Vegetarian Soup

Meatless Soup

1 medium-size green radish (cheng lor pak), cut into wedges

1 medium-size carrot, cut into wedges

250-300g burdock, remove the skin and cut into thin slanting slices

4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked to soften

200g vegetarian chicken

15 Chinese red dates, seeded

20g kei chi

2 litres water

1 tsp salt or to taste

Bring water to the boil. Add in all the ingredients and simmer over low heat for 1½ hours. Add salt to taste and serve the soup hot.

Oxtail Soup

Recipe By Amy Beh

Oxtail Soup

600g oxtail, chopped into sizeable pieces
2 litres chicken stock / water
1 whole bulb garlic, unpeeled
40g ginger, lightly bruised
100g onion, quartered
20g galangal, bruised
35g leek, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
2 coriander roots
100g carrot, cut into wedges
100g radish, cut into wedges

Ingredients (A)

2 star anise
5 cloves
4cm cinnamon stick
5 cardamoms
1 nutmeg, cracked
1 tsp white peppercorns
1 tsp black peppercorns

Seasoning

1 tsp thick soy sauce
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp rock sugar
½ tsp salt or to taste

Garnishing

Chopped coriander leaves and spring onions

Trim off any excess fat from the oxtail and blanch in boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Bring chicken stock or water in a deep pot to a boil. Put in ingredients (A) and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Add oxtail, garlic, onions, ginger, galangal, leek, celery and coriander roots. Bring to a boil again then reduce the heat and simmer the soup over a gentle low heat for an hour.

Add carrot and radish and continue to simmer for another 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Adjust seasoning to taste and dish out to serve immediately with the garnishing.

Tangy Thai Soup

Recipe by Amy Beh

Tangy Thai Soup

½ a kampong chicken (about 750g), chopped
¼ tsp salt
1 litre coconut milk
5-6 kaffir lime leaves
2 stalks lemongrass, smashed
4cm knob galangal, lightly smashed
10 bird’s eye chillies, lightly smashed
½ tsp white peppercorns
½ tsp black peppercorns
2 shallots, peeled and keep whole
3 coriander roots
100g hon shimeji mushrooms, trimmed
100g abalone mushrooms, torn into pieces
50ml thick coconut milk

Seasoning

3-4 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp chicken stock granules
1 tbsp Thai tom yam paste

Lightly marinate chicken with salt. Arrange on a heatproof dish and steam over high heat for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Combine coconut milk, lemongrass, galangal, bird’s eye chillies, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, coriander roots, and black and white peppercorns in a pot. Bring to a boil over medium low heat for 10-15 minutes.

Add pre-steamed chicken and the stock to the soup stock. Add all mushrooms, thick coconut milk and seasoning. Stir well and cook for 4-5 minutes. Dish out soup into individual bowls and serve hot.

Tasty Pumpkin Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

600g pumpkin, peeled and cubed

150g carrot, cut into slices

900ml fresh chicken stock

1-2 tsp whipping cream (optional)

1 tbsp olive oil

1 bay leaf

1 tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

¼ tsp chilli powder

Seasoning

Salt and pepper to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

Steam pumpkin and carrot for 15 minutes until soft. Leave to cool slightly then place into a food processor. Add 300-400ml chicken stock and blend into a smooth purée.

Heat olive oil in a saucepan. Add bay leaf. Sauté for a minute. Stir in pumpkin purée and add remaining chicken stock gradually. Add cumin, nutmeg and chilli powder. Stir and bring to a gentle boil.

Once the soup comes to a bubbling boil, add seasoning to taste and turn off the heat. Ladle soup into individual bowls.

Add an extra sprinkle of ground black pepper and stir in whipping cream if desired.

Meatless Soup

Original recipe by amy Beh

1 medium-size green radish (cheng lor pak), cut into wedges

1 medium-size carrot, cut into wedges

250-300g burdock, remove the skin and cut into thin slanting slices

4 dried Chinese mushrooms, soaked to soften

200g vegetarian chicken

15 Chinese red dates, seeded

20g kei chi

2 litres water

1 tsp salt or to taste

Bring water to the boil. Add in all the ingredients and simmer over low heat for 1½ hours. Add salt to taste and serve the soup hot.

Chok Shan Guo Teem Nin (A Lovely Sweet New Year)

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

1 lohan guo (Buddha’s fruit), broken into pieces

15g yongsum soe (hair of ginseng roots), rinsed

15 red Chinese dates, seeded and rinsed

25g dried longan

30g chook shan (dried bamboo pith), soaked and both ends trimmed

50g fresh prepared lotus seeds

100g rock sugar

2 litres water

Combine lohan guo, yong sum soe, dates and water in a cooking pot.

Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 35-40 minutes.

Add rock sugar, dried longan, bamboo pith, lotus seeds and continue to simmer for15-20 minutes. Serve hot immediately.

Catfish and black bean soup

Ingredients

500g black beans
3 litres hot water
1 kg catfish
1½ tbsps salt
1 tsp white pepper
10 seedless red dates
1.4 cm length ginger (sliced)
2cm length of dried mandarin orange peel
1 tbsp chopped spring onion

Method
1. Soak the black beans in water for half an hour and change the water twice.

