Miso Soup

Apart from Cawanmushi, miso soup is often a part of the Japanese bento meal. There are plenty of instant miso soup packets but really, I got to try making one from scratch some day. It's part of the fun of cooking!

As with Cawanmushi, miso soup is very easy to whip up, is very versatile and almost fool-proof. The following recipe serves 5.

Ingredients :
30 Tofu ; (half-inch cubes)
4 mushrooms ; sliced
1/4 cup dried seaweed ; (wakame)
4 cups water
2 teaspoons dashi (nomoto)
3 tablespoons miso

Instructions:
Soften seaweed in lukewarm water. Boil 4 cups of water and dashi. Add tofu and mushrooms and seaweed, simmer gently about 3 minutes. Add miso and dissolve completely. Immediately turn off the heat and serve.

Daring Cooks' Challenge: Vietnamese Chicken Pho

The October 2009 Daring Cooks’ challenge was brought to us by Jaden of the blog Steamy Kitchen. The recipes are from her new cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook.

I've never had Vietnamese Pho. I like noodle soups though so I thought this is a good challenge to try. This is a very easy dish to prepare. The "tough" part was toasting the spices, which was actually really easy.

The chicken pho tastes like Koay Teow T'ng (Malaysian street fare: noodle soup) except it has a cleaner taste. All I was thinking while eating it was, "this is such a healthy dish". I used fresh koay teow (flat rice noodles) instead of dry because they were easily available. I also substituted soy sauce for fish sauce, so that probably accounts for the oh-so-slightly bland taste to the soup.
Other than that, I'd say this is a great healthy dish.

Here's the recipe.

Preparation Time: 45 cooking time + 15 minutes to cook noodles based on package directions

Servings: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the Chicken Pho Broth:
2 tbsp. whole coriander seeds
4 whole cloves
2 whole star anise
2 quarts (2 liters/8 cups/64 fluid ounces) store-bought or homemade chicken stock
1 whole chicken breast (bone in or boneless)
½ onion
1 3-inch (7.5 cm) chunk of ginger, sliced and smashed with side of knife
1 to 2 tbsps. sugar
1 to 2 tbsps. fish sauce

1 lb. (500 grams/16 ounces) dried rice noodles (about ¼ inch/6 mm wide)

Accompaniments:

2 cups (200 grams/7 ounces) bean sprouts, washed and tails pinched off
Fresh cilantro (coriander) tops (leaves and tender stems)
½ cup (50 grams/approx. 2 ounces) shaved red onions
½ lime, cut into 4 wedges
Sriracha chili sauce
Hoisin sauce
Sliced fresh chili peppers of your choice

Directions:

1. To make the Chicken Pho Broth: heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add the coriander seeds, cloves and star anise and toast until fragrant, about 3-4 minutes. Immediately spoon out the spices to avoid burning.

2. In a large pot, add all the ingredients (including the toasted spices) and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce the heat to medium-low and let simmer for 20 minutes, skimming the surface frequently.

4. Use tongs to remove the chicken breasts and shred the meat with your fingers, discarding the bone if you have used bone-in breasts.

5. Taste the broth and add more fish sauce or sugar, if needed. Strain the broth and discard the solids.

6. Prepare the noodles as per directions on the package.

7. Ladle the broth into bowls. Then divide the shredded chicken breast and the soft noodles evenly into each bowl.

8. Have the accompaniments spread out on the table. Each person can customize their own bowl with these ingredients.

Harira

I had lamb soup last weekend. My parents went to a bazaar and there was a wonderful variety of food. My dad decided to buy back a middle eastern dish for me to try. There was the rice with wonderful flavour from spices, accompanied by soup which tasted really familiar to me. Eventually, I realised the soup was boiled with lamb (I don't have lamb very often) but funnily enough, the meat in the soup was chicken (you can see why I was confused).

With lamb on my mind, I searched for a recipe which might be similar to the one I tried. This recipe from All Recipes was fantastic. It was not as oily as the one I had, and had a cleaner taste to it. I'm not familiar with Middle Eastern fare but according to the submitter of the dish, Harira is a traditional Moroccan dish.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Butter
453 grams Lamb meat
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3/4 cup Celery ; chopped
1 Onion ; chopped
1 red onion ; chopped
1/2 cup Fresh cilantro ; chopped
822 grams Diced tomatoes
Salt ; to taste
7 cups water
3/4 cup green lentils
425 grams Chick peas ; drained
2 Eggs ; beaten
Cilantro ; for garnish

Instructions:
(1) Season lamb with a bit of salt.

