Tonight, I am taking my little boys to see a Talent Show in Ethan's School. That would mean, Damian would have to eat all by himself, which I am sure he doesn't mind at all. It's really nice to have some quiet time - once in a while. I still want to cook dinner as I need to pack them all lunches and somehow I have to figure out, how to sqeez in the little boy's dinner - maybe I just pack them some dinner boxes instead.Tonight's menu will be traditional Chinese Cuisine. As always we will have Chinese Soup with it. I haven't had Chinese apple soup for a long long time. My dad has so many ways of cooking this soup but I like this version most. At first, I thought it's weird adding apples to your soup, but it's really good. Refreshing, sort of sweet, soothing and let's not forget all the benefits of the white snow fungus:
■ Snow fungus provides iron, vitamin C, calcium and phosphorous
■ In Western herbology, snow fungus is considered as an immune stimulant that fights infection, especially chronic infections. It has demonstrated anti-tumor activities, protects the liver and fights inflamation
■ In Chinese medicine, snow fungus is said to nourish the lungs, heal dry cough, and remove heatiness from the lung
■ When used with rock sugar (in Chinese desserts), it can also stimulate the colon and serve as a mild laxative for constipation
■ Some believe when eating snow fungus that it will help women eliminate freckles from their complexion and slow the aging process
Chinese Apples With White Fungus & Carrots Soup (蘋果雪耳红萝卜湯)
10 - 12 dried northern/eastern Apricots Kernel (南北杏)
4 dried honey dates (蜜枣)
1 small dried white snow fungus (雪耳)
1 - 2 Chinese carrots, peeled and cut into bite sizes
2 - 3 Red Delicious apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters
1/2 lbs boneless lean pork
Step 1:
Soak your dried white snow fungus in a small bowl of warm water for 30 minutes or run it under warm water for 5 minutes. After the white snow fungus has doubled up in size, remove the "heart" and cut into big chunks. Then rinse your dried honey dates and the apricots kernel.
Step 2:
Blanche lean pork in separate bowl with boiling water, afterwards rinse it clean under running water to remove any dirt and debris from the blanching.
Step 3:
Mix all the ingredients in a pot, cover with plenty of water and bring it to boil. Simmer over low heat for 2 - 3 hours until broth changes colour and vegetables are slightly soft to touch.
Step 4:
Add salt to taste. Serve hot.
Enjoy !
Susane,
ReplyDeleteIf I were to make a vegetarian option should I substitute the lean pork with vegetarian stock powder? Or add mushrooms?
Hmmmm ... good question Sharon, I think I would just ommit the meat and put more apples and carrots in.
ReplyDeleteSusane,
ReplyDeleteI tried to make a japanese-inspired pot roast from a recipe I got from epicurious or something like that. IT WAS AWFUL!! I used the Knorr beef broth cubes and I think that was my problem! It was so awful I had to throw the whole thing away!!
Do you know of a good broth brand? In this recipe you suggest chicken broth. What brand of broth do you use when you can't make the broth naturally?
Sincerely,
A dedicated student
Oh dear .... whenever I have to use non homemade broths, I used the Campbell brand, it works not bad so far .... I get mine @ Costco. I never use bouillon cubes as an soup base ... use them as a seasoning instead, works wonders. As for Chinese Soup bases, I would really not use any other then the real meat with bones attached. In your case with Bernd on board, I would really use more vegetables instead, but do not sub meat stock with mushrooms .... at least not for this soup.
ReplyDeleteOh and for my potroast, use the oxo brand bouillon powder packs, it tastes good. My Nai Nai tought me this trick .... oxo tastes so much better for potroasts !!!!!
I knew you would know what to do :)
ReplyDeleteYou are very welcome ... I forgot to tell you, that I used to love using the Chinese Swanson Chicken Broth as well, that is by far my most favourite one ... but it got really expensive after a while, so I settled for campbell brand. Today, I found the Chinese Swanson brand chicken broth in the 1 litre size at costco ... YEAH !!!!
ReplyDeleteI disagree with using salt.
ReplyDeleteThe soup is so tasteful and beautifully crafted as is. I used salt for a small bowl and I regretted it.
Glad you made it anyhow .... did you maybe put too much salt ? I find it tastes blahish without any ... but that is me !!!
ReplyDeleteI added in very salt as I am conscious of my salt intake. I just found that the salt didn’t add anything. The apples and honey dates are sweet and just go so well together. The salt just disturbed the flavour for me…. It didn’t belong, for me. But that’s the great thing about sharing recipes. Everyone is different and we all have different taste buds and opinions to share!
ReplyDelete