Sliced "Sheng Yu" (Haruan Fish) and Green Papaya Soup (生鱼片木瓜汤)

"This is my light and flavorful Sheng Yu soup, without too many elements in it. This is simply an appealing clear fish soup dish that whets your appetite, at the same time, takes care of your health!"

'Sheng Yu' (生鱼), the Chinese term for Haruan fish. Haruan is also known as Snakehead Murrel, if it sounds more familiar to you.

In Cantonese culture, Haruan fish is recommended for one who had undergone surgery as it's believed in the wound healing properties of this fish.

By consuming this fish cooked in soup, the wound of the patient may recuperate even faster. That's what Chinese always believe.

So, because hubby has had a minor surgical section to remove a small lump in the arches of his left foot recently, I cooked this 'Sheng Yu' soup for him. Here comes my simple home cooked recipe for such soup dish.

In fact, this nourishing clear soup recipe I have is also good to be cooked and consumed by anyone in normal days. For all we want, it helps to promote healthy and supple skin and facial complexion (smile)! Some growing girls even claimed benefiting from its good busting effect, when consumed this soup on a regular basis over a period of time. Well... I admit, I did hope that this will benefit me for my 'need' of such effect (laughing), but I doubt it will ever take any effect on me for the age I am in now (chuckling)! A little too late for any 'over-late-twenties' to rely on such?! Just my joke, in a bad taste.. :p

Oh well~ I still relish on the light and subtle taste of this clear soup, with a hint of natural sweetness yielded from the papaya and red dates that pleasures me a lot. The tint gingery in the soup adds not only the oriental flavour to the palate, but Chinese believed that it also helps in eliminating the excessive gas in our stomach. Such combination of taste makes me feel easy and worry free, for wanting and having this soup dish more. Nearly forget to mention, even the texture of this Haruan fish was so bouncy.

And, for the weight watchers, this soup is low fat! That's always the plus point for us, isn't it?!

Serves 4
Ingredients
400 gram of Haruan fish fillet, thickly sliced
1 small raw (green) papaya, removed seeds, peeled and cut into blocks
6 - 8 seedless dried red dates (红枣)
1 thick slice of young ginger
1 teaspoon of salt

1500ml of water

Seasoning for the fish:Pinch of grounded white pepper
Pinch of potato starch

Method
1) Rinse and pat dry Haruan fish with kitchen towel. Season well with white pepper and potato starch.

2) Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Place ginger, red dates, papaya and Haruan into the boiling water. Bring all ingredients to a boil again.

3) Then, cover pot with lid slightly titled and lower heat to small fire to simmer for 30 minutes to an hour. Heat off and serve hot.

Most of the time, we'll use the whole Haruan (smaller fish) to cook this soup, but this time, I used boneless sliced fish fillet from the mature Haruan fish instead of cooking the whole small fish, for eating convenience.

Please eat the papaya, too. The raw papaya is green and hard, but it will turn soft and sweet once cooked long enough in the soup. It's nice to eat!

A portion of my Sheng Yu and Papaya soup counts about 100kcal.

Tips: Haruan fish is an inexpensive source of protein we may consume regularly than having regular intakes of red meat types.
* To sprinkle some potato starch on the fish before putting to cook will help to 'lock' the taste and to prevent disintegration of the fish slices.

Black Pepper Prawns Recipe

"A variation of my Black Pepper Pork Dish. The seafood version, this time."

The Black Pepper prawn is the best option, if you have craving for shellfish instead. And, this recipe takes full advantage of having the flavor packed in the prawns, along with the natural aromatics such as capsicum and onion to infuse the base for refreshing and fragrant sauce with the natural sweetness.

Its peppery taste wasn't too overwhelming. Not too spicy, the dish wasn't too wet, too.

Simply an exotic restaurant-dish to be made at home, easily!

Serves 3 - 4
Ingredients
500 grams of medium tiger or sea prawns, deveined and removed shells with its head and tail remained intact
1 red capsicum, cored and diced in chunks
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and diced/ wedged
2 stalks of curry leaves, removed from its stems and use only the leaves
1 teaspoon of chicken granule
1/2 teaspoon of grounded black pepper
1/4 teaspoon of potato starch
3 tablespoons of store-bought black pepper sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of cooking oil
1 tablespoon of olive oil (for heating wok later)
1 tablespoon of butter

Method
1) Use a pair of kitchen shears to cut a slit at the back of each prawn. Remove vein, followed by removing shell with its head and tail remained intact. Repeat step till all prawns are done.