(2) Place butter in large soup pot and melt over low heat. Place lamb, turmeric, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger, cayenne, butter, celery, onion and cilantro into the soup pot and stir frequently for 5 minutes. Pour tomatoes (reserve juice) into the mixture and salt to taste. Let simmer for 15 minutes.

(3) Pour tomato juice, 7 cups water, and the lentils into the pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. Let soup simmer, covered, for 2 hours.

(4) About 10 minutes before serving, turn the heat to medium-high, place chickpeas into the soup, let cook about 10 minutes. Stir in eggs, let eggs cook 1 minute.

Tomato Bisque

I had some tomato paste I really wanted to use up. All Recipes is a good site to search for recipes by ingredients. I came across Tomato Bisque III which had good ratings from the users.

The recipe was good though I did prefer the creamy carrot with curry soup. The tomato flavour was a bit overwhelming. I think I probably used too much tomato paste. The recipe is adapted to serve 3 people.

Ingredients:
30 grams butter
1/2 small onion ; finely chopped
1/2 stalk celery ; finely chopped
1/2 carrot ; finely chopped
1 cloves Garlic ; minced
1 1/2 tablespoons All purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 cups chicken broth
411 grams fire roasted diced tomatoes ; drained
1 tablespoons white sugar
1/12 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 cup milk
Salt and black pepper ; to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic. Cook and stir until the vegetables are tender and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly.

2. Stir in the tomato paste, chicken broth, tomatoes, sugar, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes until the vegetables are very tender.

3. Pour half to three-quarters of the soup into a blender-depending on how chunky you want it-filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the soup in the saucepan.

4. Return the pureed soup to the saucepan and stir in the cream. Cook over medium heat until the soup is hot. Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Bokok Fish Soup

This soup has a lot of variations. It seems as if different households in Penang have their own recipe for it. Some like their Bokok Fish Soup sweet, others with tons of chilli. In our house, we like the soup simple; just the fish in assam soup. It's quite similar to the Assam Laksa soup but stripped down to only 5 main ingredients. It's great served hot with rice.

A word of caution: do not serve the soup in plastic bowls. The turmeric in the soup will leave a stain.

Ingredients:
- 2 slices of belacan (unroasted) (1.5-inch square, about 1/2 inch thick)
- 450g tamarind pulp
- 550g Bokok fish or kembung fish, cleaned and gutted
- 1 bundle lemongrass (about 3-4 stalks, use the inner white bulbs only) (smashed)
- 3 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- Salt to taste
- Chili powder or red chillies to taste (optional)

Method:
1) Break up the belacan and add into the pot, together with 2 cups of water.

2) In a bowl, add 1 cup of water to the tamarind pulp. Squeeze tamarind in the water and pour the tamarind juice into a large pot of water. Keep repeating until the water is clear; about 7-8 times.


3) Add fish.

4) Add lemongrass and turmeric powder. Stir.

5) Bring to boil. Then simmer for at least an hour.

6) Add salt and chili powder to taste.

Serve hot.

Chicken Noodle Soup

It's flu season again. That means if you're down with it, you would have no appetite for anything that might be too rough on your throat. Second only to a nice soothing bowl of chok (congee), chicken noodle soup is packed with nutrients and flavour.

This recipe yields 5-6 bowls.

Ingredients:
- Vegetable oil
- 1 turnip, cut into chunks
- 2 carrots, cut into chunks
- 1 onion, peeled and cut in half
- 2 skinless chicken breasts, rinsed and pat dry
- 4-6 whole peppercorns
- 4-6 whole cloves
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme, marjoram, or tarragon
- 1 large bay leaf
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 7-8 cups chicken broth
- 1 carrot, cut into chunks
- 1 celery, cut into chunks
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 cup corn kernels
- Pasta, homemade (recipe follows) or store-bought

