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

R for rice for #AtoZChallenge: steamed rice with peas wolfberries cheese recipe

Since my childhood, I have paid special respect to farmers worldwide, they are my heroes and heroines. My kiddy picture of farmers are grown-ups who brave the hot suns and cold rains, endlessly bending their bodies to plant paddies so that we can have a bowl of rice on our dining table for every meal. I love drawing such a scene for my drawing class assignments, with a backdrop of blue mountains, dancing coconut tree and the yellow orange sun. Not to forget a little hut (pondok) where the farmers can take a rest.



For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 21 Mon, I lovingly present a recipe of steamed rice with peas wolfberries cheese by ServicefromHeart.




Serving: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes (depends on your rice cooker)

Ingredients:
♥ 3/4 cup white rice grain
♥ 3/4 cup frozen garden peas
♥ 1/4 cup wolfberries
♥ 1 slice cheese

Note: use rice cooker cup for measurement.

Directions:
1. Rinse garden peas and wolfberries. Soak to thaw and makes puffy, respectively.
2. Rinse and gently rub rice grains.
3. Add rice grains and water in 1:2 ratio into rice cooker pot. Add peas and wolfberries.
4. Once rice is cooked, quickly transfer the rice cooker pot out.*
5. Add a slice of cheese. Quickly cover the pot lid to melt the cheese. After 1 minute, gently stir the rice.

* I am using an antique rice cooker, this step is to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140421

F for finger millet for #AtoZChallenge: East Asian style Finger millet porridge by ServicefromHeart

Finger millet (also known as ragi / Muthari kurukku / Kezhvaragu / pampered corn / Nachni / Eleusine coracana / 䅟子), is a rich source of calcium, protein, fiber, vitamins B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin). 



This grain is very cooling on a hot day, especially for hot summer or dry spell (kemarau) such as an extreme one that we had in Singapore from February to mid March 2014. It is the driest one since 1869 for Singapore.

withered bougainvillea during a dry spell in Singapore (2014)

Finger millet can grow with less water than rice and wheat does.



Thank you for the finger millet that Candida gave me (and baby Ren)! She has given liquid of finger millet - mixed with milk - to her baby girl Divita since she turned 6 months old.



The choice for finger millet over wheat is probably due to more easily digested proteins of the former.

Finger millet also contains the amino acid methionine (Met / M) - the only amino acid coded by the initiation codon AUG of mRNA for protein synthesis. 

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 07 Mon, I lovingly present a recipe of East Asian style Finger millet porridge by ServicefromHeart. 



Serving:1
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 3 tbsp finger millet seeds (穇子)
♥ 1 tsp wolfberries (枸杞子), washed & soaked until fluffy
♥ 1 egg (鸡蛋)
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ grounded white pepper (白胡椒粉) to taste
♥ 1 fresh parsley leaf (香菜叶)

Directions:
1. Wash ragi by rubbing them in water for a minimum of 3 times.
2. Soak ragi overnight or at least 15 minutes.
3. Add finger millet to soup stock / boiled filtered water.
4. Stir finger millet continuously to ensure thorough cooking until the porridge thickens and bubbles stop to form on surface.
5. When finger millet is almost cooked, gently add egg & wolfberry. Stir.
6. Add white pepper. Mix well.
7. Garnish with parsley.



Other recipes that I love:
♥ An advice to cook ragi properly to prevent constipation from Yummy Tummy
♥ ragi drink for baby by Oishi
♥ Ragi porridge recipe for baby
♥ Sweet ragi malt
♥ Swathi combines ragi and oats



Next time, I will use finger millet flour so to cook faster so that I can play more with Baby Ren, an idea for a future #5minutemeal recipe! 



With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140407

easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs

Meatballs, also known as bakso in Indonesian, often bring back happy memories. A childhood song "Abang tukang bakso, mari mari sini, aku mau beli. Abang tukang bakso, cepat donk kemari, sudah tak tahan lagi" - echoes in my mind.

It literally means "meatballs seller brother, please come, please come here, I wanna buy! Meatball seller brother! Please come her quick, I cannot hold it anymore!"

A bowl of bakso was sold for Rp200 and later Rp500 when I was a primary school student! Today, a US$ is ~ about Rp11,400.

