Linda's Cravings

Among my repertoire of Nonya dishes, Hu Pioh Soup is the crowd's favourite.
A MUST have in my annual CNY cookout for my in-laws' clan.

A nephew is so fond of this soup that the other nieces and nephews have to keep counts of the number of bowls he consumes - aloud!

Its popularity lies with the wholesomeness of the soup, made from scratch with chicken stock, prawn stock and crab stock.

It is characteristically the classic Nonya Bakwan Kepiting soup (Nonya Pork and Crab Meatball soup) to which I added Hu Pioh (Fish Maw) for the lush finish fitting for the festive season.

As the name suggested, you will need minced pork and crab meat.
My version called for 70% lean pork meat and 30% fat. If you preferred a clear soup, use lean meat only.

Use fresh crab meat where possible as it does make a difference. The removal of the meat requires some effort which is the very reason why I cooked this soup only once a year.
The other advantage of using fresh crabs is that the shells are used for stock, giving it a lift in flavour.

You may use mud crabs which are known for their meatiness or flower crabs for their sweetness.
I will not recommend frozen crab meat as it is basically tasteless. You will be better off substituting it with fresh prawns.
The other alternative is canned crab meat recently seen in the local supermarket. You want the lump or chunk type.

Ready-cooked winter bamboo shoot in vacuum packed (available at both wet markets and supermarkets) is used here.

Buy good quality Roasted Fish Maw if you can (because it is non-oily).
If using the deep fried type, you may want to soak it first with hot water to rinse off the oil.
Otherwise, just scoop off the layer of fat when the soup is cooked.

DO NOT skip the fried garlic (and oil) and coriander topping - the necessary touch to this nourishing soup.

Live dangerously, add in the fried pork lardons as well!


You will need:

Meat from 4 large cooked flower crabs
700gm minced pork
Fresh prawns, shelled, roughly minced (optional)
100gm quality fish maws, soaked and cut into 3cm long
6 litres of stock (chicken, prawns, crab or a combination)
1 pack of vacuumed packed winter bamboo shoot, cut into thin strips (about 300gm)
2 teaspoons of mushroom granules or 1 Tsp of chicken granules
5 tablespoons of light soy sauce
2 tablespoons of cornflour
1 tablespoons of sesame oil or garlic oil

Garnishing
Coriander leaves
deep fried garlic and oil
white pepper
fried pork lard (optional)


Methods:

1. Put all the meat and 30% of the winter bamboo shoot in a bowl and marinate it with cornflour, soy sauce, mushroom granules and oil. Set aside.



2. To prepare the stock, heat up the pot with a tablespoon garlic oil and add in the balance winter bamboo shoot, fried for a couple of minutes till fragrant. Pour in the available stock you have and bring it to a boil.

3. Add the drained fish maw.

4. Shape the meatball using a spoon. Add the meatballs to the boiling soup, the meatballs will float when cooked.

5. To serve, scoop 2-3 meatballs, some fish maw and bamboo strips into a bowl and topped it with fried garlic, coriander leaves and fried pork lardons.


photographed by HH



Cook's Notes:

1. Remove the meatballs when cooked (as it may be overcooked) and set aside if not eating immediately.

2. I am using 3 types of stock here as I have ready home made stock for the CNY season.
You may choose to use the stock avail to you, not necessary all 3 types.

3. Prawn meat is optional.

4. Do scoop away the layer of oil floating on the soup.

5. You may want to test cook the meatball and adjust to your preference.

If you have been following this blog, you would have known by now that I am a big fan of pumpkin.
Simply because it is a versatile nutritional powerhouse.

I have used it in curry, porridge, stir fried and my favourite way - as a dessert.

I first come across this dessert in a Chinese restaurant in China many many moons ago.
The restaurant uses hollowed-out pumpkins for their house speciality, and the flesh was not wasted but put to good use in this dessert.

It is one of the most painless and pleasing desserts to make in a home kitchen.
Just need to combine the sliced pumpkin and rock sugar and boiled till soft, the cooked sago is then added for the jelly-like texture.
Taking a clue from the mango sago dessert, I have added pomelo; substituting the coconut cream with coconut ice cream.

The combination of warm golden pumpkin sago with the burst in the mouth pomelo crowned with the cold, rich, creamy coconut ice cream is so satisfying and appropriate for this glittering CNY festive season.

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

What you need:

500gm of pumpkin, peeled and sliced thinly
200gm of rock sugar
1 - 1.5-litre water
150gm sago
pomelo
Coconut ice cream or coconut cream


Methods:

1. Cook the peeled, sliced pumpkin with rock sugar in a pot with of water.

2. When the pumpkin is soft, use a potatoes masher or hand-held grinder to blend until smooth and creamy.

3. Add in the cooked sago and stir. (The mixture will appear thick, and you may add or reduce the amount of water to your preferred consistency)

4. To serve - spoon pumpkin into bowl, top with pomelo and coconut ice cream



Cook's  Notes:

1. Add or reduce the amount of water to your preferred consistency
2. Rock sugar is preferred for Chinese dessert, it is said to nourish the body.
3. Always cook the sago separately from the dessert and to rinse it through a sieve before adding to the dessert. Otherwise, the dessert will become too thick and gluey.


