The Soup Queen

I know this is not a soup recipe but it is something I promised you. Actually I learnt this when I went home to my parents' place in September. And after that I went travelling for business (first to Kerala, India and then to Singapore ) so I didn't manage to share the recipe. The cool part is, I took snapshots of the process so you can see how easy the entire process is. My mother is a good cook (but then again everyone says this of their own moms). My mom makes very good Nyonya kuih like kuih talam, kuih lapis, abok-abok, onde-onde and kuih seri muka. She used to supply to school canteens and she stopped doing it when I reach secondary school as she found the work tiring. My sisters and I used to help her pinch the edges of curry puffs - we used to do this while watching Incredible Hulk on TV! Back in those days (in the 1980s), the only channels we had were TV1 (RTM1) and TV2 (RTM2) and the only good shows were series like Incredible Hulk. Anyway, my mom knows tha...

I have been travelling about so that is why the blog is a bit slow on the updates. Well I had gone home to Banting to visit my parents and to indulge in mom's homecooked food for a few days. I also learnt from her how to make vinegared pig trotters, a recipe I am going to share with you in the next few days. Fresh vanilla pods! After visiting my parents, I had come home for two weeks before I was packing again. This time, Nic and I were going to Kerala, India. This visit was with a client as he had wanted to visit some organic farms and farmers in the Wayanad region of Kerala. The climate in Kerala is just like our Malaysian climate. We were lucky that when we were there, the rains didn't start yet. I heard that it is flooding now in Kerala and travel may be hindered. Pepper, grown organically in Kerala Kerala is famous for ayurvedic treatments and clinics. Health is a top priority for the people of Kerala. They pay a lot of attention to herbs and plants for medi...

Well this has nothing to do with food or soups but it has something to do with Orientalism and health and in a way, well-being. I came upon this Oriental Tit Tar website when I went over (OK, OK, more like moseyed over) to a friend's blog. He had sprained his ankle so he went to see a Chinese Tit Tar. How shall I translate Tit Tar? It's a Cantonese word for the chiropractor who puts you right again. It's very cool that this particular Tit Tar is smart enough to take hold of technology and use it for his own business. After all, complementary medicine should be here as an option for people like you and me. Particularly me as I love my Sin Seh (Chinese medicine man). Sure, the healing is not as fast as Western medicine. But asking for quick, fast relief isn't always the best way to cure the body. So I like my medicine to work with my body to heal it, not work as a 'patch' and cover up the symptoms but not treat the root causes. That is perhaps wh...

While I've gone ahead and got my eyes iLASIK-ed , my dear husband is doing it the natural way. He says he can train his eyes to see better with a combination of eye exercises, nutrition and Bates pinhole glasses. I'm OK with whatever he chooses to do. He supported me when I told him I needed to laser my eyes and get back my vision before I turn 40 in 4 years' time. Supported me as in financially, he paid for my vision correction surgery. So of course I am supporting him in his endeavour. He diligently does his eye exercises and of late, he can actually sit at our living room sofa and read the time on our Astro decoder (which is like 7 feet away!). I'm really happy for him because it will be so good when he does not need to rely on his glasses anymore. On this note, I told him I'd make him nutritious stuff to help him improve his eyesight. Wolfberry in soups is one of those methods. Wolfberries are great for the eyes and as any Chinese mom will tell you,...

In this recipe, walnuts and dried red dates are combined to make a healthy and life-giving dessert. And with honey added, it packs a punch. A truly simple dessert which is used to prevent the usual flu magnets - colds and coughs. It helps too with your kidneys and with bowel movement. Walnuts are much revered in Chinese medicine, not least because the nut resembles the brain! Again, the Chinese believe that walnuts are good snacks for children as they help boost brain power which is true because of the high amounts of Omega 3 fats (good for the brain). Walnuts are of course a good source of essential omega-3 fatty acids and in Roman times, considered the food of the gods. Walnuts are a 'yang' tonic and useful for toning up weak kidneys. It also warms lung Qi while acting as a laxative, moistening the intestines (hence encouraging bowel movement if you are constipated). Walnuts are called Hu Tao Ren (juglans regia) in Chinese medicine. Walnut & Red Date Dessert 150 gm walnut...

This is an easy soup but it is a warming soup (good for women in confinement). I read that spare ribs or pork are neutral in nature. It is how you cook the soup and with what sort of herbs which turn the nature of the dish. In this soup, you need only 3 herbs: Chinese yam ( which I've written about before ) - 8 gm, rinsed, drained Chinese angelica or Dong Quai - 8 gm, rinsed, drained Wolfberries or Kei Chi - 2 tbsp, rinsed and drained 1 liter water 2 tsp salt 500 gm spare ribs, blanched in boling hot water Combine all ingredients into a slow cooker. If you are using a slow cooker, the 1 liter water must be boiling hot. Cook on Automatic for 2 hours. Add salt at the end of the process. Serve hot (with or without rice). Absolutely deliciousness in a pot! And hearty too.

