Bak Kuet Teh

Bak Kuet Teh is one of the popular Chinese soup that can be found in Asia countries, such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and etc. In Singapore there are mainly 3 different types of Bak Kuet Teh where the most common type comes from Teochew style, which is light in color but uses more pepper in the soup. Whereas, Hokkien who prefer saltier food will use more soy sauce which results in a darker soup. But Cantonese on the other hand will add extra Chinese herbs to create a stronger flavoured soup.

No matter which version you prefer, there is sure a great varieties to select from the local hawker stall to high class restaurant. But instead of eating out, you might want to try out this quick and easy version which yield a more healthier result. For those Singaporean who works or station overseas for a long time, I believed this is what you are craving for. I used to crave for this while I was away from Singapore to Australia for almost 2 years. So from that time, I have tried different method to achieve a close version of this soup. And I believed at a glance on the ingredients, you will have guess that I actually combined the Teochew and Cantonese version of adding extra Peppercorns and Chinese Herbs to enhance the flavour.

This is sure to be a simple and yet delicious soup to prepare for busy working mum or those Singaporean who station overseas. All you required is a packet of this pre-packed Bak Kuet Teh spices from "Seah's Spices" which you can get from most leading supermarket in Singapore or maybe some of the overseas Asian Grocery department. The adding of small onion is to make the soup fragrance and sweet while the white peppercorns add some extra hotness to the soup to warm up the stomach during cold and raining season.

Ingredient: (serves 4)
1 Packet of Seah's Bak Kuet Teh Spices
1kg of Spare Ribs/Pork Ribs
1 Cluster of Garlic
3 Small Onion, cut into wedges
1 Tablespoon of White Peppercorns
1 Tablespoon of Wolfberries
5g of Yuzhu(玉竹)
1 Litre of Water

Method:
1. Wash, trim and blanched the spare ribs in boiling water for about 3 - 5 minutes, removed and rinse well. Set aside.
2. Preheat a pot with 1 teaspoon of oil, saute the garlic and onion till fragrant, add in the blanched spare ribs and give it a quick stir and cover for 30 seconds.
3. Next add in 1 litre of water and bring the mixture to boil, then drop in the pre-packed seah's spices, white peppercorns bag and yuzhu.
4. When the soup boils, let it simmer for about 5 minutes, transfer the soup to a slow cooker and cook on HIGH for 1 hours, add in the wolfberries and continue to cook for another 30 minutes or so. (give the soup a stir once or twice in between the cooking time to evenly distribute the taste of the spices)
5. If you are cooking this soup on the stove, simmer on medium-low heat for about 45 minutes.
6. Serve with steam rice and cut chilli with dark soy sauce.

Note:-
1. Place the peppercorns inside a soup bag, rinse it in water, and crushed lightly with the back of the knife or a mug.


To go with the above soup, I also prepared something light and green for a healthy combination. Some restaurant or food stall usually stir-fry this Baby Kailan with oyster sauce, but I choose to stir-fry this with some olive oil and minced garlic then topped with some crunchy white baits.

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Baked Prawn With Lemon & Cheese

These baked Lemon & Cheese Prawns are from the Fresh Live Prawn that we caught during our Prawning Trip last weekend at Bottle Tree Park. It is indeed an enjoyable experience on the prawning trip and most of thrilling part is I get to use these prawns for my new dish.

This is a very simple dish that most of you will be able to grab the ingredients right from your fridge at any moment. All you need are some butter, 1 lemon, 2 slices of sandwich cheese if you are run out of shredded cheese. Don't worry if you don't have Fresh live prawn, you can always get any type of prawns from the supermarket or you can even replace it with fish fillet like salmon or any white fish.

Ingredients: (serves 2)
8 Medium Size Prawn
2 Slices of Sandwich Cheese, cut into thin strips
1 Lemon, cut into thin slices
10g of Butter
2 Tablespoon of RUM or Brandy, optional

Method:
1) Wash, trim and slit the back of the prawn into half, becareful not to cut too deep or else the prawn will break into halves.
2) Cut the butter into small cubes and stuff it into cuts of the prawn.
3) Arrange some lemon slices in a baking dish (or you can use disposal foil baking tray), place the stuffs prawn on top of the lemon.
4. Top the shredded cheese on top of the prawns, drizzle the liquor evenly on top of the prawn.
5. If you want that extra citric fragrance on the baked prawn, you can top with some extra strips of lemon rind.
6. Bake in the toaster oven for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the prawn is cook through.
6. You can served directly from the baking tray or you can re-arrange them in serving plate and serve as finger food for party.