Listening to the song sung by Melisa inspired me to design a simple breakfast of easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs / 夏南瓜莲藕肉圆汤.



Serving: 1-2
Preparation time: 5* + 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

* I mix the meat ball ingredients the night before.

Ingredients:
♥ 1 zucchini (夏南瓜), sliced
♥ 1 tsp anchovies (凤尾鱼)
♥ 1 tsp wolfberries / Goji berries (枸杞子), washed & soaked
♥ 1 tbsp parsley (香菜), chopped
♥ 300 ml water, (水) filtered if possible
for meat balls / meat coins:
♥ 1 tbsp meat (肉), grounded & blanched
♥ 3 tbsp sweet potato flour (薯粉)
♥ 1 tsp lotus root powder (莲藕粉)
♥ 1 tsp oat (燕麦)
♥ 2 cloves garlic (大蒜), minced
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 0.5 tsp pepper (胡椒粉), grounded
♥ 0.5 tsp sugar (糖)
♥ 0.5 tsp light soy sauce / kecap asin


Directions:
1. Mix ingredients for meat balls in a bowl. Leave in a fridge overnight to marinade or you can use it immediately.
2. Boil anchovies in a pot of water.
3. Shape meat mixture into balls & dump into the anchovies stock when it boils.
4. Add zucchini & wolfberries.
5. Once cooked, turn off the heat & add parsley. Enjoy!



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140327

Very easy simple recipe of steamed fish with sesame oil

Steamed fish fillet is easy to prepare as well as healthy and delicious to eat. Imagine the tender, succulent and delicate flesh of fish that also nurtures us with proteins & Omega 3. Enjoy a piping hot steamed fish with a bowl of steamed rice for a happy breakfast or a heart-and-tummy-warming dinner at your own comfortable home at the fraction of the cost eating outside. Life is beautiful! 



While enjoying your meal, listen to a nice piece of classical music or Chinese orchestra. Perhaps, without TV to minimize the distractions. This savoring moment is indeed a simple happiness.



I also love how the traditional Chinese character for the word fish 魚 (Yu2) looks like a swimming fish. 魚 (Yu2) also sounds like the words for wealth and abundance.



Serving: 1-2
Preparation time: < 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 200 g boneless (if possible) fish fillet (e.g. salmon 三文鱼, snow fish 鳕鱼)
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil* (麻油)
♥ dashes of pepper (胡椒粉), to taste
♥ fresh herbs e.g. parsley 香菜/ cilantro 胡荽叶 / coriander 芫荽, finely chopped (optional)


* For sesame oil, I use Ghee Hiang Baby brand manufactured in Penang, Malaysia, using methods and techniques learned from Fujian, China.

Directions:
1. Boil water in a steamer. 
2. Wash fish fillet thoroughly. Pat dry gently with a kitchen towel.
3. Place the fillet in a non-plastic bowl.
4. Sprinkle sesame oil and pepper on top of the fish.
5. Garnish with herbs.
6. Cover the bowl with a small plate to ensure smaller space of aroma circulation.
7. Once the water in the steamer is boiled, steam the fish for 5 minutes ++ using high heat or until cooked*

* Once cooked, the meat comes off the bone easily with a chopstick.

Tips:

Use fresh fish fillet. If this is not possible,  rub white vinegar on the fish to minimize the fishy smell.

To enhance flavor, you can add soy sauce, ginger, spring onions / scallions, rice wine / DOM as Chinese-style steamed fish recipes often call for.

You can also steam the fish fillet bowl inside a half-cooking rice cooker, so that you save gas / electricity and wash less utensils, as Agnes and Zhen sometimes do. 

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Hong Kong style steamed cod fish & steamed cod with wolfberries, red dates, angelica root by Annie Mok @ Annieliciousfood food. To prevent the fish fillet from sticking to the bottom of the bowl, place ginger / spring onions beneath the fish.
♥ Teochew steamed fish with salted (sour) plums, salted vegetables, tomatoes, chilli by Wifey @ NoobCook. If possible, ask the fishmonger to clean the fish for you. Normally, I buy fish fillet for convenience.  
♥ Chinese steamed fish by Bee Yinn Low @ Rasa Malaysia
♥ Cantonese steamed fish by Namiko Chen @ JustOneCookBook & Leemei Tan @ My Cooking Hut
♥ garlic asparagus fish steamed in the parchment paper in the oven by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman @ A Beautiful Mess



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140331

comforting rice porridge (spring 2014)

Porridge, also known as congee / Okayu お粥 / bubur, is comforting food for breakfast, lunch, or supper. It is easy to prepare yet generously fueling our days with energy and nutrients.