2) Season prawns with chicken granule, black pepper, for 10 minutes.

3) Heat wok with olive oil over medium fire. Melt butter in heated wok. Add garlic, onion and curry leaves.

4) Sprinkle some potato starch on the seasoned prawns. Place prawns in wok in one layer to slightly sauté both sides of each prawn. Add capsicum and stir fry to combine, for 2 minutes.

5) Add black pepper sauce and stir fry to combine well, for another 1 - 2 minutes. Heat off and dish up. Serve with steamed butter rice or olive oiled spaghetti.

1 portion (about 3-4 pcs) of my black pepper prawn counts about 300kcal.

**A variation of my Black Pepper Pork Slices dish.
Tips: Add assorted capsicums to the dish to create an image of playful colors.

Simple Steamed Whole Fish with Tomato and Tofu (蕃茄豆腐清蒸鱼)

"Simple Chinese Steamed Fish to be prepared at home in a flash of time"

Steamed fish is always the best diet for health and diet conscious diners which include, me. :)

Nothing really special for this steamed fish, but I had excessive tomatoes to go along with it. Healthier and more complete as 1-dish meal. The tomatoes also added zesty flavor to my steamed fish and made this fish dish taste more refreshing in a more natural way.

For choice of whole fish, choose sea watered Sea Bass instead of fish from fresh water, to avoid any chance of muddy taste in it. Or, choose any other whole white fleshed fish. Remember, it has to be real fresh!

Serves 4
Ingredients
1 medium whole Sea Bass, removed internals and scaled
2 medium red tomatoes, sliced
1 tube of silken tofu, sliced
5 - 6 slices of young ginger, sliced into stripes
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon of grounded white pepper
½ teaspoon of chicken granule
1 teaspoon of Shao Hsing Hua Diao rice wine (绍兴花雕酒)

Garnish:
2 stalks spring onion/ scallions
Few cilantro/ coriander leaves
1 red chili, julienned

Method
1) Rinse and pat dry whole fish with kitchen towel. Cut 2 deep slits each on both sides of the fish, at 1" interval between two slits. Then, sprinkle salt on both sides and season fish with pepper and chicken granule.

2) Place whole fish on large serving dish. Put a pinch of ginger stripes inside the fish and underneath the fish. Then, place the rest of the ginger slices on the fish.

3) Arrange sliced tomatoes along the sides, surrounding the fish. Place the tofu on top of the tomato slices, along the sides, too.

4) Now, place the seasoned fish in the refrigerator till ready to steam. You may cover the fish with cling wrap while keeping it in the fridge.

5) When ready, drizzle Hua Diao rice wine on the fish. Then, place fish dish above water on a wire steaming rack in wok, or in a electrical steamer. Steam fish for 15 minutes on high heat. Heat off, remove fish from wok/ steamer. Garnish and serve hot.

1 portion of my steamed fish counts about 90kcal.

Tips: Serve steamed fish with 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, if desired. Simple drizzle the oyster sauce on the fish before served.

Chinese Burger

"This Chinese burger with delicious Bak kwa brings your good childhood memory back to life"

This is undeniable appeal and infinite flexibility have inspired a culinary lover, like me, to improvise the recipe, for the popular Chinese carb-snack during my childhood time.. How does this recipe come into my collection? I remembered those days where roadside stalls that sold these warm aromatic Bak Kwa sandwiches were found easily. I missed the taste, but couldn't find it anymore. You may try your luck to find this delicacy in Malaysia, but it is simply not easy to find it in Singapore nowadays (No more roadside hawker lar..) I really like it. So as my family. So, I thought of making my own version by a recipe I have adapted simply based on my childhood memories... Blah blah blah... Things have just rolled on apace since then. And this is the creation what you see now!

It's easy, actually..

Yields 1 burger
1 burger bun, sliced
1-2 slices of BBQ pork slice aka Bak Kwa (肉干)
1 tablespoon of pork floss (肉松)
1 slice of Cheddar cheese
2 leafs of baby Romaine lettuce
1 tablespoon of light Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon of margarine

Optional condiment:
Ketchup and/ or sweet Chili sauce

Method
1) Warm up Bak Kwa slice in microwave for 10 seconds, or in a dry-heated pan (without oil) over medium fire. Set aside.

