On days when I crave for lighter food, I turn to this sliced fish soup with a generous serving of vegetables.
We don’t eat fish bones but we can definitely make delicious broth out of it. Making soup with bones encourages using leftovers and avoid food waste.
This nourishing soup is made from fish and fish bones, with no added milk and no added soup stock.
The milky, light brown soup is soothing, full of flavors and packed with nutritious goodness.
When ready to eat, just add fresh sliced Batang Fish (Spanish Mackerel) to the soup along with selected vegetables. And top with fried shallots, fried anchovies and peanuts. Complete with a plate of sliced red chilli, vinegar and soy sauce for dipping.
腊味 (la wei) means cured/dried/preserved meat. In China, meat that is salted and cured in the winter wind and sun is called 腊味.
The word 腊 (la) is also known as wax in English , thus 腊味 is also known as waxed meat. Actually in Chinese, La means the 12th month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.
Curing originated from a time when food could not be easily obtained or stored and preservation methods are not aided by modern technology.
La wei are made during the winter months when the cold dry air blows. During winter, families will start curing, salting and smoking meat for the year ahead.
Traditional way of curing meat is very simple. Meat is being rubbed with salt and various herbs and spices, then hung near the roof of the house to dry.
La Wei PlatterAssorted cured meat
There are many varieties of cured meat, the common ones are:
La Chang 腊肠， cured sausages or Chinese sausages.
Liver sausages 润肠
La Rou 腊肉, cured pork belly
La Ya 腊鸭， cured duck
There are many ways to use cured meat, the most basic and simplest way is by steaming. This steamed assorted cured meat platter is served along with slices of Japanese cucumber.
Pairing cucumber with cured meat provides a contrast in the food texture. As cured meat are slightly salty and greasy, the refreshing crispy cucumber cut the grease nicely and bring freshness to the dish. Lettuce can also be use as a wrap.
Shrimp Wonton – make with fresh shrimp, wrapped in wonton wrapper/skin. You can boil, steam or fry them.
Wonton (云吞) means swallowing the cloud in Cantonese. These wontons look like clouds floating, especially after they are cooked and served in a bowl of soup, hence the poetic name.
Floating Clouds
Blame it on the holiday season, I have been cooking and feasting, making my days completely occupied.
I have to confess that this leaves me procrastinating with kitchen chores, especially with Chinese New Year just round the corner, which to me is another round of festive cooking and baking.
I made these wonton to freeze so that I can take them out to cook whenever needed. If you lack the time and motivation to cook, try this healthy make ahead freezer meal.
This is a popular dessert item among Chinese, and is one of my favourite dessert of all.
“Cooling” Sweet Soup
Traditional Chinese believe that food are broadly categorised as yin 阴(cooling), yang 阳 (warming) or neutral. For example, eating “warm” food generates warmth in the body whereas eating “cooling” food makes the body feel cold.
Whether to eat warming or cooling food depends on the time of the year and our bodies current state of imbalance. This is the concept of balancing the Yin and Yang, very much a part of our Chinese culture.
This dessert has “cooling” properties, consuming it can tamper the “heat” in our bodies. Especially after eating “heaty” food such as deep-fried food or when the weather is hot.
Smooth and silky, and mildly sweet, this dessert can be served hot or chilled.
Making the perfect steak requires practice and timing.
Due to differences between cut and thickness of the meat, cooking methods and cooking temperature, it is difficult to set a time for how long it will take to cook.
A good steak requires only minimal seasoning, often a little salt and pepper will do. While a little herbs and spices will enhance the flavour.
This steak is nicely grilled and lightly charred on the surface. It is medium-cooked with a light pink interior. The meat is tender, juicy and flavourful.
Stuffed with crunchy vegetables and meatA stack of Spring Rolls
Burned three fingers while deep-frying these. Cooking is not an easy task, from the planning, marketing, preparing to the cooking. We often spent hours to cook and clean up but lesser time eating.
These are fried spring rolls with shattering crispy skin and filled with crunchy vegetables, dried shrimps and pork.
Spring Rolls are great as appetizers and snacks. They are festive essential – a symbol of prosperity due to their resemblance to gold bars.
Chinese like to eat Spring Rolls during Chinese New Year as a way of welcoming the arrival of Spring.