To cook sago
1. Add the sago to the pot of boiling water, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
2. To prevent it sticking to the pot, stir it occasionally.
3. Turn off the heat and cover the pot with lid after the sago had turned partially translucent with some white dots (after the 10 minutes)
4. The sago will continue cooking in this heat (about 15 minutes)
5. When the sago turned entirely translucent, rinse the cooked sago through a sieve.
6. Keep sago in a bowl of water until ready to use.

I find minced pork so versatile that it is a must have in my fridge/freezer.

I reached for it each time I run out of ideas to cook or in idle mode. I used it for noodle soup, stir fry, with steam egg, steam tofu, the meatball for pasta and in the stew, the list is endless.

I recently cooked a batch of Char Siew (Chinese BBQ/grill pork) and decided to make some wontons to go with it.

My PoPo (granny) used to run a Wonton noodle stall, and to this Cantonese family, Wonton and Char Siew are inseparable.
The children like it deep fried while the adults find comfort in the wonton soup.
Either way, they make great appetiser and snack.

Just need to get a packet of ready-made wonton wrappers, and with the minced pork on hand, I am ready to roll or wrap in this case.

Typically, light soy sauce, cornflour, pepper and sesame oil are used to marinate the minced pork. Some may add minced carrot, minced prawns, chopped spring onion, chopped chestnut to the minced pork.
That's the beauty of home cooking, you may add whatever fancy you.

Dried sole fish is crucial for Cantonese wontons. It makes a difference to the dish with its smoky flavour, further enhanced by the toasting/grilling.

Lean minced pork is excellent for this recipe as cornflour is added to act as a binder and tenderizer.

For the strong heart, I dare you to add a teaspoon of lard to the minced pork.
As for the weak heart, you may substitute it with sesame oil.



250gm minced pork.
1 packet of ready-made wonton wrappers
1 tablespoon of soy sauce or fish sauce
1 tablespoon of oyster sauce
1 teaspoon of dried sole powder
dash of pepper
1 teaspoon of cornflour
1 teaspoon of oil
enough oil to deep fried


Methods:

1. Grilled the dried sole fish in an oven or toaster. Be careful not to burn it. When cool, grind into powder.




2. Marinate the meat well ahead of time. The longer left marinated, the tastier will be.

3. Place a small amount of minced pork on the wrapper and fold to form a triangle.



4. Smear the corners of the wrapper with egg white and press out the air before you fully seal the wrapper.





6. Wet the right side (underneath) of the wrapper with egg white



7. Gently pull together and press firmly to form these cuties.





8. Deep fried or boil as you preferred.

9. To deep fried, heat oil over medium heat in a wok or large sauce pan, a few at a time. Don't  overcrowd the wok. Fried till crispy golden brown and serve warm with chilli, tomatoes or mayonnaise sauce.


Cooks' Note:

1. If cooking wontons for soup, boil it separately. Do not cook/boil it in the soup/broth.(Home made chicken stock, store bought broth, chicken cubes)

2. Do a test run to get your taste right.

3. An egg wash helps the wonton wrapper sticker together so that the filling doesn't pop out. The trick is to press out the air before you fully seal the wrapper.

Lately, I have been craving for something sweet after dinner, which is very unusual as I am not known to be a "sweet" person.

I have gone from polishing off the whole fruit cakes (during the festive period) to popping truffles every evening (to a point HRH starts rationing)

While super marketing the other day, I was attracted to some pretty edible gems - tapioca jellies.
I don't know about you, as for me (and Empress Dowager) the tapioca jelly is the only reason we eat Bo Bo Cha Cha.
(One could make these tapioca jellies by creating a dough by adding hot water to tapioca flour and then adding colouring to this dough)

Our bowls of BBCC are filled up mostly with the tapioca jellies and the "incidental" cubes of yam and sweet potatoes.
This blissfulness came to an abrupt end when the "pretty one" discovered the "plot" and checked every bowl that comes out from the kitchen.

Ok, I don't mind the rest of the ingredients that go in there as well, but I simply dislike coconut.
It is also the reason why I am not a fan of Laksa and Nonya Kueh (which calls for coconut cream).
In this household, I substitute coconut cream with evaporated milk or yoghurt in my curries.

To make sure everyone eats the sweet potatoes and not fight over the tapioca jellies, I bought three types of sweet potatoes. The purple sweet potatoes, the yellow flesh and the orange sweet potatoes which really make a beautiful picture. Oh yes, not forgetting the yam.

When I first cooked this dessert decades ago, I made the mistake of boiling everything in the coconut soup which then become too soft and eventually mushy from repeated boiling/reheat.
So, do not boil them! Cut it into bite size cubes and steam till cook (about 10 minutes).
I slept comfortably and very well after BBCC that night, I dreamt I was popping colourful gems into my mouth.
I should have known, coconut is a sleep aid.



You will need:

tapioca jellies - (You can also get these from the stall that sells bean sprout in the wet market or see below for recipe)
1 purple sweet potatoes
1 yellow sweet potatoes
1 orange sweet potatoes
80 - 100gm yam
100gm sago
400ml coconut cream (600ml if you like your soup thick and creamy)
150 - 200gm rock sugar (do adjust to your preferred sweetness)
1.5 lit of water
2-3 pandan leaves (tie in a knot)
1/4 teaspoon of salt
ripe bananas (optional)

Tapioca jellies