February 14, 2009 at 8:27 am (Soups, Uncategorized)
Tags: glass noodles, Recipes, Soups, spinach, tomato
Was traveling in China and found that it was pretty challenging to be a vegetarian as people would kindly show their “disagreement” and generosity by providing and insisting that you taste their best dishes which almost always come with meat or fish.
Finally back on my healthy routines, and try to cook several times a week. This soup I’m about to introduce to you is very simple, and definitely can be a key showcase in your own 30-min meals 
Key ingredients:
- fresh baby spinach
- glass noodles (either thick or thin is fine, best made of green beans and mixed with some wild veggies)
what I used today was mixed with fiddlehead fern – a very healthy green wild veggie, hehe
- one tomato diced
- mushroom (the thin type like golden mushroom)
what I used today was a kind with brown-ish heads, imported from Korea
- a can of vegetable broth
Steps:
- In a saucepan, pour the vegetable broth and add equal amount of water or a bit more and bring it to simmer
- Drop the diced tomato
- When the tomatoes become soft, add mushroom and the glass noodles
- Check on the glass noodles every once in a while so it’s not too soft or sticky
- Put the spinach only a couple minutes before you turn off the heat, and let the soup sit for a minute before serving
- Drop a bit sesame oil for a final touch
- Add salt or black pepper to personal taste
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November 20, 2008 at 7:56 am (Favorites, Soups)
Tags: cilantro, egg, mushroom, Soups, tomato, vegetable broth
Tomatoes and eggs make a perfect match in Chinese cooking …good colors, texture, taste, etc. 
One of the most authentic homemade Chinese dishes is called tomatoes with scrambled egges [西红柿炒鸡蛋]. Likewise, they both often appear in dinner soups like this one I will show you today… ah, pictures first, hehe
Beautiful & Delicious!
These pictures are from a few weeks ago…well, been a bit busy lately. So I was in a mood for some soup at the end of the dinner and this came to mind as the most convenient choice. In no time, it was on the table – and I was heavenly satisfied
What you need:
- 1 fresh tomato (best to use cluster tomato, not rome tomato for better taste), diced
- 1 egg stirred
- cilantro, coarsely chopped
- 1 can of Swanson vegetable broth
- a few slices of fresh ginger root
- maybe 2 tablespoons of corn starch mixed with cold water, well stirred
How to make the soup:
- In a sauce pan, drop a drizzle of oil
- When the pan gets hot, put in the ginger slices, stir – then tomatoes
- Let the tomatoes cook for a few minutes to be softened, and the juice is out – pour half a can of vegetable broth, cover and bring to a boil
- Stir the mixture of corn starch and water very well before adding to the soup base
- Than add the stirred egg using one of the two ways: (1) drop the egg mixture into the pot through a chopstick; or (2) drop the egg mixture directly into the pot, but quickly stir the soup to create the “egg flowers”
- Let it soup simmer for a minute and turn the heat off before dropping in the chopped cilantros
- Yummy – enjoy! The taste of the soup comes from the ingredients, you may add salt/pepper to your own taste if it is too light for you…
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October 27, 2008 at 1:23 am (Main Dish, Recipes, Soups)
Tags: bell pepper, cauliflower, glass noodles, gouqi, Lunch, mung bean, Recipes, rice, Soups, spinach
For all you can have for lunch on a warm, sunny autumn Sunday in southern California:
- Rice cooked with whole mung beans (Mung beans are good for your health, I’ll write about it another day)
- Cauliflower and bell pepper of colors
- Spinach and glass noodle soup
Tips for making these dishes:
- Soak the mung beans for a half day before mixing them with the rice and put into the rice cooker
- Cauliflower and bell pepper of colors is a great vegan dish that I learned from a Buddhist cooking guidebook. Choose a combination of red, yellow, and orange bell pepper in this case, but not green bell pepper which has a slightly different taste.
To make cauliflower and bell pepper of colors:
- Put in a hot pan a drizzle of Canola oil
- Then drop in some slices of fresh ginger (and chopped fresh garlic/scallions depending on personal preference)
- Add cauliflower cuts, stir well
- Wait for a few minutes, and add diced bell peppers
- To enhance the flavor, add some vegetarian oyster sauce (my secret ingredient )
- Again stir well and keep the the lid on till the veggies are softer before serving
To make the soup:
- In a sauce pan, pour half of a can of vegetable broth and mix with twice amount of water
- Bring to boil, and drop a small bundle of glass noodles (those made of mung beans, potatos, or with special flavors such as fiddlehead fern are good)
- Add some gouqi (dried goji berries) and wild mushrooms (any kind but smaller ones)
- Add a bag of fresh spinach the last
- Keep simmering for a minute or two then it’s done
- Some people like to put a drop of sesame oil right before serving (it smells great and puts a layer of shine on the surface of the soup ~~)
And I know, I know – next time I’ll remember to take pictures before I dive into the delicious meal, okay?
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September 30, 2008 at 5:29 am (Favorites, Main Dish, Soups)
Tags: bibimbap, dining out, Korean, Soups
I enjoy dining out with friends – part of my weekly fun schedule now…
Just to show a few pictures from the nice Korean Bibimbap restaurant:
Vegetarian Bibimbap! Irresistible!
How can't you love these Korean appetizers?
Oh, and Souplantation! I had the best lentil soup ever! Hmmmm, yummmmy! And of course, salad, Asian noodles, and the special blackberry acai water!
Best Indian lentil soup ever!
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August 21, 2008 at 9:09 am (Recipes, Soups)
Tags: carrot, daikon, fiddlehead fern, glass noodles, gobo, gouqi, Recipes, Soups, vegetable broth
Special ingredients:
Gobo [牛蒡]： greater burdock root, good for cancer prevention and control.
Gouqi [枸杞]： also known as Chinese wolfberry, or goji berry.
Fiddlehead fern glass noodle [蕨菜粉丝]: thin glass noodles made of a mix of fiddlehead fern powder and flour.
Other ingredients: Daikon, Carrot, Black mushroom, Ginger root, Cilantro, vegetable broth
How to prepare:
- shred half of a daikon, 1/5 of a carrot (for color)
- slice a handful of gobo and a half of the ginger root
- coarsely chop up the cilantro
How to make the soup:
- In a medium size pot, boil a mix of vegetable broth and water (about 1:2)
- Put the gobo slices and fiddlehead fern glass noodles into the boiled soup base
- In a cooking pan, put a little canola oil, drop the ginger slices into the hot pan, then the daikon and carrot shreds together with some freshly ground black pepper. Stir for a few minutes till the smell of the daikon comes out, then add some water and pout the mixture into the soup base
- Add black mushroom and gouqi
- Let the soup simmer for a few minutes, turn off the stove, and add chopped cilantro to garnish （no need to add other seasonings)
Super natural, super nutritional, and super simple!
牛蒡枸杞蕨菜粉丝汤
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