Method:
1) Heat vegetable oil in a large pot. Add turnip, carrots and onion. Saute, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are lightly browned, being careful to avoid burnt spots. Transfer them to a bowl or dish and set aside.
2) Add in more vegetable oil and heat on medium-­high heat. Add chicken and saute, turning often, until lightly browned. Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and cook about 10 minutes.
3) Return vegetables to the pot. Add peppercorns, cloves, herbs, garlic, salt and enough broth to cover contents about two inches. Bring mixture to a boil and immediately reduce heat to a simmer. While the soup is simmering, occasionally skim off the foam that accumulates on top of the broth.
Add more broth if the liquid no longer covers the chicken and vegetables. Simmer until chicken is tender and almost falling off the bone, about 2
hours.
4) Transfer cooked chicken to a large dish. Strain broth into a large pot. Transfer any pieces of chicken in the strainer to the pot. Discard vegetables, garlic, spices and herbs.
5) Add carrot, celery, onion and corn kernels to the chicken broth. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove from the bones, cut into bite-sized pieces and add, along with any juices, to soup. Bring to boil and simmer until vegetables are cooked. Lastly, add in the cooked pasta.

Serve hot.

Homemade Pasta
Ingredients:
- 100g all-purpose flour
- 1 egg
- some olive oil

Method:
1) Place flour in a bowl. Make a well and crack the egg into the well.


2) Using your fingers, break the egg and slowly incorporate the flour into the egg until everything is combined. If the dough feels tough, trickle in some olive oil.
3) Knead for about 8-10 minutes until dough becomes smooth and silky.


4) Cover the bowl and leave the dough for at least 30 minutes.
5) Using a pasta machine, roll it out to your desired thickness and cut it into the shape your want. I used the fettuccine setting for mine. I then cut it into shorter strips so that I can just scoop up the noodles with a spoon instead of using chopsticks.
6) Boil them in water for about 3-4 minutes.

Set aside.

Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup

This is the one dish I order whenever I patronise a Taiwanese restaurant. Of course the dishes are made slightly differently in one restaurant compared to another. I was tempted to try making it myself when I came across this recipe in A Daily Obsession; or I should say, when I came across the delectable picture of the dish there. I followed her advice and made the soup the day before. The next day, the soup was absolutely heavenly and the beef had absorbed the spices in the soup. The soup is very "beefy" so this dish is strictly for beef lovers. Add in homemade noodles (which is really better than any noodles you can possibly buy outside) and voila! a tasty dish to satisfy your strongest beef craving.

This recipe is adapted. The beef serves about 3 people but the soup will probably feed 4-5 people. You can increase the beef accordingly.

Ingredients:
1/2 kg stewing beef or beef ribs, or mixture of
1 piece ginger (10g), peeled & smashed lightly
1 bunch spring onions, tied
1/4 bulb garlic, peeled
1 piece dried tangerine/mandarin peel, 2 X 2 cm
1/2 star anise
1 stick cinnamon, about 3 cm long
3/4-1 tbsp sugar (to your liking)
3 tbsp dark soy sauce (or more to intensify color)
3 tbsp light soy sauce
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 tsp white rice vinegar (optional)
1 litre beef or chicken stock
Homemade noodles (cut into udon size)
A bunch of bok choy

Garnishing:
cilantro or Chinese celery leaves

Instructions:
1) Cook the soup the day before serving. Cut stewing beef into small pieces, 3 x 4 cm or bigger if like. Beef ribs about 5 X 5 cm. If using ribs, blanch them briefly in boiling water, throw water away.
2) Put everything into a heavy-based pot and add a litre of water and a litre of beef or chicken stock. Boil and simmer for 2-3 hours. Leave it till the next day. Season to taste.
3) Boil a large pot of water and cook noodles, two portions at a time so that you can control the texture of the noodles. Meanwhile, heat up the beef soup.
4) Boil soup and vegetables together. Once the vegetables have cooked to your liking, add cooked noodles and cook for a short while. Quickly pour into serving bowls.
5) Top with some cilantro or chopped Chinese celery leaves. Serve immediately.

Spicy Miso Ramen with Homemade Noodles

I'm a fan of noodle soups, especially spicy ones. When I came across this recipe in Rasa Malaysia, I couldn't resist trying it out. I did not have the Japanese ingredients for the longest time. Recently, Gurney Plaza had a Japanese food exhibition and I managed to get most of the ingredients on my list.

This miso ramen was terrific. Although it was quite light, it had plenty of flavour from the miso with subtle spiciness from the chilli oil. I tweaked my previous homemade noodles recipe and this time the noodles had the perfect texture and springiness for a soup dish.

The recipe is adapted according to my taste. Serves 3.

Ingredients:

Homemade noodles (recipe below)
4 1/2 cups water
3 tablespoons white miso paste
2 teaspoons chilli oil
1/2 teaspoon hondashi
2 hard-boiled eggs
3/4 can corn kernels (15 oz can)
1 stalk scallion (finely chopped)
1 tablespoon white sesame seeds (pound with mortar and pestle until fine)
Some seasoned seaweed (cut into thin strips)

Method:

1) Bring the water to boil and then add in the miso paste, hondashi, eggs, and finely ground sesame seeds. Bring the soup base to boil and reduce to 4 cups. Add in the chili oil to taste.

2) Blanch the noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are cooked. Drain, and set aside.

3) In a serving bowl, add the noodles and then topped with the hard-boiled egg (sliced into half), corn kernels and chopped scallion. Pour the miso soup into the bowl and add the seaweeds.

Serve immediately.

Homemade Noodles

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 tablespoon water

Instructions:
1) Put all ingredients into a bowl. Mix until the dough comes together and knead for 10-15 minutes. Rest for 30 minutes.
2) Roll out dough thinly. Noodles will expand when cooked. Douse with lots of flour.
3) Fold or roll the dough into a log and cut into thin strips.
4) Pull out strips slightly and let them rest and dry out for about 2 hours.

Creamy Carrot with Curry Soup

Creamy soups are one of my comfort food although we rarely have a cold day here. Curry is also a weakness of mine and when I came across this recipe in AllRecipes, it sounded too good to pass up, and boy was I glad I tried out the recipe. The soup was delicious; a strong carrot flavour with subtle spice aftertaste. Gorgeous!

This recipe yields 4 servings (adapted)

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3/4 pound peeled carrots, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1/2 large onion, cut into large dice
• 1-1/2 teaspoons butter
• 1/2 pinch sugar
• 1-1/2 large garlic cloves, thickly sliced
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• a dash of ground nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
  
• 1-1/2 cups chicken broth, homemade or from a carton or can
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep saute pan until shimmering.
2. Add carrots, then onion; saute, stirring very little at first, then more frequently, until vegetables start to turn golden brown, 7 to 8 minutes.
3. Reduce heat to low and add butter, sugar and garlic; continue cooking until all vegetables are a rich spotty caramel color, about 10 minutes longer.
4. Add curry powder, cinnamon, cumin and nutmeg; continue to saute until fragrant, 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.
5. Add broth; bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, partially covered, until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.
6. Using a blender, puree until very smooth, 30 seconds to 1 minute. (Vent it either by removing the lid's pop-out center or by lifting one edge of the lid. Drape the blender canister with a kitchen towel. To 'clean' the canister, pour in a little whole milk, blend briefly, then add to the soup.)
7. Return to pan (or a soup pot); add enough whole milk so the mixture is souplike, yet thick enough to float garnish. Taste, and add salt and pepper if needed. Heat through, ladle into bowls, and serve.

Kiam Chai Ark (Salted Vegetable and Duck Soup)

In my family, Kiam Chai Ark is one of the traditional dishes eaten during lunch on the first day of Chinese New Year. It's salty and sourish and goes extremely well with white rice or brown rice.

Ingredients:

- 30 dried mushrooms
- 1 duck (about 1.7 kg)
- 1 pig trotter
- chicken bones
- sugar cane
- 8 nutmeg seeds (cracked with seeds slightly pounded)
- 10 -12 peppercorns, smashed
- cinnamon stick, 3 inches
- 3 star anise
- mustard greens (kiam chai) (1 kg)
- 10 small onions
- 8 sour plums
- salt

Directions:
1. Soak mushrooms (preferably overnight)
2. Cut up duck into smaller pieces. Boil duck in water to get rid of some of its wax. Discard water.
3. Boil another pot of water and pour boiling water over pig trotter to wash it.
4. Put pig trotter and duck in a pot and boil awhile. Scoop up the scum that forms at the top and discard. Set aside the water.



5. Boil about 2.5 litres water in another pot.
6. Put in chicken bones and sugar cane and boil over small flame for about 1 hour.
7. Discard bones and cane.
8. Wrap up nutmeg seeds, peppercorns, cinnamon and star anise in a small muslin cloth.
9. Put pig trotter, duck and spices in muslin cloth into chicken broth. Then add mustard greens, mushrooms, onions and sour plums. Lastly, add in the water from 4 until the duck and mustard greens are complete submerged. Bring to boil, then simmer for 1 hour.

10. Discard spices and add salt, to taste.


Serve very hot with rice.