Chinese Chives Soup ???

Chinese Chives (gow choy) sounds the same as nine veg.. and many people refrain from eating this after having measles or chicken pox because, they believe they�ll get 9 times of that disease if they consume this 9 veg.

When I was a kid, I hated Chinese Chives� the smell was urgh!!!!!

Then grandaunt made this soup.. that was when it changed my opinion about this member of the onion family. It became my next favourite veg.

From a smelly green thingy.. it became the sweetest veg to my tastebuds�

A very easy soup to make

Chinese Chives Soup
� cup dried anchovies, wash and drained
1 Tbsp oil
1L water
Salt to taste

10 fishballs
100gm Chinese chives cut into 3cm lengths)
1 egg , beaten

Heat a pot and put in oil. Stir fry anchovies until fragrant and pour in water. Let boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove anchovies and season with salt.

Put in fish balls and wait for them to float.
Put in Chinese chives and wait for soup to boil.
Drizzle in beaten egg while stirring continuously with a ladle.
Turn off the heat and serve.

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Chicken and Oyster Mushroom Soup ????

This soup was created way back in 2001, when I was still staying with my buddies after graduation.

I never liked Chicken Rice Wine Soup, I like it before the wine is added, but not after the wine. So, my grandaunt will always ladle out one bowl for me before she adds the wine. That was when I was a child.

Many many years later, I wanted to do 'that pre wine chicken soup', and there were these mushrooms in the fridge almost going to go rotten if I don't cook it soon. So, in they went into the soup... and it made it even more delicious. The grey oyster mushrooms added an extra touch of sweetness to the soup..and it thickens the soup a bit.. lovely addition..

This soup has lots of ginger in it, and my hubby is no fan of ginger... yet, he says it is good! Best taken on a cold rainy day...

Chicken and Oyster Mushroom Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

1 chicken whole leg or 2 thighs (cut small)

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup of ginger (roughly 6 inches), smashed with the back of a cleaver. (If u like to eat ginger, by all means, slice it or julienne it)

2 tbsp oil

4 cups water

200 gm grey oyster mushroom (torn to smaller pieces)

Method:

1. Marinate chicken pieces with salt for 15 minutes.

2. Heat wok, fry ginger with oil until slightly golden.

3. Put in marinated chicken and stir fry for 3-4 minutes.

4. At this point, if you want to discard some oil, you may do so.

5. Pour in water and bring to a boil. Simmer chicken soup on medium heat for 10 minutes.

6. Add in oyster mushrooms and simmer for another 3 minutes.

7. Taste and place onto a bowl.

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Amaranth Soup with Century Eggs ?????

What is amaranth? Some Malaysians may not know.

What is bayam? We know.

Bayam is edible Amaranth (Amaranthus tricolor, A. gangeticus, A. oleraceus, A. mangostanus ) lor! Hmmm..some may call it spinach, but spinach is Spinacia oleracea. Well, some call bayam as Chinese Spinach, but in Wikipedia, Chinese Spinach can also be Kangkung(Ipomoea aquatica) and Malabar Spinach or as Malaysian call it as Emperor's Shoots (Basella alba)

For those that can understand cantonese, what do u think is spinach then.....? In Cantonese Spinacia oleracea is Por Choy, and edible amaranth is Yeen Choy, Kangkung is Ong Choy and not forgetting Malabar Spinach is Charn Choy or Tai Wong Choy too.

For those that cannot understand cantonese, just a look at the scientific name and make ur verdict.

Ok, enough said about spinach. This page is about edible Amaranth.

So, here's a picture of my soup



It does look a bit murky, due to the century eggs. My hubby loves this soup.

Amaranth Soup with Century Eggs Recipe

Ingredients:
A bunch of Amaranth (about 150-200 gm before trimming)
A handful, abt half cup of cleaned anchovies (bilis, I used Terengganu large anchovies, really yummy)
1 tbsp oil
1 century egg (cut into 8 pcs)
3 cups water (water will be reduced when simmering bilis)
1/2 tsp salt

Method:
1. Heat a saucepan, put in oil and saute the anchovies for a while and put in water. Boil, cover and turn low heat simmer for at least 15 minutes.
2. Take out the boiled anchovies. (U can retain them if u want, but they're rather tasteless already)
3. Put in trimmed Amaranth and boil for a minute or 2 depending on size of plant, baby bayam will need less time. Add salt and taste.
4. Put in century egg and boil for another minute. (this makes it murky, but it taste better)
5. Place soup in a bowl and serve.

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