Note:
~ Above is the sample photo of the toaster oven which you might have it in kitchen, it is usually used to reheat bread, pizza or small items.

The gravy of this dish is so fragrance and sweet due to the sweetness that comes from the fresh prawn. Look at the prawns, some of it still comes with prawn roes. The combination of Lemon, Cheese, Prawn and Liquor will definitely stimulate your tastebuds to another level of food tasting.

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Double-Boiled Huai Shan Chicken Soup

A bowl of warm and hearty soup is always a great comfort food for rainy season like these few weeks. After a long day at work, having a bowl of homecook soup is always such a blessing in life. For me, I am very particular about soup and I must have soup at least thrice a week. I believed a bowl of homecook soup consists of all kind of nourtition and will helps strengthen our body and prevent diseases as well as common sickness.

Soups can be made in different ways such as double-steamed(double-boiled), slow boiled and quick boiled. In this modern society, most of the households are equipped with more advance availability of alternative cooking utensils that can shorten the cooking process but yet retain its natural flavour.

Like I have used to share in most of my "Soup Posts", Red Dates and Wolfberries are some very common Chinese Herbs ingredients that can be added to our daily soup as part of the ingredients for flavouring. Today's main ingredient is "Huai Shan - 淮山" or sometime which is also refer to as "Shan Yao - 山药". Fresh Huai Shan is mostly sold in supermarkets or wet markets which you might not recognise the fresh Huai Shan as the appearance looks very different from the dried type that are thinly slices and harden before packing. The fresh one will be found in long stick-like root form with skin intact. After peeling the outer skin, you will find it wet and excessively slimy. But don't worry, the sticky substances will disappear once it is boiled in water.

Fresh Huai Shan is nature and sweet in taste that is similar to sweet potato or potato texture when used as a soup ingredient. It benefits the Spleen, Lungs and the Kidneys and strength the health.

Ingredients: (serves 2 - 3)
2 Chicken Drumstick, with thigh attached
500g Fresh Huai Shan(淮山)
8 - 10 Big Red Dates(红枣)
1/2 Tablespoon Wolfberries(枸杞子)
1 Honey Date (金丝蜜枣), optional
1 Litre of water

Method:
1. Wash, trim and blanched the chicken in boiling water for about 3 - 5 minutes, rinse with tap water and set aside.
2. Rinse the fresh huai shan to remove any dirt, peel the outer skin and cut the fresh into thick chunks. (fresh huai shan might feel sticky after removing the outer skin, just rinse with water and cook as per normal)
3. Bring the pot of water to boil, add in all the ingredients, except the wolfberries, when the water come to boil again, let the mixure simmer for about 5 minutes on low heat.
4. Transfer the mixture to a slow cooker and cook on AUTO for about 2 hour. Add in the wolfberries on the last 30 minutes of cooking time. (or you can simmer the soup mixture over low heat on the stove for about 45 minutes to 1 hour)
5. Season with salt and serve with rice or you can use it as a soup base for noodles.

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Winner For The Foodie Blogroll Contests

I was so shock and thrill to receive an email from Food Blogroll last Sunday, 14 November 09 informing me that my blog was selected as this week's winners for the Foodie Blogroll "Adaptable Feast Cookbook" giveaway!

You can get to read more about this contest at this LINK here. Now I am looking forward to receive my prize soon and that will give me the chance to share more about this book with you soon..... Once again, thank you Foodie Blogroll for this wonder Gift........

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Parents World Nov - Dec 2009 Issue

Finally got my copy of Nov - Dec issue of Parents World. A few weeks ago, I heard from Daniel (the editor) that Angelina Jolie will be on the cover page and some fabulous updates will incorporate in this upcoming issue. So I was really very excited and eagerly looking forward to get my copy. If you are a Fan of Angelina Jolie, then you sure will want to grab a copy of this to read more about her and her family life :)

In this issue, they share a lot of interesting and useful information i.e. Best of the Best Enrichment & Learning Schools for busy mum like us. It actually gives us some guidelines on what each enrichment school provides and help us to make the right choice for our child to attend their classes during coming school holiday. There about 20 over pages on the top enrichment schools in town and some discount vouchers will be given to Parents World Readers too..... :)

Other than choosing the best enrichment school for your kids, you can also read about the WILD & WET land at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Tips on taking charge of your child's health and what are the area to look for. You can also find some interesting read up on "Household Tips - Clean well with toothpaste", "Planned & Unplanned C-Section" and etc......

Lastly, you can also take a glimpse on some of my recipes contribution at "Dish Up Your Own" page. From stir-fry, oven bake to steaming dish...... these are some of the easy to whip-up recipes that can satisfy you and your family tastebuds.

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