I usually cook soups with onions, garlic, ginger, carrots in a chicken stock base. Plus whatever vegetables I want. Not this time. The napa cabbage, honey dates and dried cuttlefish (optional, actually) were enough to create a subtly sweet and savoury flavour. I didn’t even add chicken stock cubes, but did add some oyster sauce. I simmered it for 1.5 hours on low flame. The end result? A comforting, rich and extremely flavourful soup guaranteed to warm your heart and tummy.

Makes 6 servings

What I used:

1 napa cabbage (I don’t know the weight, but the size I used cost $2.30 from the supermarket. Please use the pricing as a gauge)
16 fuzhou fishballs
10 fishballs
10 prawn balls
10 fresh minced meat balls (mix minced chicken or pork with some flour and shape into balls)
6 ngoh hiangs
3 honey dates
1 piece dried cuttlefish
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
White pepper
Water

1. Use a large pot enough for your napa cabbage. Wash and chop cabbage into approx 1.5 inches in width.
2. Fill the pot with the cabbage, honey dates, dried cuttlefish and water til it comes up to 3/4 of the pot. Bring to boil and lower flame.
3. Add in all the balls + oyster sauce. Simmer for 1.5 hours in low heat or til the cabbage is soft and soup slightly thickened.
4. Do a taste test and add some light soy sauce if you find it not salty enough. Add white pepper when ready. Enjoy hot with warm rice!

How much I spent: 

$2.30 for cabbage
$2.90 for fuzhou fishballs
$1.20 for ngoh hiang
$2.50 for prawn balls
$1.50 for fishballs
Everything else from my pantry!

Total cost per serving: $1.78

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This large pot can actually serve 7-8 people as an accompaniment to other dishes, but I’m quite sure everyone will ask for refills so go ahead and cook a big pot! Leftovers, if any, are great kept in the fridge and reheated for lunch the next day. Don’t cheat by adding too many deep fried items if not the soup will be quite salty and oily. I don’t recommend those flat ngoh hiangs. These rolled types are good to soak up all the goodness of the soup. And as always, eat your soup, not drink it! :)

The post Chinese Soup: Napa Cabbage with Fuzhou Fishballs appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

You know what “they” say about eating cooling soups on hot days? Believe “them”, because it is true.. the heatiness in your body really does go away with a bowl of wintermelon soup!

I have never really understood ingredients with “cooling” or “warming” properties. All I know by hearsay is that wintermelon, waterchestnut, barley, etc, are “cooling” and longan, red dates, and meats like mutton are “heaty”. No wonder “people” always say taking Soup Kambing will result in nose bleed! And did you know that according to this website, ginger and garlic are considered “heaty” food too? For an extensive list of Traditional Chinese Medicine herbs with hot and cold properties, check this page out too. Now I know why Ah-mm kept feeding me 金银花 (Honeysuckle flower) when I was a pimply kid in primary 5. You know what “they” say about old people knowing best? They really do!

So I decided to cook wintermelon soup with pork balls the other day because I was bored of my vegetable soup, and figured Ah-mm, 88 and Jason must be too. I also got some waterchestnuts because if you wanna be cool, you might as well go all the way, right?

Makes 4 servings

What I used:

1 disc wintermelon, skin discarded and cut into approx 1-inch pieces (about $0.85 to $1 from supermarkets)
1 small piece dried cuttlefish
12 waterchestnuts, peel and chop 6 of them and leave the rest whole
200g minced pork, marinated with: A) half teaspoon light soy sauce B) a splash of chinese cooking wine C) sesame oil D) half teaspoon corn starch E) a dash of pepper
1.5 litres water
2 honeydates
Light soy sauce, to taste

1. Mix the chopped waterchestnuts into the marinated minced pork and set aside til later.
2. Place cuttlefish, whole waterchestnuts, honeydates, wintermelon and water into a pot and bring to boil. Lower flame and simmer for 30 minutes.
3. Season with light soy sauce and do a taste test.
4. Increase flame to medium. When soup is bubbling gently, shape minced pork into balls and add one by one into the pot. Cook for another 3-5 minutes and soup is ready. Easy!

How much I spent:

$0.95 for wintermelon
$0.50 for cuttlefish
$1 for waterchestnuts
$2.20 for minced pork
$0.40 for honeydates
Everything else from my pantry

Total cost per serving: $1.27

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You can add some cai xin if there’s no other veggie dish on the dinner table. Alex (my eldest brother) loved the soup and why wouldn’t he? The honeydates and cuttlefish lent a savoury touch, and the wintermelon and waterchestnuts made the soup subtly sweet. Not only does this simple soup win you over in terms of taste, because of its “cooling properties” this will be great for Mondays and your rising temper. Try this tonight!

(p/s- Please eat your soup, not drink it!)

The post Chinese Soup: Wintermelon Soup with Pork Balls appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.