2) Spread margarine on the inner sides of both halves. Using the same dry-heated wok, place sliced bun in the pan with margerine-side (cut-side) down. Sauté the bun till lightly browned and crisped on the edges.

3) Remove bun from pan. Lay them on the clean table top. On the bottom half if the bun,top cheese, lettuce, and warm Bak kwa slice, followed by Mayonnaise (*If you like to add ketchup/ sweet Chili sauce, by all mean go ahead to add it on). Then, sprinkle pork floss on. To add the dressing before pork floss to act as 'glue' to stick the loosen floss together. This way may make your burger eating more pleasant than dropping the floss all over table top when bites.

Btw, the Bak kwa slice will be too large to fit the entire slice on the bun. Fold it half, over the pork floss. Lastly, place the top half of the bun on the ingredients. Serve or pack to work.

For more options: Use chicken Bak kwa and chicken floss, if desired.

My Chinese burger counts about 550kcal.

Tips: Use any other type of bun/ bread, as your wish. I even tried using croissant, and it's real good!
* Actually, it's up to you on the topping sequence. :)

Soupy Chicken Stew Recipe

"Chicken Stew with Assorted Root Vegetables for cold rainy days"

This dish is a variation of a stew served at the Soup Spoon restaurant, where I usually have or pack my soupy lunch during rainy days. It was to avoid walking to lunch to unsheltered places on my heels under the rain.

The Tokyo chicken stew soup is one of their popular choices in the Soup Spoon restaurant. I was not sure why is it called Tokyo chicken stew. Perhaps it has some special ingredients from Japan in it, I was not too sure. However, this is surely a delicious stew in clear soup which resembles the chicken noodle soup served in many Western cuisine restaurants. I was very interested to cook this up on my own at home. To please my family, and to save my bucks, too!

Anyway, learned to cook this was certainly a great thing. This is also a crowd pleaser in any occasions, if the popular Asian party dish, curry chicken, isn't your fave.

Serves 4 - 5
Ingredients
A mixture of vegetables:
200 gram of celery, cut into pieces, crosswise
100 gram of white radish, halved lengthwise and cut into thin slices
1 carrot, cut into pieces, crosswise
1/4 piece of bamboo shoot, halved and cut into thin slices
1/2 small root of lotus root (about 5 slices), halved lengthwise and cut into thin slices
5 fresh Shiitake mushroom, trimmed root and cut into small pieces
50 gram of Enoki aka Golden needle mushroom, trimmed root

2 boneless chicken thigh, trimmed fat and skin, cut into chunk pieces, seasoned with 1 tablespoon each of light soy sauce and white pepper, and sprinkle some cornstarch, for at least 15 minutes

600 ml of water
1 chicken stock cube
1 teaspoon of salt

Optional:
1 knob (about 20 gram) of butter with 1 teaspoon of olive oil to sauté all the ingredients before transferring into croak pot

Method
If stew in slow cooker:
1) Place water and all ingredients including chicken thigh and chicken stock cube (except for salt) into croak pot.

2) Place croak pot in slow cooker. Cover pot with lid. Turn on and shift to auto or low mode to let ingredients stew for at least 3 hours or longer.

3) Stir in salt and let it stew for another 10 minutes before heat off. Serve hot.

* If you have time, sauté the chicken thigh followed by mushrooms and vegetables in wok with a knob of butter over medium-high heat, before placing into croak pot to stew. Just to bring out the flavor even better.

If stew on stove:
1) Heat large pot with butter and olive over medium-high fire. Place chicken thigh followed by mushrooms and vegetables into pot to sauté for a minute.

2) Add in water and bring it to a boil. Add and dissolve chicken stock cube in the pot.

3) Covet pot with lid. Reduce heat to low fire to stew the ingredients for at least 2 hours, or until ingredients are soften. Stir in salt and continue to stew for 10 minutes before heat off. Serve hot.

** If using pressure cooker, stewing time would be shorten to just less than an hour to have the ingredients cooked and softened.

A serving of my chicken stew soup counts about 170kcal.

Tips: If you like it more soupy, or to have it more like a chicken soup dish, increase the amount of water to double.