W for wolfberry for #AtoZChallenge: easy spinach soup with wolfberries recipe

Wolfberry is also known as goji berry (枸杞), desert thorn, or matrimony vine. When my eyes feel tired from staring too much into laptop, I remember Mom's advice to have some wolfberries. They are versatile ingredients for tonic soups, porridge or congee, or herbal tea.

Wolfberries go well with a variety of dishes, simple ones include spinach soup.

In Southeast Asia, we often have spinach soup cooked with 3 different kinds of eggs: normal egg, salty egg, century egg. Home-cooked version of thin and clear spinach soup can be egg-free and simpler.

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 26 Sat, I lovingly present a recipe of easy spinach soup with wolfberries by ServicefromHeart.




Serving: 2 as a side dish
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 8 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 1 packet spinach: sharp spinach (苋菜) or round spinach (菠菜)
♥ 1 tbsp anchovies / ikan bilis / ikan teri, rinsed
♥ 1 tbsp wolfberries
♥ 1 honey date (optional)
♥ 3 sticks imitation crab meat

Directions:
1. Bring water to boil with anchovies and honey date to acquire salty and sweet tastes, respectively.
2. Before boiling, add wolfberies and imitation crab meat.
3. Meanwhile, wash thoroughly spinach.
4. After boiled, add spinach. Stir. Be careful not to overcook.




Tips:
♥ It is best to consume this meal immediately. Mom warned not to eat left-over spinach dishes. Why? Spinach is rich in nitrate(which is reduced to nitrite) and Fe2+ (oxidation of Fe2+ results in Fe3+).
♥ Rinsing and soaking wolfberries are also important to remove pesticides and fungicides. 

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Nirmala Ganesh's spinach soup at Lil Spice & Lil Stir
♥ Wiffy's Chinese spinach in superior broth at Noob Cook

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140426

V for vegetables for #AtoZChallenge: homemade vegetable & fruit soak for washing

Do you grow your own fruits & vegetables? If yes, I am really envious of you. For many of us who rely on commercially produced fruits & vegetables, there are concerns of pesticide residues found on the skins of many fruits & vegetables.



The Dirty Dozen chart put out by the EWG (US-based Environmental Working Group) lists the fruits and vegetables most impacted by chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Image is a courtesy of Cybele Masterman @ Blah Blah Magazine

Dr. Sanjay Gupta tours a grocery store to show us which foods have the highest levels of pesticide residue.

While the soft skins of fruits are edible and contain nutrients, I often peel them away. 

In the past, I just used water to clean our fruits & vegetables before consuming. Now, I try to wash more thoroughly using homemade wash, thanks to vinegar & salt.

In brief, wash - peel - wash - cut into bite chunks - eat.



Colorful vegetables and fruits always make us happy!


***

Vinegar is typically 4-18% acetic acid by mass. Table vinegar tends to be more diluted (4% to 8% acetic acid).

PRO of vinegar:
♥ have antibacterial and anti mold properties.
♥ The acetic acid in vinegar can effectively kill mycobacteria, even highly drug-resistant strains (PMID: 24570366)
♥ remove clogs from drains. Agnes has used vinegar to remove stains from toilet bowl.

Please be careful:
Acetic acid is a strong eye, skin, and mucous membrane irritant. Concentrated acetic acid is corrosive, please use dilution with water.

***



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 25 Fri, I lovingly present a recipe to make homemade vegetable fruit soak:

Ingredients:
♥ 200 ml white vinegar (白醋)
♥ 800 ml filtered water (过滤水)

Directions:
1. Add water to a large stainless steel pot with a lid. The lid helps to minimize the irritant nature of vinegar.
2. Add white vinegar following a ratio of 1:4 for vinegar:water. Stir to mix.
3. If the vegetables or fruits float, swirl them around.
4. Soak duration varies. For green vegetables & lettuces, 5 minutes. For delicate fruits (e.g. strawberries, blueberries), 5-10 minutes. For others (e.g. broccoli, bell peppers), do not soak for more than 30 minutes to minimize the loss of nutrients.
5. Gently scrub & rinse well. Use a colander if possible.  
6. Air dry for a while before storing them in the fridge. Wet vegetables will not last long, alternatively use clean kitchen cloth towels to wipe. 

Other tips that I love:
♥ DIY Fruit and Vegetable Wash by Mary Younkin @ Barefeet in the Kitchen
♥ DIY Homemade Vegetable Wash/ Preserver by Kearna @ Fabulessly Frugal
♥ homemade fruit vegetable spray by ServicefromHeart
♥ Do not soak mushrooms because they absorb water. Use a brush & invert the cap to remove dust & dirts under running water.



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140425

DIY homemade fruit vegetable spray

Do you grow your own fruits & vegetables? If yes, I am really envious of you. For many of us who rely on commercially produced fruits & vegetables, there are concerns of pesticide residues found on the skins of many fruits & vegetables.

The Dirty Dozen chart put out by the EWG (US-based Environmental Working Group) lists the fruits and vegetables most impacted by chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Image is a courtesy of Cybele Masterman @ Blah Blah Magazine

While the soft skins of fruits are edible and contain nutrients, I often peel them away. 

In the past, I just used water to clean our fruits & vegetables before consuming. Now, I try to wash more thoroughly using homemade wash. 

Baking soda & vinegar have been great helps!  Baking soda is also known as sodium bicarbonate. 

***



PRO of sodium bicarbonate:
♥ weak disinfectant properties
♥ a potential effective fungicide against some organisms
♥ absorb musty smells
♥ clean things; (1) use cold water for steels as hot water solutions of sodium bicarbonate can corrode steel (2) do not use sodium bicarbonate for cleaning aluminium things.
♥ an antacid by dissolving with water, to treat acid indigestion and heartburn
♥ enhance crispness of fried foods
♥ tenderize meats

Please be careful:
"In patients consuming a high-calcium or dairy-rich diet, calcium supplements, or calcium-containing antacids, the use of sodium bicarbonate can cause milk-alkali syndrome, which can result in metastatic calcification, kidney stones, and kidney failure."

***

Vinegar is typically 4-18% acetic acid by mass. Table vinegar tends to be more diluted (4% to 8% acetic acid).

PRO of vinegar:
♥ have antibacterial and anti mold properties.
♥ The acetic acid in vinegar can effectively kill mycobacteria, even highly drug-resistant strains (PMID: 24570366)
♥ remove clogs from drains. Agnes has used vinegar to remove stains from toilet bowl.

Please be careful:
Acetic acid is a strong eye, skin, and mucous membrane irritant. Concentrated acetic acid is corrosive, please use dilution with water.

***

To make a do-it-yourself (DIY) fruit-vegetable spray:

Ingredients:
♥ 1 tbsp baking soda (苏打粉)
♥ 250 ml white vinegar (白醋)
♥ 250 ml filtered water (过滤水)

Directions:
1. Put all ingredients for homemade spray into a spray bottle, please be careful as it will foam up. I do it over a sink.
2. Shake gently to mix.
3. Spray on vegetables or fruits.
4. Allow to sit for about 5-10 minutes.
5. Scrub & rinse thoroughly using room temperature water.
6. Air dry for a while before storing them in the fridge. Wet vegetables will not last long, alternatively use clean kitchen cloth towels to wipe.
7. Leftover spray can be kept in the fridge.

Other tips that I love:
♥ DIY All Natural Fruit and Veggie Wash by Chanda @ My Pure Pursuit
♥ Veggie Cleaner Spray by Sophie Ulian @ Oprah
♥ DIY homemade vegetable fruit soak by ServicefromHeart

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140302

No-fry udon with vegetable soup recipe by ServicefromHeart

We love udon meals, especially on cold nights. Hot udon soup reminds me on Lunar New Year's steamboat in simplified form. Although udon (うどん) -- thick wheat floor noodle -- originates from Japan, I used Made in Korea udon for this recipe, simply because the brand was on promotion at NTUC Fairprice today.



Udon has soft, slight chewy texture and slight salty taste. In term of diameter, udon is thicker than thick rice noodle (粗米粉) commonly used for laksa in Singapore. Udon is also similar to pici / pinci, which is fat spaghetti originating from Sienna, Tuscany, Italy.

We prefer to have our no-fry udon in dried form to soup-based one, with a bowl of hot soup rich in ingredients as a companion. This preference is because dried seasoned udon is more fragrant and less scalding than the soup-based one, especially for toddlers' relatively sensitive tongues.

Udon soups are often served with delicious crispy tempura or fried tofu, but tonight I am preparing no fried meal. This recipe is a good choice when we or a family member suffers from sore throats, cough (please pray me to recover quickly from cough that has waken me up at nights), or flu.

Servings: 1 adult + 1 child
Preparation and cooking time: 20 minutes*

* You can do faster because I took my own sweet time, and wash some utensils in between preparation.

Ingredients:
♥ 1 packet fresh udon noodles (乌冬面)
♥ 1 cup lettuce (生菜)
♥ 1 cup baby spinach (菠菜)
♥ 1 cup green bok choy (小白菜)
♥ 1 tomato (番茄), quartered
♥ 1 egg (鸡蛋)
♥ 3 imitation crab meat sticks (kepiting imitasi), cut into inches long
♥ 1 tbsp anchovies (ikan teri)
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 1 tbsp honey (madu)
♥ 1 tbsp fresh cilantro / coriander (daun ketumbar), finely chopped
♥ 1 clove garlic (bawang putih), pressed

Directions:
1. Boil water with anchovies to let flavor out.
2. Meanwhile, wash vegetables thoroughly.
3. Add tomatoes, crab sticks, and later vegetables to boiling water.
4. After vegetables are cooked, add egg to soup and quickly stir to obtain soft tofu-like texture for 1 minute.
5. Pour soup into bowls.
6. Boil water to cook udon for 2 minutes or until the noodles are separated.
7. Meanwhile, make seasoning by mixing sesame oil, honey, cilantro and garlic.
8. Drain cooked udon noodles and coat them with seasoning by gently tossing them.

Tips:
♥ Use pre-made soup stock (if any) to replace water for soup.
♥ For variations, substitute anchovies with miso (fermented soy bean paste). Jaden Hair at Steamy Kitchen shared that to dissolve miso, whisk it in a separate bowl with parts of hot soup before adding the mixture back to saucepan. Directly adding undissolved miso to saucepan may cause the miso to turn gritty. However, Marc Matsumoto at No Recipes appears to disagree with this. For me, I simply try whatever methods that work.

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Namiko Chen's kitsune udon with aburaage** at Just One Cookbook
♥ Bon Appétit Test Kitchen's udon noodle soup with vegetables
♥ Katie's veggie miso udon soup at Produce on Parade 

** Aburaage (deep-fried tofu) sweetly reminds me on tau pok (fried tofu) of Singapore, a favorite food of baby Ren's Dad.

For faster-to-prepare recipes, consider our #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140218