

Quick easy meal, thats why every household must have instant noodle at home. For Malaysian Chinese, you can see them having noodle soup for breakfast every day, with some wontons, chickens, beef, pork and seafood. It is a very healthy meal, compare to having pancakes with lots of grandma syrup (lots of calories). Start eating healthy, my friend.

Ingredients:-

1 packet Instant noodle ( I used Top Ramen)

1 handful Bean Sprouts

1 handful chinese greens

1 chicken breast (seared with all purpose seasoning)

Method:-

1. To sear the chicken, first you have to pat dry and seasoned it with all-purpose seasoning you can find in your pantry. Enough cooking oil, say about 2 Tablespoon on a non-stick pan, easier, at medium heat. The time, I would say, 5 min each side, to be safe. I always say, overcooked better than undercooked.

2. For cooking the noodle, just follow the instruction on the packet. However, I add some ground black pepper. Love it.

"Anda Boleh"

Chicken Hor Fun Soup

My bf, Gregg, called me at the last minute lunch, and I said, just come home and you are going to have a healthy light quick meal. So I quickly pull out the pork stock from the freezer, add some capers in it to give it saltiness olivey flavour. Then take a bunch of hor fun (flat small size rice noodle) from the pantry, a piece of grilled chicken made few days ago sat in the fridge, some sugar peas from the fridge, some sliced onions and fresh cut cilantro from our garden, making into this fabulous satisfying quick lunch, less than 20 min.

Ingredients:-

1 piece of grilled chicken breast (or just plain chicken breast) cut into cubes or chunks
2 Tablespoon Capers
1 bunch Hor Fun (Flat small size rice noodle)
2 handful Sugar Peas
1 handful of sliced onions
some fresh chopped cilantro (optional fresh mint, basil or vietnamese coriander)
3-4 cups of pork stock (can use any other stocks)
Salt to taste
2 teaspoon Rice Vinegar

Method:-

1. Heat up the stock in a pot, add in the capers together. Boil for 2 min.
2. Throw in the hor fun, cook as instructed. (would say, 2 min)
3. Add in grilled chicken and sugar peas together.
4. Add salt and rice vinegar to taste.
5. Lastly, garnish with fresh cilantro and sliced onions. Good with Sri Racha chili sauce. Make into 2 bowls of Chicken Hor Fun Soup.


"Anda Boleh"

Miso with a Twist

This is a very healthy soup and meal of the day. Simple and easy to prepare, all you need is eggs, tofu, rice noodle and miso paste. I use "Shiro Miso Paste" which is lighter in color and taste. Just 2 tablespoon of it in small pot of water or stock, enough for 2 people, preparation time just less than 30 min.

Ingredients:-

2-3 Tablespoon Shiro Miso Paste or other miso paste

3-4 cups Chicken stock or just water

1 bundle Rice noodles

1 packet Firm tofu (cut into cubes or chunks)

1 Shallots (make into fried shallots)

1 Tablespoon Rice Vinegar

Salt to taste

Cilantro for garnishing

2 Eggs (beat and make into omellet)

Method:-

1. Boil the water or stock, add the miso paste and stir.

2. Put in rice noodles, cook as instructed. (I would say 2 min max)

3. Add in tofu, salt and rice vinegar to taste. (it should be little salty and little sour) cook for 1 min.

4. Once done, put in a bowl, garnish with fresh cilantro, omellet (cut into any shapes you want) and fried shallots.

Tips for frying shallots: Slice shallots in a ring shape, heat up the vegetable oil in medium. Slowly browing the shallots. Once it is half way to browning, turn off the heat and let it continues browning but not burning.

"Anda Boleh"

Your own tomato soup

This is from a can of Tomato soup you can easily find in the supermarket. Heat the soup in a pot, add some parmesan cheese (flaky), some water because  it is too sweet and condensed, and sprinkle some chopped scallion from my backyard, and  lastly some ground black pepper. Love having it in a cold foggy day.