Baby Ren loves thick but not thin porridge, so I use a ratio of 1:5 or 1:6 of rice grain:water.

Hot, nutritious and comforting porridge is a happy choice of our breakfast this spring. Sometimes, I use slow cooker to cook porridge overnight so it will be ready in the morning.

Fish porridge
♥ 150g Haruan fish
♥ 1 tsp anchovies
♥ 3/4 rice cooker cup rice grain
♥ 1/4 rice cooker cup barley



Seafood porridge
♥ 150g Haruan fish
♥ 1 tsp anchovies
♥ 4 scallops
♥ 1 tbsp dried scallops
♥ crabmeat, to taste (optional)
♥ 3/4 rice cooker cup rice grain
♥ 1/4 rice cooker cup barley

Meat porridge
♥ 200g pork ribs
♥ 1 carrot
♥ 1 tbsp dried scallops
♥ 8 red dates, pitted
♥ 1 tbsp wolfberries
♥ 3/4 rice cooker cup rice grain
♥ 1/4 rice cooker cup barley



To enhance the flavor of porridge, consider adding the followings:
♥ white pepper
♥ sesame oil
♥ sesame seeds (white / black)
♥ fried red onion
♥ cilantro / coriander, finely chopped
♥ parsley, finely chopped
♥ nuts e.g. peanuts, pistachio, almond
♥ balsamic vinegar / wine vinegar

Sometimes I add any / some of these ingredients:
♥ millet: pearl millet, finger millet
♥ quinoa
♥ barley
♥ couscous
♥ oat
♥ lotus root powder / lotus root
♥ wild yam / 淮山 / Huaishan / Dioscorea opposita. I bought the powder form so it will dissolve faster while cooking.
♥ mushroom e.g. shitake
♥ sweet potato
♥ potato
♥ carrot
♥ celery
♥ onion
♥ peas
...
Do you have more suggestions? I would love to hear from you ♥



Tips:
♥ Once cooked, do not stir the entire pot of porridge to prevent them from turning thin / watery. If you want to add no-cook ingredients (e.g. sesame oil, pepper, chopped scallion), take a large scoop of porridge into a serving bowl. Then, add the desirable ingredients and stir.
♥ If possible, use freshly harvested rice grain, especially for babies.



♥♥♥ 

Porridge cooked with rice cooker:



♥♥♥ 

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140501

U for udang for #AtoZChallenge: udang tim DOM (steamed DOM prawns)

Hello seafood lovers! Spending my early years in Indonesia - an archipelago with 18,307 islands*, I grew up loving seafood greatly. We had them fresh and relatively inexpensive as compared to landlocked regions. 

* according to a 2002 survey by National Institute of Aeronautics and Space of Indonesia (LAPAN).

Udang is an Indonesian name for prawn. Initially, I wanted to prepare wasabi prawn but changed my mind as its recipe requires deep frying. Our little kitchen has no separation from our living room, so I agree not to deep-fry anything, as it will cause the couch and living room floor turning oily.

Quoting Plato, "necessity is the mother of invention," I am motivated to think of ways to prepare delicious prawn dish without deep frying.

For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 24 Thu, I lovingly present a recipe of udang tim DOM / 法国廊酒蒸虾 / steamed DOM prawns.



♥♥♥

DOM Bénédictine (法国廊酒) is a Made-in-France medicinal herbal liqueur beverage (1) developed in 1510 in a Benedictine monastery in Abbey of Fécamp, Normandy, France, and later (2) rediscovered by Alexandre Le Grand in 1863. 


DOM stands for "Deo Optimo Maximo" ("To God, most good, most great") and is a commonly used abbreviation at the beginning of documents of the Benedictine Order. Aspiring like the highly dedicated manual & intellectual work of the Benedictine monks for God, we sincerely hope to produce delicious and nutritious meals with optimum and maximum love for our loved ones.