Make extras and keep them in the freezer, and fry them whenever needed.
Soto Ayam is a type of Malay food commonly found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. It is essentially spiced chicken soup served with ketupat or rice cakes. Another version, Mee Soto is served with yellow noodles instead.
Good & Tasty
The heart to a good bowl of Soto Ayam is the chicken broth. Unlike Chinese Chicken Soup which is either clear or herbal, this broth is made from chicken cooked with spice paste.
More than ten types of spices and aromatics are used to make this soup. Including cumin, coriander, onions, garlic, cinnamon, star anise and tumeric etc. Tumeric gives this soup a distinguishing yellowish colour.
The chicken used in the soup are shredded and used to top off the dish along with rice cakes, chives and fried shallots. For a spicy version, serve along with a spoonful of freshly grind chilli.
Infused with fragrant spices, this soup is aromatic and lightly spiced and not too heavy on the palate.
Hawker food holds a special place in our heart. Due to modernisation, good hawker food are slowly disappearing from modern Singapore.
Cooking is hard work and work that is often unrecognised. Thus it is understandable that young Singaporeans who are more highly educated shun this trade which is known for the unrelenting long hours of work.
Guilty Pleasure
Fried carrot cake or Chai Tow Kway is a common but popular hawker dish in Singapore. Cubed radish cakes are fried with eggs, preserved radish and seasonings.
There are two variations of fried carrot cake; the black one is fried with dark sweet sauce which gives it a bit of sweetness. While the white one is more savoury.
This is my interpretation of the White Fried Carrot Cake. Cubes of radish cake are fried till crisp on the outside and still soft inside. Beaten eggs are generously pour over the cake, and slow-fry till crispy but still moist. The garlic, preserved radish and spring onions add more fragrant to it.
This dish comes from a popular Chinese salad called Cuttlefish Water Convolvulus (鱿鱼蕹菜)
A feast for the eyes
I get my cooking inspiration from little things that I noticed or come across around me. This time it is Pickled Shallot (酸荞头) that gives me the inspiration for this meal.
Pickled Shallot is one of the condiments in this dish, but its presence in the dish really adds a new dimension to the flavour. It adds a zing to the dish.
Blanched beehoon and cuttlefish are top with kangkong and doused with a sweet red sauce. With a scatter of roasted ground peanuts, fried shallots, sliced pickled shallot and spring onions; this dish is completed.
The taste is refreshing, with the right amount of sweetness. The tangy pickled shallot completely balances the sweetness of the sauce, giving it a delicious kick.
Most Chinese go home after school or work, thus dinner is an important meal of the day.
Chinese meal typically consists of several dishes and a bowl of rice and soup.
Snow Pea Leaves with Oyster Sauce (蚝油豌豆苗)
Snow Pea Leaves are simply the leaves of a young pea plant. They are great steamed, in soup or sauteed. Snow Pea Leaves are delicate, they should be lightly cooked and barely seasoned.
These leaves are quickly blanched, fragrant oil are then drizzle over the top with a light touch of oyster sauce. This dish is light, tender and sweet.
Double-boiled Lotus Root with Pork Ribs Soup (莲藕排骨汤)
My second dish is a soup.
Soup play a big part in Cantonese culinary culture. Cantonese believe that hot soup nourish one’s beauty, strengthen physical health and even prevent or cure illnesses.
Whether you are hungry, hungover or exhausted, a bowl of hot soup will revive or purify you.
Cantonese has a wide variety of soups for any occasions and for all weathers. This double-boiled lotus root with pork ribs soup is a classic.
In addition to lotus root and pork ribs, several types of dried seafood and dried food are added to the soup. The soup is double-boiled for several hours to extract all the goodness of the ingredients, enhancing the taste of the soup and producing a bowl of flavourful, full-bodied and nutritious soup.
Steamed Fish Paste Tofu (老少平安)
老少平安 literally mean safe for the elderly and young.
The two main ingredients in this dish is fish paste and tofu. The elderly can enjoy without much chewing and the young can eat without having to worry about fish bones.
This is a clean and simple dish, a dish I turn to when I have no appetite or feeling unwell.
This dish is best served hot, and is delicious with rice.
Pot To Plate 