Simple Cooking Ideas

This soup call the ‘Ning Shen’ soup has the following herbs: pak kay, wai san, yok chok, preserved tangerine peel, pak hup and kei chee. It is good for anyone under stress and strain. The soup is best boiled in a big clay pot and the whole family, kids and adults can have a bowl each.

Ingredients:

1 packet ‘ning shen’herbs bought in Chinese Drug Store
1 black chicken, cleaned and keep it whole
2.5 litre water
salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Soak the herbs for about 10 minutes. Drain and put in the claypot. Add two and half litres water. Cover and bring to boil. When the water boils, lift the cover and put in the chicken. Put back the cover and boil on high heat until the the contents are boiling. Lower the heat and simmers for 3 to 4 hours. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve one bowl per person.

This soup is sweet and calm the body of stress and balance the yin and yang. The snow frog is first soak in warm water for a few hours to soften it. Then remove the veins and dirt with a pincer. Korean ginseng is added to and is one of most nourishing herb.

Ingredients:

20 gm snow frog, soak and clean
6-8 slices Korean ginseng
2.5 litres water
12 red dates, seeds removed
15 gm dried longan
100 gm cane sugar
1 slice tangerine peel

Method:

Soak snow frog in warm water for 4 hours. Remove veins and dirt. Bring 3 cups of water to boil and add in a slice of ginger. Put in the snow frog and briskly boil for awhile. Drain and rinse in cold water. Combine all the ingredients and put in a crock-pot and stew for 4 hours. Serve one bowl for each person in the family.

These chinese herbs are good for lungs and blood circulation. These two herbs are boiled with dates to make a sweet tea. It is good for anyone under stress and strain, for example, students studying for an examination.

Ingredients:

30 gm “Tung Sum”
30 gm “Pak Kei”
20 gm Red Dates, Removed stones
20 gm Black dates, Removed stones
2.5 litres (10 bowls) water

Method:

Put 2.5 litres of water in a clay pot. Add all the ingredients and bring to boil. Lower

heat and simmer until liquid is reduced to 3/4 of the amount. Sip it warm.

This soup is good for blood circulation and helps to relieve inflammation of the uterus, body-aches and pains. It is excellent for the young and active mothers.

Ingredients:

1 Kampung chicken (2kg)
30 gm “Dong Kwai”
20 red dates, removed stones
20 gm “Cheen Kung”
30 gm “Pak Kei”
30 gm dried longan, washed, drained
2 tablespoon “Kei Chi”, washed and drained.
2 litres water
1 teaspoon salt

Method:

Remove skin and fat from the chicken. Then, cut chicken into big pieces, combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer over a low flames for three to four hours.

Another quick soup to prepare using canned food product and just as great for the working mother, comes home to prepare dinner for the family.

Ingredients:

1 tin sweet corn (cream style)
1 chicken breast
2 eggs
1 litre soup stock

Seasoning:

1 tablespoon light soya sauce
sesame oil
a dash of MSG
salt and pepper to taste
cornflour mixed with water

Method:

Minced chicken meat and marinate with 1 teaspoon cornflour, 1 tablespoon egg white, a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

Slightly mince the sweet corn. Heat a pot and pour in 1 litre soup stock and bring to a boil.

Add the minced chicken and minced sweet corn plus seasoning. Mix well and boil again. Stir in cornflour mixture to thicken. Lower heat and continue to simmer. Add 2 beaten eggs to spread evenly. Remove to serve.

Need something to spice up your taste buds?  Try Szechuan.

A quick soup to prepare using these ingredients:, wood ear, mushroom, char choy( a hot and spicy preserved vegetable) and chicken. Wood ear is a type of fungus, often use in chinese cooking and the Japanese too. Before using , soak the fungus in warm water for 30 minutes to soften it. Soak the chinese mushrooms in the same way too. Clean and put aside for later use.

Ingredients:

Chicken, wood ear, and mushrooms, carrot and char choy, cut into strips:

200 gm chicken
30 gm wood ear, soaked and clean
30 gm mushroom, soaked and clean
2 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic and ginger
1 egg
2 stalk spring onion and parsley, cut into strips
1 litre water
char choy
1 carrot

Method:

Put 2 tablespoon oil in the pot and fry the minced garlic and ginger untill fragrant. Stir in chicken strips and fry for 2 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients, except spring onion and parsley. Stir-fry awhile and add water. Bring to the boil. Lower heat and simmer for for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and a dash of MSG. Break an egg and spread into the soup. Garnish with parsley . Remove to serve.

Ginseng is widely known for its medicinal value as well as an anti-oxidant which keeps the body cells rejuvenated. I use Korean ginseng roots with dry “wai san” (dioscorea yam) , yok chook and kei chee (wolfberry) and red dates for this nourishing soup. All these herbs are easily available in Chinese medical hall.

Ingredients:

Half a kampong chicken, cut into big pieces
25 gm Korean ginseng roots, bought in a small bundle
25 gm dry wai san
25 gm yok chok
15 gm kee chee
10 red dates
2 litres water
salt to taste

Method:

Wash the herbs in running water and put in the claypot together with water to boil. Add in the chicken and simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Add salt to taste. Serve hot

For busy mothers, please do not put off by the length of time to boil this soup. I always advise my daughters to put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and turn it on before they go to work and when they come back from work, they will have nutritious pot of herbal soup waitng for them.