2. Put the soaked black beans in a soup pot and add the hot water, boil under medium heat for half an hour.

3. Wash and clean (take out the stomach and gills) the catfish, rub it with a tablespoon of salt and wash off the salt with water. Pat dry the fish. Cut the catfish into big chunks, marinate them with half a tablespoon of salt and a teaspoon of white pepper. Put aside.

4. In a non-stick pan, pan fry the catfish chunks and ginger slices with a little oil until they are light brown. Scoop out the fish and ginger slices and put aside.

5. Add the fish and ginger slices, red dates and mandarin orange peel to the black bean soup. Continue to boil the soup for 15 minutes and lower the heat to boil for a further 45 minutes.

6. Add salt to taste. The soup should look thick and yummy; serve with some chopped spring onion.

Orange Sea-Coconut and White Fungus Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

25g white fungus, soaked to soften and trimmed into small florets
1 canned sea-coconut, well drained
2 oranges, grated finely for the rind and squeezed for juice
220g rock sugar
2 screwpine leaves, shredded and knotted
2 litres water

Put rock sugar, water, white fungus, orange rind and screwpine leaves in a pot.

Bring to a boil until sugar is completely dissolved.

Discard screwpine leaves and add orange juice and seacoconut.

Dish out and serve in individual bowls. Serve hot or cold.

Bean Medley Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

100g red beans, soaked for several hours
60g big red beans (or aduki beans), soaked for several hours
50g chickpeas, soaked overnight until well plumped up
75g candy brown sugar
80g rock sugar
2 litres water
2 screwpine leaves, shredded and knotted
1 small piece (the size of a 10 sen coin) dried mandarin skin

Wash the soaked beans and drain. Combine the beans and chickpeas in a deep saucepan.

Pour in water and add screwpine leaves and mandarin skin. Bring to the boil over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Lower the heat and simmer for about one hour or until all the beans are tender. Add in the sugars and cook until they dissolve. Dish out and serve hot.

Honeydew Melon Sweet Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

700g golden honeydew melon
100g big sago
50g small sago
300g castor sugar
200ml fresh UHT milk
500ml water
2 screwpine leaves, shredded and knotted

Skin the honeydew melon and cut out 100g. Shred the 100g melon and chill in the refrigerator.Publish Post

Cut the remaining melon into cubes. Process the cubed melon with 200ml water in a food processor until pureed. Sieve the honeydew melon through a fine sieve.

Soak big sago in boiling water in a small pot, covered, until it turns transparent. Drain and wash in cold water.

Soak small sago in clean water for 10–15 minutes. Drain.

Combine honeydew melon juice, sugar and big sago in a saucepot. Pour in remaining water and add screwpine leaves. Boil over medium low heat for 10–15 minutes.

Add in small sago and cook until sago turns transparent. Turn off the heat and pour in fresh milk to mix.

Discard screwpine leaves.

Scoop out and serve the soup in individual bowls, topped with the chilled shredded honeydew melon.

Vegetarian Confinement Herbal Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

250g vegetarian chicken (from the vegetarian grocery shop)

800-900 ml hot boiling water

Salt to taste

Herbs (rinsed)

10g pak kei

10g tong kwai

10g chuen kong

30g tong sum

20g kei chi

10g dried longan flesh

10-12 black dates, pitted

8-10 red dates, pitted

Combine all herbs, vegetarian chicken and water in a slow cooker. Turn on to low and cook for 4-4½ hours until the soup is fragrant.

Season with salt to taste.

Dish out and serve hot.

Pig’s Stomach Soup

Original Recipe by Amy Beh

To clean pig’s stomach, trim off excess fat on the outer layer, then turn it inside out. Wash off the slime completely. Mix half cup of tapioca flour with ¼ cup salt or thick asam jawa juice. Rub it vigorously on the slimy pig’s stomach. Wash and rub until there is no slimy effect. Wash under running tap water until it is completely clean.

Heat a clean wok over medium-heat, then place the pig’s stomach over. It will start to sizzle in the wok. Turn over and allow to sizzle for at least 5–6 minutes. Remove and trim off excess fat and sticky membrane. Wash again when it is ready for use.

Here’s a recipe for pig’s stomach and meat soup.

1 pig’s stomach, cleaned
1 Tbsp white peppercorns
15g tong kwai
300g pork ribs
5 chicken feet, cleaned and tips chopped off
2 litres water
Salt to taste

Crush peppercorns briefly, stuff into pig’s stomach, together with tong kwai. Wash chicken feet and pork ribs. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for 2–3 minutes. Remove and set aside.

Boil water, add pig’s stomach and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat and simmer until pig’s stomach is tender. Remove pig’s stomach and cut into slices.

To the remaining soup, add pork ribs and chicken feet and bring to a boil for 30 minutes or until meat is tender. Add pig’s stomach to the soup and boil for another 10-15 minutes. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately.