Soup isn’t quite a big deal in my family when I was growing up. My childhood memory of soup is boiling water with omelette, tang hoon and spring onions, flavoured with soy sauce. That soup is delicious.. but it’s.. boiling water flavoured with soy sauce.

During Chinese New Year, Ah-mm would also cook a big pot of wong-bok vegetable soup with fishballs, meatballs, fuzhou meatballs, handmade meat balls and her-kiao (fish dumplings).. you know, all the teochew stuff. I still cook this soup often these days.. I love the sweetness of the soup when it is loaded with wong-bok, the magic vegetable created – I believe – just so it could be in soup.

For the past 3 weeks, the husband and I have decided to just eat soup for dinner Mondays to Fridays in our attempt to stay in shape, or not stay in round shape anymore. I have also started walking home from work (Boon Lay to Bukit Batok) and reach home about an hour later than usual, so cooking soup makes things easier for me since I basically just have to put everything in a pot and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours over the stove top (we have late dinners). I like this arrangement! You could also cook this in the slow cooker and it’ll be ready by the time you get home from work.

I like to use honey dates as they lend a savoury flavour to the soup. When cooking lotus root and pork rib soup, I also add dried octopus, red dates (sometimes) and peanuts. I cheat and use canned braised peanuts (Narcissus brand) to save time, and also because my aunt can’t eat crunchy peanuts so I have to ensure they are real soft. You could use raw peanuts (remove the skin if you use them!) if you want to be authentic and all, but canned peanuts taste great to me. I also used to add a whole small piece of octopus without cutting, but I find that cutting them into small strips makes the soup tastier. Don’t be tempted to use a large piece of octopus thinking that it would do your soup good. All it’ll do is overpower it.

Before cooking the soup, be sure to clean the pork ribs and scald them in boiling water first. Doing so removes scum, dirt and blood water, so your soup is cleaner and clearer. It also makes the meat juicier. And be sure to simmer instead of boil for the 2 hours so that the meat becomes tender, not tough. You could add carrots, but I didn’t in this recipe.

That night, my little niece came over. She is real picky about food but look at her gulp down the soup! What a gem, this little one! p/s- if you’re giving pork rib soup to children, filter the soup through a sieve first, to get rid of any tiny bones that could exist. Enjoy!

The post Lotus Root Pork Rib Soup appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

Lotus root is one of my favourite food because I identify with it. What? Yeah. Lotus root looks tough on the outside but when you cook them, they release such delicate flavours that makes you wonder if they’re the same entity as the “before cooking” version.

I usually use lotus roots in soups or a quick stir-fry, but I also like to make lotus root chips in my Philips Airfryer. Slice them up real thin and spray on some cooking oil. They become the most amazing snack in 15 minutes. Today I’m going to make burgers out of them. I got the idea of a lotus root burger from Nami, and slightly changed the recipe to include chopped prawns and water chestnuts and I also omitted the sauce. I could eat 20 of these because they’re so good, so delicately crispy and light, with the sweetness of pork, prawns and water chestnuts in every bite.

You can make a sauce to go along with these. Combine 80ml water with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sake, 1 tablespoon sugar and 1 tablespoon mirin and cook til simmering. Add cornstarch solution (half tablespoon corn starch with 1 tablespoon water, mixed) and stir to combine. This will yield a sweet sauce that you can pour over the burgers. I omitted this step because I just felt like eating these with chilli sauce and ketchup, like finger food. They’re quite darn good!

The post Panfried Lotus Root Burger appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.

I really should be eating more lotus root because it is high in fibre, vitamin C, and most importantly for me, it can supply me with a healthy dose of copper, zinc and iron. Comparatively though, it is higher in carbohydrates (17g carbs per 100g) than carrots (10g carbs per 100g), broccoli (3g carbs per 100g serving), and is almost close to the carb content of potatoes (21g carbs per 100g). For diabetics, you can still enjoy this dish, lotus root, carrots and all, and even potatoes and rice (balsmati, for its low GI), as long as it is eaten in moderation. The key word is always moderation.

For example, I moderate myself to eat a maximum of one slice of black forest cake, one butter scone, one peach tart, 1 apple strudel, and 3 chocolate cookies in one sitting. Just kidding. That’s my secret wish.

Makes 3 servings

What I used:

One segment lotus root, sliced, enough to fill a regular plate (about 150g to 200g)
2 chicken fillets, chopped into pieces
50ml water or chicken stock
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
Half a carrot, cut into flower pattern or not is up to you LOL
Some spring onions for garnish
1 tbsp spicy bean paste
1 tbsp light soy sauce
Half tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp hua diao jiu; chinese cooking wine
1 tsp sugar
White pepper
1tbsp olive oil

1. Marinade chicken in bean paste, soy sauce, sugar, wine and pepper.
2. Fry ginger in olive oil for a minute, then add garlic. Fry together til fragrant.
3. Add lotus root and carrot, fry for a few minutes then add the water or stock.
4. Add in chicken pieces and stir fry to coat veggies with sauce.
5. Cook til chicken is cooked and heated through. Garnish with spring onions.

How much I spent:

$1 for lotus root
$1.50 for chicken fillet
$0.30 for carrot
Everything else from my pantry

Total cost per serving: $0.93

——————————————————————-

If there’s one thing I would change, I would cut the chicken into strips instead of pieces so that more sauce is coated on them. If you prefer more gravy, add more water or stock, then season to your liking. As with all types of dishes, taste, taste taste during the cooking process!

Serve hot with rice and a clear vegetable soup for a balanced meal.

The post Chinese Stir Fry: Lotus Root & Chicken in Spicy Bean Sauce appeared first on Budgetpantry | Singapore Mummy Blog on Food, Recipe & Baby.