Snow Pear, Carrot and Pork Bone Soup （雪梨萝卜汤）

If you are craving for chinese soup and prefer something light and sweet, try this!
This is also a home remedy for persistent cough and the herbs used have cooling properties.


Serves 2

Ingredients
200 - 250g pork ribs
2 large snow pears (雪梨) - washed clean, cored and cut into qtrs

1 medium size carrot - peeled and cut to large pieces

1 tbsp of bitter and sweet almonds (南北杏) - rinsed
1-2 honey dates (蜜枣) - pre-soaked for 30mins
1 tbsp of wolfberries (枸杞子) - rinsed
1 tbsp of Fritillaria bulb (川贝母) - rinsed
1/2 tsp salt


Method
- Blanch the pork ribs with boiling water to remove the scum. In the soup pot, add 2 big soup bowls of boiling water.
- Add blanched pork ribs + salt into the boiling pot of water.
- Cook the pork ribs for about 10-15mins, add the rest of the ingredients.
- Bring to a boil and cover the pot with the lid and let the soup simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours on low heat.
- Make sure there's enough water for all the ingredients to be fully submerged. If not, just add more hot water into the pot progressively.

Remarks
- If you don't have TCM herbs, you can do without. But it'll be nice to add at least wolfberries and dates (you can use red dates instead of honey dates)

Scallop and Asparagus Pasta

Serves 2

Ingredients
- 8 scallops
- 200g asparagus (sliced into 4cm stalks)
- Garlic (chopped)
- Red cut chilli
- Spaghetti 200g
- Olive oil
- Sherry
- Parmesan cheese

Method
- Cook the pasta till al dente, as per the instructions on packaging. Do not overcook. Keep aside 1/2 a cup of the pasta water.
- Using a small saucepan, boil the asparagus in water (with abit of salt) till just cooked. Drain the water.
- Using a non stick frying pan, sauteed the scallops until both sides are slightly brown. You can use either olive oil or butter. I used the latter. When cooked, remove from pan and leave them aside.
- Fry the garlic and chilli with a generous amount of olive oil, till fragrant.
- Add the asparagus and half cup of sherry.
- Toss the cooked pasta with the mixture and if it's too dry, add a bit of the pasta water. Add salt and ground pepper to taste. Add the scallops into the pasta, toss and transfer onto plate.
- Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.

Note
- If you will prefer a tangy taste, you can add 60-80g of sundried tomatoes.
- Pat the scallops dry using clean kitchen towel before frying.

Braised Bittergourd and Pork in Spicy Bean Sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
Bittergourd - 1
Pork - 400 to 500g (I usually use pork loin or shoulder as the meat is tender)
Onions - 5 (diced)
Garlic - 5 (diced)
Hot water

Seasoning
Dark soya sauce
Spicy bean sauce (辣豆瓣酱）
Brown sugar
Chinese hua tiao wine
Sesame oil
Pepper

Method
Cut the meat into chunks and marinate with light soya sauce, pepper, sesame oil and hua tiao wine. Leave it chilled in the fridge for about 30mins - 1hour.
Wash and remove the core of the bittergourd. Cut into big chunks. Set aside.

Heat up a frying pan / wok and add abit of oil. Pan fry both sides of the meat chunks till slightly browned, half cooked will do. Remove from pan and drain out the oil.
Add a fresh coat of oil and stir fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Put back the meat chucks into the pan and dry fry for a while on high heat. Add dark soya sauce, spicy bean sauce, brown sugar, pepper and sesame oil  to taste. You can also add salt / light soya sauce but take note that the bean sauce is already salty.

Transfer everything into a braised pot, add hot water till about half of the meat dish is submerged in water. Cover and continue cooking under medium heat for about 30mins. Turn the flame to low and braise for another 20mins. Add the bittergourd, cover the pot and cook till the meat and bittergourd are tender and dark in colour. If the sauce is too watery, you can add abit of cornstarch to thicken it.

Serve with white rice.

Bittergourd Vermicelli Soup 苦瓜米粉汤

Thank you Tsewei for sharing this - it's so easy to cook, comforting, soupy and healthy! 

Serves 2

Ingredients
Garlic - 5 whole cloves (do not need to remove skin or cut into smaller pcs)
Ikan bilis - 50g
Soya bean (黄豆）- 200g
Fish balls - 10
Minced pork / sliced fish - 200g (or both if you want a hearty meal!)
Carrot - 1 (cut into smaller pieces)
Bittergourd - about 1/3 to 1/2 of a mid size one (halved over the length of it and cut into thin slices)
Chye Sim - 4 bunches (washed thoroughly)
Dried vermicelli - 30g (in general, 10g / person is enough but with my hubby's good appetite, I use 30g for both of us).

Garnish
Spring onion
Fried shallot
Red cut chilli

Method
- Wash and pre-soaked the soya beans and ikan bilis for about half an hour.
- Marinate the fish / minced pork with light soya sauce and pepper. If using the latter, roll it into small meatballs. Leave aside or in the fridge.
- Boil about 2.5 soup bowls of water in a pot.
- Cook the soup stock by adding the soya beans, ikan bilis, garlic cloves and carrots into the boiling water. Add a teaspoon of salt. Cover the pot and leave to boil for about 1hour on medium heat.
- Soak the vermicelli in a separate bowl till it softens.
- When the stock is ready, you can sieve out the ikan bilis and soya bean which I'll usually do. You can leave them in the soup if you like the extra crunch.
- Add the bittergourd and continue boiling for about 15 mins, or longer if you like it more bitter.
- Add the fishball and fish/meat, cook for 2mins and add the vermicelli. Add abit of olive oil, salt or light soya sauce and pepper to taste.
- Lastly, add in the chye sim. Turn off the heat when the soup is boiling.
- Serve while piping hot.