While the exact recipe of this 40%-alcohol liqueur is a closely guarded secret hitherto, we know that it is distilled in antique hammered copper pot stills and aged in oak barrels for four months. 

Nowadays, the ingredients include 27 ingredients. The list includes herbs and spices such as angelica, hyssop, juniper, myrrh, saffron, aloe, arnica & cinnamon.

When I just delivered baby Ren, I was given several bottles of DOM. The generations of our parents and grandparents believe that luxurious DOM helps mothers to recover from childbirth, especially during confinement. Thank you for such a gift with over 500 years of tradition! 

♥♥♥

Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes or until prawns are cooked

Ingredients:
♥ 6 large prawns (known as shrimps in US)
♥ 3 cloves garlic (蒜头), minced OR 1 small knob ginger (姜), sliced
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 1 tsp DOM Bénédictine (法国廊酒)
♥ 1 tsp salt (盐)
Below are optional:
♥ 1 tsp wolfberries / Goji berries (枸杞子), washed & soaked
♥ 1 tsp light soy sauce (kecap asin)
♥ 1 tsp coriander / cilantro (胡荽叶) / parsley (香菜), finely chopped

Directions:
1. Trim the head and tail end of the prawns using a pair of scissors.
2. Devein both back & under sides using a tooth pick.
3. Soak deveined prawns in salted water (to enhance the texture) for 10 minutes, drain & rinse.
4. Place ginger / garlic at the bottom of bowl, prawns on top of ginger. 
5. Sprinkle DOM and sesame oil on top of prawns.
6. Steam at high heat until prawns cooked & turn orange (check once in a while to prevent overcooking). Cover bowl with aluminum foil.



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140424

C for carrot for #AtoZChallenge: carrot sweet potato peanut pear soup meal recipe

Why do rabbits love carrots? There must be plenty of good things in carrots that we can enjoy too by eating carrots.

Perhaps it is the bunny teeth of rabbits that make us imagine that rabbits easily bite raw carrots off. However, if you happen to have lovely rabbits as your pet, you would know that rabbits actually eat mostly hay and green leaves (including those growing on top of carrots).



The humble root vegetables are represented by their orange sticks. The orange color is due to β-carotene, which our bodies convert to vitamin A. That's why carrots are good for our eyes.


Baby Ren loves biting thoroughly washed and peeled carrots to ease his teething gum. Be careful not to over feed carrots to babies, because it may cause carotenosis - a benign condition in which the skin turns orange.




Once, we had enjoyed purple carrots, thanks to Fairprice Finest.


For #AtoZChallenge on 2014 April 03 Thu, I lovingly present a recipe of carrot sweet potato peanut pear soup meal by ServicefromHeart. 



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:
♥ 1 carrot (1红萝卜), peeled & cut into bite chunks
♥ 2 sweet potatoes (番薯), peeled & cut into bite chunks
♥ 1 snow pear (雪梨), peeled & quartered
♥ 1/2 cup peanuts (花生), soaked overnight
♥ 2 pork ribs (排骨)
♥ 8 dried scallops (干贝)
♥ 8 red dates (红枣)
♥ 1 honey date (蜜枣)
♥ 1 tbsp wolfberries (枸杞子)

Directions:
1. Blanch pork ribs in boiling water for ~5 minutes. Drain and wash.
2. Bring all ingredients to boil in a pot using low heat.

For variations, substitute sweet potato with pasta or noodles to enjoy this delicious soup meal.



♥♥♥

Preparing peanuts for our meal reminds me on an American comic strip: Peanuts. Charlie Brown and Linus van Pelt appear to be kind children to me and their friendship is cherishable. Who are your favorite comic characters?



Peanuts are a good source of niacin (vitamin B3 / nicotinic acid) - good four our brain health and blood flow.

My grandmother's adviced me to drink bowls and bowls of peanut trotter soups to increase breast milk production during confinement. Subsequently, I just prepare peanut soups with visually-less-carnivorous-looking meat.

For other faster-to-prepare recipes, check also our #5minutemeal recipes. 

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140403