Tomato Egg Flower Soup [西红柿鸡蛋汤]

November 20, 2008 at 7:56 am (Favorites, Soups)
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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, heheimg_2418

Beautiful & Delicious!

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:

  1. In a sauce pan, drop a drizzle of oil
  2. When the pan gets hot, put in the ginger slices, stir – then tomatoes
  3. 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
  4. Stir the mixture of corn starch and water very well before adding to the soup base
  5. 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”
  6. Let it soup simmer for a minute and turn the heat off before dropping in the chopped cilantros
  7. 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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Rice Pilaf My Way

September 5, 2008 at 12:30 am (Main Dish, Recipes, Stories)
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If my memory serves me right, I discovered rice pilaf about 5 years when I was living with an American lady. She works as a figure skating coach and was always busy. We often share food, so one day on shortage of supplies, I “borrowed” a box of her rice and mixed in a couple handy ingredients. I somehow have only cooked it once or twice after that, but every time I did, it turned out to be a quite quick and tasty meal! So this one absolutely goes with the idea of SEMI-HOMEMADE meals :-p

Ingredients:

  • A store-bought box of rice pilaf (usually about 6-7 oz)
  • A handful shiitake mushroom or similar kind (dark color preferred), cut in small pieces
  • Some pine nuts
  • A can of vegetable broth
  • Chopped garlic
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil ~ What Food Network Racheal Ray calls EVOO, and now me too :-)

How to make it:

  1. In a 2 quart saucepan, put in 4-5 tbsp. EVOO to coat the bottom of the pan
  2. When the pan is hot, drop in the chopped fresh garlic, stir well, and then add shiitake mushroom
  3. Cook the mushroom for a minute and mix in the rice pilaf and seasoning that comes with it, stir well
  4. Pour 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1-1½ cups of water (note: no additional seasoning needed)
  5. Bring the mixture to a boil and drop in the pine nuts, stir well
  6. Cover the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes; then turn off the heat, and let it stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork before serving.
Ta-da! My rice pilaf - hmm yummy!

Tah-dah! My rice pilaf - hmm yummy!

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Gobo Gouqi and Fiddlehead Fern Glass Noodle Soup [牛蒡枸杞蕨菜粉丝汤]

August 21, 2008 at 9:09 am (Recipes, Soups)
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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:

  1. In a medium size pot, boil a mix of vegetable broth and water (about 1:2)
  2. Put the gobo slices and fiddlehead fern glass noodles into the boiled soup base
  3. 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
  4. Add black mushroom and gouqi
  5. 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

牛蒡枸杞蕨菜粉丝汤

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