Note
This is a very versatile dish. You can add in any other vegetables or ingredients you like! 

Yam Rice 芋头饭

Serves 2

Ingredients
- about 1/3 - 1/2 a mid size yam (skinned and diced into small bite sized cubes).
- 100g of dried shrimp (hei bi), pre-soaked and chopped up
- 4-5 big chinese dried mushrooms, pre-soaked till soft and sliced into smaller pieces.
- 100g minced / lean pork. If using lean meat, just cut into smaller pieces.
- uncooked rice for 2
- Water
- 5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
- 5 cloves of onion (finely chopped)

Garnish
- spring onion / parsley
- fried shallot crisps

Seasoning
- light soya sauce
- sesame oil (1 tsp)
- pepper
- dark soya sauce
- five spiced powder (1/2 tsp)
*I can't really say how much of each to put, it really depends on whether you like it more salty or bland. If you like the rice to be darker, add more dark soya sauce.

Method

If you are using lean/minced pork, pre-marinate the pork with light soya sauce and pepper.

Rinse the rice with water using the rice cooker pot. Add water as if you are cooking normal steamed rice. Drain out the rice water into a bowl. Set aside.

On a heated frying pan / wok, add 2 tablespoons of sesame oil and stir fry the onion and garlic till fragrant. Add the dried shrimp and mushrooms, turn up the heat source and if it's too dry, add cooking oil. Add the pork and when it's half cooked, add the yam and continue frying for about 1 min. Add rice into the pan and fry very quickly till it's all well mixed, add all the seasoning to taste. Pour in the rice water + about half cup of water (using the rice cup), do a quick stir and transfer everything into the rice cooker. Cook the rice as per normal.

When the rice is cooked, use the rice spatula to stir and loosen it up before serving.

Note
Can also use lup cheong instead of minced/lean pork. I used the latter as it's less sinful. 

Scones

Makes about 20 x 1.5 inches round scones.

Ingredients
Self raising flour - 2 cups, sifted
Milk - 1 cup
Cold unsalted butter - 60g, cut into smaller pieces
Caster sugar - 2 tbsp
A pinch of salt

Optional
Chocolate chips / raisins / dried cranberries

Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 220 degree celsius.
- Using your finger tips, rub the flour, sugar, salt and the butter together until it resembles breadcrumbs. You can add in a handful of dried fruits or chocolate chips to the mixture if you like. Otherwise, you can leave it plain.
- Make a well in the centre and pour two-thirds of the milk into the well. Using a spatula, start mixing it together gently. If it's too dry, add the remaining milk until the dough comes together. If it's too wet, add more flour.  Don't over handle it.
- On a floured table top, gently knead the dough four or five times and roll out the dough flat to about 3cm in height using a rolling pin. Don't knead it too much as it'll become hard.
- Using a 1.5" round cutter, cut out the dough and placed them on a greaseproof baking tray. Brush the top with milk or egg wash.
- Bake in oven for about 10mins, until nicely browned and a toothpick inserted into the centre of scone comes out clean.
- Remove from oven and transfer onto wire rack to cool.
- Serve with salted butter / cream cheese or your favourite jam.

Remarks
- If you placed the scones on the baking tray close together (almost touching), they will have soft sides and less crispy crusts. If you place them apart, they will be crusty all over. If you want crusty scones, cool them uncovered. If a softer crust is desired, then wrap the hot scones in a clean dish towel.
- Scones are best served warm.
- I used milk instead of cream for a lighter and healthier scone.
- If you don't have self raising flour, you can replace it with all-purpose flour, but add 1.5 tsp of baking powder to each cup of flour you use.

Walnuts and Chocolate Chip Brownies

Makes about 16 slices, 2x2 inches each.

Ingredients

Unsalted butter - 110 g (can be cold from fridge)

Semi-sweet chocolate - 5 oz / 150 g (chopped up)

Eggs - 3

Caster sugar - 170 g

Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp / 15 g

Plain flour - 100 g

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Semi-sweet chocolate chips - 50 g

Walnuts - 60 g (chopped up)

Method

- Pre-heat the oven to 180 deg celsius.

- Melt the butter and chocolate bar over a pan of boiling water. I use a big metal bowl (those metallic one). 

- Remove from heat source and using a whisk, mix well.

- Stir in the sugar and cocoa powder. Next, add in the vanilla essence and the eggs, one at a time.

- Using a spatula, mix in the flour and salt. 

- Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts the last. 

- Pour into a 8-inch square pan that is greased at the side and with greaseproof paper at base of pan.

- Bake in oven for about 25 minutes. 

- Do not overbake, a skewer inserted in the centre should come up abit moist. If it comes up totally clean, it's overbaked!

- Remove from oven, serve warm or cool with vanilla ice cream. 

Remarks

- If you do not like it too sweet, you can omit the chocolate chips and add more walnuts.

- For plain brownies, omit the chocolate chips and walnuts altogether.

- Use good / premium chocolate and cocoa powder as it'll affect the taste of your brownies. I used Hershey's baking bar (i mixed 4 oz of semi-sweet with 1 oz of unsweetened) and Hershey's cocoa powder.