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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September 5, 2008 at 12:30 am (Main Dish, Recipes, Stories)
Tags: Main Dish, mushroom, pine nut, rice, vegetable broth
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:
- In a 2 quart saucepan, put in 4-5 tbsp. EVOO to coat the bottom of the pan
- When the pan is hot, drop in the chopped fresh garlic, stir well, and then add shiitake mushroom
- Cook the mushroom for a minute and mix in the rice pilaf and seasoning that comes with it, stir well
- Pour 1 cup of vegetable broth and 1-1½ cups of water (note: no additional seasoning needed)
- Bring the mixture to a boil and drop in the pine nuts, stir well
- 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.
Tah-dah! My rice pilaf - hmm yummy!
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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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