Chinese meal typically consists of three dishes and one soup (三菜一汤) to go with rice. The three dishes normally include a meat dish, a fish dish and a vegetable dish. We believed that this provides a balanced diet.
The soup can be herbal soup (药膳汤)， double-boiled soup (炖汤) or just basic scald/boil vegetable soup (滚汤). These soups are drunk as much for their flavor as well as for health benefits.
Interestingly, the foundation of Japanese daily family meal also consists of one soup three dishes, they called Ichiju Sansai.
Cooking every day can be both challenging and tiring, and with only two to four people in the household. So for practical reason, I normally prepare two dishes with a soup or just two dishes every meal. However, I do ensure that these dishes include meat/fish and vegetable/soup. This way, we can still have a balanced meal.
These two dishes, Stir-fry String Beans with Chinese Sausages and Stir-fry Chicken with Ginger and Spring Onions are easy and quick to prepare. The umami/savoury taste of these dishes go perfectly with a bowl of steamed rice.
Home food – food that you truly miss from home.
Pot To Plate 