The fish balls and their cousins just out of the freezer
The powdered soup you can use as a base for lazy days or when you are too busy.
The Campbell mushroom soup powder is added to boiling water, before adding frozen mixed vegetables, bean curd, fish balls and the like and allowed to continue to boil until everything is cooked.
My friend Norma asked for some soup recipes to help her watch her weight. Not to worry, Norma. I was going to do that anyway for the benefit of the days when we find that we do not have much time for cooking, either that we are too tired after a hard day, or simply do not feel like cooking a grand meal.
A simple soup would be the clear soup I make when the children were at school. During the schooling days, after sending and fetching them from school and doing errands like settling home bills then, I would not have much time to cook in time for the their afternoon religious classes.
The clear soup can be prepared as follows:
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1 large onion or 3 shallots, sliced
2cm ginger, mashed
Spices used:
2 cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1 star anise, 3 cm cinnamon stick
3 teaspoon soup powder, if preferred (normally they come in 250 or 50g packets. Brands like Adabi or Mak Siti )
1 cube Knorr chicken soup base (I use Knorr because it does not have MSG)
a little cooking oil
small pieces of chicken meat or beef
bean curd, quartered, if preferred
2 potatoes, skinned and quartered
whatever vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, greens, peas, beans, cut into bite sizes (not sprouts though).
Method:
Saute the garlic, onion and ginger in a little oil. When fragrant, add the spices and continue for 1-2 minutes. Pour in about 1 liter of cold filtered water. Heat the water before adding the powdered soup powder. The soup powder need not be added if you want a really clear soup. You can add the Knorr soup base instead.
As the soup cooks you may add the meat or chicken pieces, and potatoes first before the rest of the vegetables. I would suggest you add in the longer cooking vegetables, like carrots, beans in first before the fast cooking once like greens and cauliflower.
If you like soya bean curd, you may also add it to your soup as it would provide additional protein to the meal.
Add in a little salt after you have tasted the soup as the Knorr soup base already has some salt in it.
Voila! you now have a pot of nutritious soup. Note that since I love vegetables, you may find more solids than liquids in the my soup recipe. You can add more water(and salt) if it is not enough.
Your soup is ready after all the vegetables are cooked. You don't need to cook the veggies for too long so as not too overcook them as well as kill off the vitamins.
For a more delicious flavour, you can add fried shallots, sliced Chinese celery (daun sop) and spring onions ( daun bawang) to your soup.
For those who love something hot you can prepare Tom Yam soup instead, using the ready soup base available in the market. (See my posting on 27th January, 2009 for the Tom Yam recipe)
Another easy method to soups is to just throw 1 or 2 cubes of soup base into hot water as in preparing instant noodles and add in the vegetables or meat. If you like eggs, hardboil them first for a nicer presentation.
You can slurp your soup with plain boiled rice as they do in Kelantan or you can prepare the soup with only mustard leaves as vegetables and eat with rice vermicelli as in 'Bihun sup'. The bean sprouts are scalded separately for 'Bihun sup'.
As for mushroom soups, I think I have given the mushroom soup recipe in a previous post. You can also use the ready soup powder from Campbells or Vono to quickly prepare the mushroom soups. Hot mushroom soups are great when eaten with baguettes or bread. You can add real mushrooms, potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables to your soup for more nutrient-packed meal.
A simple soup would be the clear soup I make when the children were at school. During the schooling days, after sending and fetching them from school and doing errands like settling home bills then, I would not have much time to cook in time for the their afternoon religious classes.
The clear soup can be prepared as follows:
Ingredients:
3 cloves garlic, mashed
1 large onion or 3 shallots, sliced
2cm ginger, mashed
Spices used:
2 cardamoms, 3 cloves, 1 star anise, 3 cm cinnamon stick
3 teaspoon soup powder, if preferred (normally they come in 250 or 50g packets. Brands like Adabi or Mak Siti )
1 cube Knorr chicken soup base (I use Knorr because it does not have MSG)
a little cooking oil
small pieces of chicken meat or beef
bean curd, quartered, if preferred
2 potatoes, skinned and quartered
whatever vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, greens, peas, beans, cut into bite sizes (not sprouts though).
Method:
Saute the garlic, onion and ginger in a little oil. When fragrant, add the spices and continue for 1-2 minutes. Pour in about 1 liter of cold filtered water. Heat the water before adding the powdered soup powder. The soup powder need not be added if you want a really clear soup. You can add the Knorr soup base instead.
As the soup cooks you may add the meat or chicken pieces, and potatoes first before the rest of the vegetables. I would suggest you add in the longer cooking vegetables, like carrots, beans in first before the fast cooking once like greens and cauliflower.
If you like soya bean curd, you may also add it to your soup as it would provide additional protein to the meal.
Add in a little salt after you have tasted the soup as the Knorr soup base already has some salt in it.
Voila! you now have a pot of nutritious soup. Note that since I love vegetables, you may find more solids than liquids in the my soup recipe. You can add more water(and salt) if it is not enough.
Your soup is ready after all the vegetables are cooked. You don't need to cook the veggies for too long so as not too overcook them as well as kill off the vitamins.
For a more delicious flavour, you can add fried shallots, sliced Chinese celery (daun sop) and spring onions ( daun bawang) to your soup.
For those who love something hot you can prepare Tom Yam soup instead, using the ready soup base available in the market. (See my posting on 27th January, 2009 for the Tom Yam recipe)
Another easy method to soups is to just throw 1 or 2 cubes of soup base into hot water as in preparing instant noodles and add in the vegetables or meat. If you like eggs, hardboil them first for a nicer presentation.
You can slurp your soup with plain boiled rice as they do in Kelantan or you can prepare the soup with only mustard leaves as vegetables and eat with rice vermicelli as in 'Bihun sup'. The bean sprouts are scalded separately for 'Bihun sup'.
As for mushroom soups, I think I have given the mushroom soup recipe in a previous post. You can also use the ready soup powder from Campbells or Vono to quickly prepare the mushroom soups. Hot mushroom soups are great when eaten with baguettes or bread. You can add real mushrooms, potatoes and frozen mixed vegetables to your soup for more nutrient-packed meal.
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