For this recipe (again a quick soup!), you will need the simplest of ingredients. Bean thread is what we call over here "tung hoon" or "tung fan". Basically they are clear vermicelli made from mung beans. With a springy texture, it can be used in soups as well as stir-fry with vegetables or in some cases, used as a major ingredient and eaten like one would eat vermicelli or "bee hoon". Anyway, this is a homely dish and most of the ingredients are found easily in the market. Here is what you need: 1 packet of mung bean threads, soaked in hot water and drained 3 tbsp dried shrimp, soaked, washed and drained 8 cups water 1 tbsp salt 1/2 tsp baking soda fresh spinach (as much as you like), washed and drained 2 tbsp peanut oil 2 tsp minced ginger 2 tsp minced garlic 5 cups chicken stock 1 tsp Shao Hsing wine or sherry In a pot, place the 8 cups of water, salt and baking soda. Bring to a boil and blanch spinach. Lift and drain spinach when it turns a bright gree...

This is a soup good for warming up on cold days. We don't get very many cold days in Malaysia. I was in Hong Kong in March and at 14C, it felt quite cold to me. If I were in HK, I'd make this warming soup! You'll need: 1 slice ginger 1 clove garlic, minced 3 cups fresh tomatoes, blanched, de-skinned and cubed 2 cups potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 cups water 1 tsp salt 2 tbsp oil 6 oz ground beef Marinate ground beef with: 1 tsp oyster sauce 1 tsp light soya sauce 3/4 tsp sugar 1/2 salt 1/2 tsp whiskey 3/4 tsp cornstarch Allow the ground beef to marinate up to 1 hour. Heat wok and add oil, salt, ginger and garlic. Add tomatoes and potatoes and fry for 1 minute. Remove and place this into a pot. Add water and bring to a boil. Cover pot, simmering over low heat for 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Raise heat and add the beef with its marinade, breaking up beef with fork. Boil the soup again and turn off heat. Serve hot.

This is one of those famously simple and easy to make dessert soups to round off a meal. Every Chinese would have grown up imbibing this nutritious red bean dessert. Red beans are like mung beans - full of goodness. What we call red beans is really Adzuki beans. They are also the most "yang" of all beans. They're tiny and hard red beans which when cooked, turns soft and delicious! Adzuki beans (Paseolus angularis) are rich in soluble fibre which, like oats, help eliminate cholesterol from your body. They contain magnesium, potassium, iron, zinc copper, manganese and vitamin B3. And the good news is, they also reduce blood pressure. Accordingly, these powerful beans possess inhibitors which disturb the development of cancer cells. It is no wonder that Adzuki beans are the "Mercedes" of beans. Here's how you cook Adzuki beans. 1/2 pound Adzuki beans 7 cups cold water rock sugar to taste (optional: 1/2 cup dried longan flesh) Wash beans and drain. Put them into...

I got this recipe from an old recipe book. It's a Cantonese soup called "Sang Choi Yue Pin Tong". According to the writer, she uses fresh carp but it's equally OK to use sole, flounder or sea bass. 1/2 pound fresh fish, sliced thinly Marinate fish with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp sesame oil, 1/4 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp ginger juice mixed with 1 tsp white wine, some pepper and 1 tsp light soya sauce. Let it sit in the marinade for 10 minutes. In a pot, bring to boil 3 cups water. If you have fish stock, even better. It will be tastier, says the writer. Add to this pot 1 slice of ginger and 1 clove garlic. Add lettuce, stir and add in fish slices (together with marinade). Bring to boil. Turn off heat and stir in some scallion oil. Serve hot. How to make scallion oil: In 2 cups peanut oil, add 1 cup of the whisker/root ends of scallions and 2 cups of scallions (spring onions). Heat wok. Pour this into wok and heat until scallions brown. Strain oil and discard scalli...

I bought a packet of GreenLove Mixed Beans the other day at the supermarket. It's a small packet (250 gm) of mixed dried beans - pinto beans, red kidney beans, chickpeas etc which you can use to make either a sweet soup or a savoury one. I prefer savoury soups so that is what I made today. If you cannot get this particular brand in your supermarket, you can easily buy different varieties of dried beans and mix them together. I could have done that but I was feeling particularly lazy and not in the mood to buy various types of beans. So I opted to buy GreenLove's pre-packed version. For this soup, you will need additional ingredients such as: 2 tablespoons of wolfberries ("kei chi") - soaked and drained 2 slices of young ginger 8 to 10 dried red dates (soaked in water, remove pits) 200 gm pork or chicken (blanched in boiling water) Bring to boil a pot of 1.5 to 2 liters water. Once water is boiling, add all ingredients. Again, bring it to a rapid boil for 10 minutes be...

