BITTER GOURD AND CARROT SOUP

This is a healthy and nutritious soup, especially for those who love this bitter melon :)

Bitter gourd - you'll either love the bitter taste or hate it. Chinese often cook bitter gourd soups when the weather is hot as it is believed to have cooling effects. Other soups with similar cooling effects are watercress, winter melon and old cucumber soups :D

It helps to clear heat, brighten eyesight and detoxify the body.

Ingredients:

1 medium sized bitter gourd
1 medium sized carrot, peeled and cut into bite sized
10-12 red dates, pits removed
A handful of goji berries, soaked til puffy
Approx 150-200g pork bones
1500ml water

Blanch pork bones in boiling water for 5 mins. Rinse and set aside.
Cut the bitter gourd in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds. Cut the bitter gourd into large chunks. Rub a small amount of salt on the bitter gourd and then rinse off the salt with water. This helps to reduce the bitter taste of bitter gourd.
Put water in a pot and bring to a boil. Then add blanched pork ribs, red dates, carrots and bitter gourd chunks. When the water comes to a boil again, lower heat and simmer for about an hour.
At the last 15 mins before you turn off the flame, add in the soaked goji berries. Serve.

Comments

YACON SOUP WITH CORN AND CARROT

Was shopping at the usual supermarket recently when I saw a lady promoting something which, from far, looked like sweet potatoes to me. I didn't pay attention to her til she called out to me and handed me a piece to sample. She was promoting organic yacons, not sweet potato. The moment I put it into my mouth, I remembered eating this looong time ago, but because I seldom see it in the supermarkets, I had totally forgotten about such a thing. The yacon is a traditionally grown for its crisp, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots. Though the root looks like a sweet potato, the taste and texture are completely different. Its crispy texture, juiciness and mildly sweet taste makes it somewhat similar to water chestnut or snow pear. It can be eaten raw or cook. It is said that yacon is very high in fiber and low in calories which makes it a healthy and nutritious snack. Some of the health benefits of yacon include its ability to regulate blood sugar levels, lower 'bad' choles

CHINESE ARROWROOT SOUP WITH PORK BONES

This is the simple version of the Chinese arrowroot soup (Also known as 粉葛湯 'Fun Kot Tong' in Cantonese). Our family love drinking this soup. It is tasty and cooking it with pork bones and dried squid makes it sweet and refreshing. Some people who like boiling arrowroot together with lotus roots or peanuts, and my mother-in-law usually boils it on its own and drink as 'cooling' tea. Naturally sweet and tasty. If you don't like seafood, you can choose to omit the dried squid. This is how the Chinese arrowroot looks like. The arrowroot is a type of root plant similar to taro, potato or tapioca. However, it is harder in texture and incredibly starchy. When it is cut up, it has patterns that looks like the ages of a tree trunk. It is usually made into powder and used as thicken agent in cooking. The arrowroot is high in protein and fiber which is very beneficial to our body. Ingredients: 1 medium-sized Chinese arrowroot (Approx 700g) 10 red dates,

LEAN'S @ ATRIA SHOPPING GALLERY

Tong sui are a Cantonese specialty. If you've grown up in a Cantonese family, you must have had tong sui before. The term 'tong sui' literally means 'sugar water'. It is a collective term for any sweet, warm soup or custard served as a dessert at the end of a meal in Cantonese cuisine. My dad is a huge fan of tong sui : red bean soup, peanut soup, barley ginkgo and black sesame soup being his favorite. I'm not really a tong sui person but I remember seeing this Lean's place in Atria that sells a variety of desserts, including tong sui , nyonya kuihs and light meals, so I brought my dad there to try when my parents came over. It was afternoon teatime when we arrived. We were feeling a little hungry, so we ordered 2 nasi lemak bungkus, a cucur udang, steam cakes for my LO, black sesame cream, barley ginkgo and bubur cha cha. Nasi Lemak bungkus (RM3.70). Cucur udang (RM3). Pandan and vanilla steam cake (RM1.50 each). Nasi lemak is a famous lo

Lava Queen

Search This Blog