Pumpkin Ginger Soup

I hope this second pumpkin dish is more interesting than the previous pumpkin post as there are more pumpkin recipes to come. I think the family has turned yellow from too much beta carotine, luckily we are yellow skin and it did not show that much.

Ingredients:

3 cups pumpkin puree

3 cans (15 oz)chicken broth

2 cloves garlic,finely chopped

2 tablespoons grated ginger root

1 tablespoon lime juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

A dollop of whipped cream(optional)

Chopped chives (optional)


Method:

In a 6-quart saucepan, combine pumpkin puree and chicken broth.

Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 10 minutes.

Add garlic, ginger root, lime juice, salt, and cayenne pepper; cook 10 minutes over medium heat.

Divide soup among soup bowls and garnish with whipped cream and chives, if desired.

Serve immediately.

Serves

Pumpkin And Turkey Congee

When my brother was ill and i told my australian sister in law to cook him porrdige and she made him oatmeal porrdige. We gave her the recipe to cook porridge the chinese way and she said that this was rice soup. That made sense, it is basically rice and soup. Congee is a better term and read more ....... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congee

This congee has become sort of a tradition in my kitchen after Thanksgiving. There will be with no doubt leftovers, turkey , bones and all and these bones are the best for stock which will be used for the congee. Sweet Potato/Yam is added quite often in Hokkien homes but i added pumpkin and it was just as delicious.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1/4 cup glutinious rice

1 cup shredded Turkey

Stock - made from turkey bones - put bones in pressure cooker, top with enough water and pressurized for 20 - 30 minutes

3 cups pumpkin - skinned and diced into 1 inch pieces

a few slices of fresh ginger

salt and pepper to taste

METHOD

Put rice and glutinious rice in the rice cooker, top with enough stock about 4 cups and press cook.

For cantonese type which is smooth and rice is all disintergrated, whisk and stir as often as possible and keep on adding a little stock or water.

For more grainy congee, just stir to prevent burning at the bottom.

Add in pumpkin and slices of ginger, continue to cook until pumpkin is fork tender.

Add in turkey and adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

Serves

Crab and Tung Hoon Claypot

This Claypot dish is a tempting soup of buttery crab flavors , layered with slippery 'tung hoon' and crunchy pea shoots. A truly orgasmic experience, this soup is not only a feast for the senses but satisfies hungry diners everu time.




Ingredients:

1 dungeness crab 2 bundles 'tung hoon'/bean vemicelli -soaked to soften

2 cups seafood stock - made from shrimp shells

2 tbsp hua tiau (rice wine)

2 slices ginger

Spring onions

Pea shoots

1 tsp sesame oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Tapioca starch for coating

Oil for frying

METHOD:

Cut crab into bite-size.

Coat lightly with tapioca starch.

Heat oil in a wok and fry coated crab until crab turns red.

In a claypot, heat 1 tbsp oil and fry ginger slices.

Add in stock, crab and rice wine. Bring to a boil.

Add in soaked tung hoon.

Add in salt and pepper to taste.

Add in spring onions.

Top with sesame oil and pea shoots hefore serving hot.

Abuk Abuk

This kuih is one of the easiest to make and only 3 ingredients can created the most delectable morsel of delight.

Ingredients:

150 g sago pearls, soaked for 10 minutes, drain dry

80 g grated coconut

50 g brown sugar

50 g sugar

1/2 tsp pandan paste

Banana leaves - cut into 6 inch circles - scalded to soften

Method:

Combine sago pearls, grated coconut and sugars together, mixing well.

Divide mixture into 2 portions.

Add pandan paste to one of the portion.

Fold the banana leaf circle into half to form a semi-circle. Fold again to form a cone.

Fill cone with halfway with plain sago mixture and then top with the pandan sago mixture.

Fold down the banana leaf to cover the cone and stand it on its base.

Steam Abuk Abuk over high heat for 8 - 10 minutes.

Acar Timun/Pickled Cucumber

Cucumber, how i missed the pale skin ones , they are so crunchy and not so much seeds. They are so suitable for pickles/acar, unlike the green cucumbers sold in our supermarkets, which has very thin flesh and a very hard skin which is not edible. Besides english cucumber, kirby is my other choice.

Another cucumber which i missed also is the 'old cucumber'. I wonder why isn't there any in this part of the world. My sister, who is in Sydney, commented that she has not seen 'old cucumber' sold. All you readers who are in Malaysia or Singapore, should try and cook 'old cucumber' soup at least once fortnightly cos this soup will remove toxin from our system.

