Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen With Dried Persimmon in Cinnamon and Ginger Sweet Soup

Winter may just be getting started, but those looking forward to a bit more daylight have not much longer to wait. This Saturday that is today is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere and it will experience the shortest daytime and longest nighttime. After the Winter Solstice, days will become longer and longer. As ancient Chinese thought, the yang, or muscular, positive things will become stronger and stronger after this day, so it should be celebrated.  So to keep up with traditions, i have made Pumpkin Tang Yuan/Tong Yuen and served with a sweet soup that has Korean influence Cinnamon And Ginger With Persimmon (Soojunggwa).

With this recipe i would like to wish all family and friends HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE

Indonesian Mee Soto Ayam

 

When i was working with a Government Board in Malaysia, I have many friends who were of Javanese descent and they have introduced me to their favorite Mee Soto Ayam. Although they called it Mee, it was actually Chicken soup with glass noodles(suon) and i have been served the alternative to glass noodle(suon) which was with rice cake(nasi impit).

The soup is very fragrant from the spices used and tumeric is responsible for the beautiful yellow hue of the chicken soup. Besides remembering the fragrant chicken soup, the begedil served together was to die for, my friends will always repeat this like a broken record - no begedil, no mee soto ayam.

Square Balls, Siew Cheong a.k.a. Roasted Sausages Sar Hor Fun

What i really missed eating is a bowl of silky soft kway teow/sar hor fun with Square Pork Balls and Siew Cheong a.k.a. Roasted Sausages.  For all the years that i have been here, i have not been able to get hold of these silky, soft kway teow/sar hor fun, fresh or dried.  The closest to this would be a packet of instant rice noodle/pho with artificial chicken or beef by OH RICEY or Pho Bo/Ga by VIFUN..  Strangely this noodles are not available in large packets with no seasonings and i have bought so many packets hoping that the next packet would be the one i prefer but to no success so far.  The ones that are available are not as silky and they are thicker but it has to be it when there is a craving for a good bowl of hot soup noodle.  If anyone reading this post, find these large packets of thin, silky rice noodles please do share.

Square Pork Balls

If you are older or as old as i am, it is better not to make promises, either you forget to keep it or multi-tasking is harder and chores are taking too much time to complete.  Anyway, i did try posting it sometime back and somehow it was so frustrating as the whole post just vanished without a trace, all my effort for nothing but frustration.  This is not an excuse, a promise is a promise and it has to be kept however or whatever and here is how to make these Square Pork Balls.  I do not mean to confuse the name of this recipe, it is so strange, balls are always round or olive-shaped but these are square, so, since these are to eaten and not to play with, it is fine to be square, agreed?????

Rice Cake Soup / 떡국 / Ddeokguk

When i cooked Ddeokbokki, i had to cook Ddeokguk, a soup filled with soft Korean rice cakes (Ddeok).  Ddeokbokki was too spicy for my grandchildren.  Renee will not try it , Alexander said that his palate is more mature and tried a piece. You should see his face turned red and his eyes rolled big from the spiciness.  He reached for his Sprite and gave a big smile.  We praised him for being so brave and he was beaming with pride.  Luckily Ddeokguk is simple to cook.  This again might not be what most koreans expect Ddeokguk to be but give this recipe a chance, you might like it as much as Renee and Alexander did.

Fish Maw Soup

In Cantonese culinary, 鲍参翅肚 (abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish stomach) are considered the top four gourmet items from the sea. The fish stomach referenced here is the fish maw.


For those who don’t know, fish maw is the air bladder (also called swim bladder) that is found in all fish except sharks and rays. The maws served in restaurants are usually from the conger pikes. The cleaned maw is dried and then deep fried to make it puffy. In this state it will keep indefinitely. . The maw in itself is a texture ingredient only, it has no fishy taste, and is usually cooked with other strongly flavoured ingredients.it takes on the flavor of surrounding ingredients it is cooked with like a sponge.


Like a lot of ingredients in Chinese culinary traditions, the fish maw is an excellent source of collagen and is
regarded as a nourishing tonic that helps blood circulation and beneficial to the general health. 


Now we know what they are, how can we prepare them for cooking? 


Fish maws are sold dried in two forms – deep fried or non-deep fried. Deep fried fish maws are puffy, light and look like a yellow sponge or pork rind. Whereas the other type is in stiff, cream-colored sheet. For the deep fried ones, all you have to do is to soak them in cold water or simmer to reconstitute to rid of some of the oil.  For the non-deep fried ones,  deep fry them in moderately hot oil until it puffs up and become white. Then soak it until pliable and also to remove some of the oil.  Repeat the soaking if necessary.  The fish maw is now ready and good to go, just cut them into slices of desired size.

Omelette Soup

When it comes to summer weeknight cooking, the name of the game is getting dinner on the table fast and not slave over a hot stove.  It is an added bonus when quick dishes like this soup can be so simple and delicious.  This soup is light enough to counteract the rising temperatures. and  guaranteed to cool you down on those hot summer days.  I am sure everyone knows about the popularity of The Egg Drop Soup and this soup is very closely related.  The ingredients are the same only the method is different -  for the Egg Drop Soup, the beaten egg is Dropped at the end of cooking but in this case, the beaten egg is Dropped into the pan at the beginning of cooking, making an omelette.

Tang Yuan/Yuanzi

I do not recall any festivities for this day, the first 15th day of the first Moon.  The only thing i remembered was my grandma reminding me to 'cheong heong' - cantonese - light some joss sticks and give prayers as it was 'Sun sap mng'.  It's only now that i can surf the net and found that there is a festival for this day - Yuanxiao Festival and you can read about it Here.

I found out that by eating glutinous rice balls on this night when the moon gets full for the first time in this year, will grant your wish for happy ending and reunion.  I know the moon will be glowing in it's brightess tonight, so i made glutinous rice balls with orange sweet potatoes/yam to make them look bright.  The black sesame seeds filling represents the darkness of the sky complimenting the moon.

Rice Wine Residue Sweet Soup

Soup gives you warmth that goes far beyond temperature to that feeling of comfort that few other foods can match.