I am Cantonese of Toi Shan origin. We speak a dialect that's similar to Cantonese but it's not really Cantonese. I suppose you could say it is an offshoot of Cantonese, perhaps even a deeply skewed version. Not many people speak Toi Shan dialect these days. The ones who do speak it are as old as mountains. Most are in their 60s and 70s. I call it a Dinosaur Dialect as it seems that old to me. The younger Toi Shan generation either do not bother to learn it or find it hard to speak (after all, you can't practice if you have no one to speak it with!). Or maybe it just sounds funny to the ears and Cantonese sounds much better. I've promised myself that if I have kids, I will teach them this language. I speak Toi Shan because my Dad is Toi Shan. I speak it with him and my second sis. With my youngest sis, I revert to Cantonese. With mum, I speak Cantonese as she's Cantonese through and through. One of the best memories of being of a small, select dialect group ...

Taking care of myself has been a philosophy that Mum drummed into me since I was a young girl. Taking care of myself meant eating healthy and in my case, I'm the only daughter who dares to drink the darkest of brews just so I can look my prettiest best. Ah yes. I also believed in no pain, no gain. So if I had to drink some herbal soup with strange ingredients (and they usually smelled very strong), I told myself, it's for my own good. I'm nourishing my body. I'm keeping alive centuries of knowledge and practise. Until today, I find the best places to remind me of my childhood is to walk into a Chinese herbal shop and inhale the fragrance of herbs! To me, that is the best smell in the world. Anyway, for Chinese women, replenishing our blood and reviving our bodies is a must after each menstruation. I've learnt this since young whereby Mum would brew for us Dang Gui or Ba Zheng Tang a few days after we were done with our periods. Usually boiled with chicken thighs (m...

I've taken to keeping a bottle of Buddha Fruit Tea in my fridge these days after I realized how a simple tea like this can keep me in tip top condition even as I run about with my busiest of business days. Buddha Fruit or Lo Han Guo (Momordica grosvenori) is one of those herbs I have stashed in my kitchen cupboard. It's a dried fruit, the size of a tennis ball, the colour of greenish gold. It's lightweight with a delicate taste that makes it a versatile herb used in sweet and savoury soups. (For savoury soups, you can boil Lo Han Guo with pork to cure pneumonia and cough. But it has a taste which some people cannot stomach. If you belong to the category of people who are used to drinking Lo Han Guo as a sweet tea, then stick to it.) In the past I used to boil Lo Han Guo fruit (1 fruit per 1 - 2 liters water) with dried longan, dried red dates and dried lotus seeds. This made a good dessert when served warm or chilled. Now I just boil 1 Lo Han Guo fruit (wash the fruit firs...

I was in Hong Kong in March and I was blown away by the easy accessibility of herbs, herbal drinks, herbal soups and healthy practices of the people of Hong Kong. I will share more of that with you once my business schedule has toned down a bit. Right now, I am stealing a bit of time out (from working on a client's website) to post this. I saw this and thought it fantastic to share with all of you here. As an aside, I've hardly been making soups. Sigh. What a pity huh. I've been involved in lots of committee work (from my own businesswomen group committee to my residential committee) and that plus business has taken me away from my fave pastime, making soups. OK, enough of that. This link is about Chinese herbal teas which promote sleep . Without proper sleep, one gets grouchy and ill-tempered. Sleep also allows your body to repair itself. Lots of easy tea recipes on this Chinese herbal tea page. Do take a look and try them out!

Happy New Year to you, if you've just arrived at this blog. I call myself the Soup Queen, tongue-in-cheek style. I think this name has really stuck well. When I first got the idea for a soup blog, I was just planning on compiling soup recipes for myself. I figured, if I write them down in notebooks, I might never find them again (knowing how easy it is to lose papers and such). And I like the idea of a quick search to get my recipes. That's how the Soup Queen got started. My niche is really Chinese style soups which to the Cantonese, is a big deal. As Cantonese, we're especially proud of our elegant cuisine. Soups feature a lot in our cuisine too. A good soup is always flavourful, delicate and robust. It nourishes. It replenishes. I'm still surprised I have lots of soup recipes despite blogging for so long about soups. I guess the more one learns, the more one needs to learn. I'll try to share more this year as I was a bit slack last year due to business, moving hom...