Ingredients:

1 english cucumber or 10 kirby cucumbers

1 tsp salt

2 - 3 tbsp oil

1 big knob fresh tumeric, thinly sliced and sun dry for 1 hour or 1 tsp powdered tumeric

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt or to taste

1/4 cup vinegar

1/4 cup water

5 - 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced and sun dry for 1 hour

3 red peppers - seeded and cut into big strips

3 green jalepeno - seeded and cut into big strips

Method:

Split the cucumber into lengthwise and core, but do not peel. Cut into 1 inch lengths and 1/4 inch thick. Season cucumber wih salt and drain in a colander. Sun dry for 1 hour.

Heat the oil in a wok to fry the tumeric until the oil turns yellow. Turn off heat and discard tumeric slices and leave oil to cool slightly before adding the sugar, salt, vinegar and water. Stir to mix and set aside to cool completely.

Place the sun dried cucumber and garlic, and red and green peppers in a glass jar and fill with the pickling solution, making sure that the vegatables are completely submerged.

Allow to pickle for at least 2 days before serving.

Note:

Sun drying the cucumber, garlic and tumeric is to rid of moisture so that cucumber wll be crunchy and with less moisture, pickle will have less chance of turning bad fast.

Serves

Stuffed Chicken Wings

These wings steamed this wayare so tender and 'Whart"?????, a cantonese term which is hard to describe. This is an easy dish to cook, only the deboning of the wings is quite intimidating. The first wing might be difficult but after that, it is effortless.








Ingredients:

10 chicken wings
Carrots - julienned
Spring onions - cut into 2 inch lengths
Ham - julienned
Dried Shitake Mushrooms - soaked and sliced into thin slices


1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tbsp garlic oil
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
1 tsp ginger juice
a dash of pepper

1 tsp cornstarch/tapioca starch dilute with 2 tbsp water

Sesame oil

Method:

For deboning chicken wings - ---------------------.

First cut off the bone of the drumstick and continue scraping down to the second joint, pushing back the skin and meat as you go.

Then carefully cut off the two bones of the wing and discard them.

Be careful not to pierce the chicken skin.

Repeat this for all the wings.

Now the chicken wings are ready for stuffing.

Stuff each wing with a strip of carrot, spring onion, ham and mushroom.

Arrange the stuffed wings on to a plate for steaming.

Mix chicken stock, oil, oyster sauce, wine, ginger juice and pepper and pour over the chicken wings.

Steam the chicken wings for 30 minutes until cooked.

Drain soup/sauce from the plate into a bowl and add in the cornstarch/tapioca starch mixture. Stir.

Microwave for 3 minutes, stirring after every minute.

Pour thickened sauce over the cooked chicken wings and drizzle sesame oil before serving.

Serves

Snap Peas and Yellow Squash Stir Fry

This summer, i did not plant any yellow squash but did enjoy a stir fry with a few that was given to me. Snap peas are nutritious and filling, yet not as high in total carbohydrates and fats as normal peas. The pods themselves contribute mostly water and vitamins when conssummed. Together, this stir fry impressed the palate.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/2 lb snap peas

2 - 3 yellow squash - seeded and cut into bite size

1 fresh red chilly pepper, seeded and julienned

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp minced ginger

Marinate for the shrimps:

2 tsp cornstarch/tapioca starch

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 tsp sesame oil

Sauce:

1 tbsp oyster sauce

2 tsp soya sauce

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch

1/4 cup chicken stock

A dash of shaoxing wine

Sesame oil

Vegetable oil

Method:

Combine the ingredients for the sauce, set aside.

Marinate shrimps with the marinating ingredients, set aside.

Heat 1 cup oil in a wok or skillet until hot but not smoking. When hot, add the snap peas for just a minute, and as soon as the snap peas are bright green, remove with slotted spoon and drain.

Reheat the oil and add in the shrimp and stir, separating the pieces, just until the shrimp changes color. Remove from the oil to drain.

Remove the oil and reserve.

Reheat the wok over high heat. When hot, add 3 tbsp of the reserved oil. When the oil is hot, add the yellow squash , chilly pepper, garlic and ginger. Cook, stirring until the squash is soft.

Add in the snap peas, shrimps and the stock mixture, bring to a boil and cook until the stock thickens and clear. Splash in the wine and continue to stir briefly.

Spoon into a serving plater and serve sprinkled with sesame oil.

Serves