The Soup Queen

Here are some photos of Chinese New Year cookies which I didn't make. All of these were either bought from friends who made them or given to me. Yes, I am fortunate that I am surrounded by capable bakers. I had 3 different types of butter cookies, 2 different types of seaweed crackers, and a host of delicious munchies. Here are some pineapple rolls, courtesy of my youngest sister.  Here is the view from the top. Pineapple rolls are a firm favourite each Chinese New Year.  Below are some seaweed or nori crackers made by my aunts. Apparently it's very easy to make. You just need sheets of nori sandwiched between popiah skin wrappers. Cut them up into bite-size pieces and deep-fry till crispy. Warning - these are completely addictive! I can munch through half a canister of this while watching Glee. Then I get all guilty!  These are called Almond London cookies. Also quite a sweet treat and available to me because my sister makes them for me. Inside each chocolate covered...

Chinese New Year is always about feasting and snacking. It's that one time of the year when you can really tell yourself, "I'll exercise more when CNY is over!" It's hard to resist traditional snacks and biscuits especially when you only get to eat them once a year. I wrote a post about my favourite snacks for Chinese New Year once but I think the list needs updating. Biscuits are in big demand in Penang during this time of the year because many women do not have time to make their own cookies or biscuits (how Americanized we've become - we used to call them biscuits but now they're cookies!). Chinese New Year cookie business is a lucrative business for many homemakers who are good at baking. I am not big on making cookies so I usually order from my aunt (who makes such scrumptious pineapple tarts) and my neighbour. I get cookies from my sister too - she makes good stuff! The most sought after cookies and traditional-style biscuits are the ones...

Hello everyone! It's the 4th day of the Chinese Lunar Year and the festivities haven't really ended yet - after all we have 15 days for the Chinese New Year. Of course, festivities do taper off after the 9th day especially in Penang. Penang Hokkiens celebrate with a thanksgiving prayer session on the eve of the 8th day of Chinese New Year - it is what we Cantonese call the Hokkien Chinese New Year. It is a big deal in Penang as the Chinese majority here are Hokkiens so the markets get busy again when the 8th day rolls around. Shops run by Hokkiens will again close on this special day as the families gather to offer food and prayers. I've been taking it easy this Chinese New Year - this year, Nic and I celebrated Chinese New Year here in Penang. It's been fun decorating our apartment with red - not that we don't have enough red in the house (our feature wall is unmistakably red). We bought a bunch of pussy willow stalks from a wholesale florist supplier on An...

The weather in Penang is becoming unbearably warm, particularly in the afternoons when the heat really sears. I decided to take a break from boiling Buddha Fruit and make something different. I was rummaging in my fridge and found a packet of Eu Yan Sang's Gui Ling Gao powder - it didn't have an expiry date so I thought, what the heck, I'd just use it. The thing is, and this is what I haven't figured out, does it really contain the shell of the turtle? Or is it just a name for a cooling dessert thanks to the ingenuity of the Chinese in naming their desserts? Anyway, I think there aren' that many turtles around these days so I hope the modern "gwai ling kou" is made from herbs. You can see this post I wrote previously on how I made this gui ling gao dessert .

In tropical Malaysia, I usually steer clear of temperate plants and herbs. Planting them is an exercise in patience as it can be quite trying to get some plants to grow properly. One of those herbs I love a lot is rosemary. I first bought a potted rosemary plant, about half a foot tall, for a princely sum of RM20 a pot some years ago. At that time, I was still at my old apartment where my balcony did not get direct sunlight. It worried me that my precious rosemary would not survive. It survived all of 2 years before it started to wilt and die. I blamed it on the lack of sunlight. Fast forward to 2010. I bought another rosemary plant, this time for RM16 at my local nursery. This time, I had a small plot of garden in the back of our ground floor apartment. It gets direct sun every day and I read that rosemary likes the sun (it is after all from the Mediterranean region). I piled on the compost (made by yours truly) and it grew happily. However, the rainy season came and with it, ...

If you have always wondered what makes "cincau" or "leong fan" (Cantonese) or grass jelly, this post will definitely enlighten you. It's from a plant called the Mesona with shiny leaves. Unlike "gwai ling kou" which I have associated with tortoises and their carapaces, grass jelly is less scary. The grass jelly drink is very common in Malaysia. It consists of black chewy jelly-like bits in syrupy sweet water which also gets its dark tinge from the grass jelly. Usually served cold with ice, this drink is a thirst quencher on hot days. It also helps 'cool' the body especially if one gets too heaty. Although it is a typically Chinese drink, many other races in Malaysia drink this too. For instance, Malays mix cincau with soya bean milk to make a sweet thirst quencher when they break fast during the fasting month. In fact, Yeo's usually sell their soya bean drink (1 liter tetrapack) with a can of cincau drink so you can mix them up at ho...

Happy New Year to you! Can you believe it? It's a new decade. I woke up this morning feeling like I've been transported to a new era. Of course it rained very heavily this morning and what struck me was this thought: I am very glad I am not in school anymore. I met a friend who had gone to his daughter's school during her recess to see if she's OK. I remembered how my nephew had the first day of school jitters last year this time. He's all right now but in the early days, he used to search for my mom (his Por-Por/ Grandma) to help him make sense of the Mandarin the teacher was using! This year I hope to blog more at SoupQueen. Last year took me away from my soup-making activities. Business has been good and I've been travelling too. And what with staffing and marketing and client servicing, it really left me very little time for experimenting in the kitchen. SoupQueen will have a little diversion once in a while - for instance, dishes and such becaus...

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...