While slow-cooked soup (or bone broth) is typical in my family’s everyday dinner, this particular soup is not. Double-boiled black chicken soup is seen more as medicinal dish than everyday food.

I haven’t had this for a while until two weeks ago; my brother’s girlfriend just recovered from dengue and we made this nutritious chicken soup for her. “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food”, a quote commonly attributed to Hippocrates, is what my family practices.

TOOLS

• Slow-cooker
• Food carrier pot or ceramic pot for double boiling
• Pot/Pan/Wok (to blanch chicken)

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Blanch 500 g chicken in hot water. Place cleaned chicken + 30 g of American ginseng + 12 g of solomon’s seal + 12 g of wolfberries + 3 cups of water into a pot with lid. Put the pot into a slow-cooker. Fill the slow-cooker with water until it covers half the pot. Cook on ‘HIGH’ for 4 hours.

TIPS

1. Instapot, electric steamer, or stove. If you don’t have a slow-cooker, you can do it in an Instapot or an electric steamer too.
2. Use a ceramic inner pot, or any pot that you have with a lid that can be fit into a bigger pot Traditionally, a ceramic inner pot is used to make this soup. Although we have that also, we prefer to use our stainless steel Zebra pot; it’s much more convenient. Even if you can’t finish the soup, you can keep in the fridge and immediately heat it on an induction cooker/stove directly.

Despite this being a ‘medicinal’ soup, it tastes delicious! After learning all about its benefits and realising how easy it is to make it,  I’m thinking of making this monthly since I’ve been overworking recently and need a boost of energy.

If you or a loved one need something delicious to strengthen the body, try this recipe!

The post Black Chicken Herbal Soup with American Ginseng appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

My sister is getting married soon and she's been eating healthy and other beauty food to prepare for her big day. Since we were little, our mother make for us Chinese beauty food supposedly makes us beautiful. A few of them are bird nest soup, hasma soup, Eight Treasure Tonic, Red Dates Tonic, and other herbal soups.

This time, when my sister requested for a collagen-rich dessert, she made a simple but delicious dessert with peach gum or known as 'tou gau/桃胶' in Cantonese. I like that this is not overly sweet.

 

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BENEFITS OF PEACH GUM

For someone who like chewy jelly-like texture like konnyaku jelly, I love eating peach gum which is believed to be a source of collagen. I have yet to do a detail research on the gum, but a quick google search shows that:

Peach gum is the resin from peach and Chinese wild peach trees, already solidified when it is found. As detailed in classical Chinese medical literature, its curative qualities include solving urinal infections, thirst-quenching and relieving stress.

Not only used frequently by doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine, peach gum is also a natural and healthy food rich in amino acid, which allows collagen to be quickly absorbed into the human body. (Source: Michelin Guide)

Peach gum is believe to have beauty benefits like bird nest...but much more affordable. While I don't know how much of this truly helps (as in I can't find scientific explanations yet), I know from experience that a lot of my Mom's wisdom passed on from our ancestors did help me.

Besides what can I lose from eating something natural and plant-base (not bird's saliva) like peach gum? So yes, I am going to continue enjoying this dessert and hopefully reap its purported beauty benefits.

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3 MAIN INGREDIENTS

While I do like to cook, sometimes difficult recipes with a long list of ingredients overwhelms even a cooking instructor/food consultant like me. So I came up with a list of recipes using 5 ingredients and less. This is one of them.

You will only need three ingredients:

• Peach Gum
• Honey Dates
• Red Dates

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TOOLS

• Pot/ slow-cooker
• Mixing bowl (to soak the peach resin)

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RECIPE CARD

Peach Gum & Dates Soup Dessert (3 Ingredients)

6th November 2019

Servings: 6

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 8 hr

Difficulty: Easy

Print This

By: Sara Khong

Ingredients

• Peach Resin - 50 g (about 1/2 cup)
• Red dates - 60 g (about 20 medium-sized pieces)
• Honey dates - 120 g (about 6 pieces)
• Water - 1.5 L

Directions

• Step 1 Soak peach gum in water overnight or until they expand and soften
• Step 2 Remove the hard black bits from the peach resin (those are barks)
• Step 3 Put honey dates, red dates, and water in a slow cooker. Boil on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours.
• Step 4 Remove dates from the cooker
• Step 5 Then add in peach resin. Let it cook for another 25 minutes.

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SHORT RECIPE

Soak 1/2 cup of peach gum in water. When soften, remove the hard black bits from it. Put in a slow cooker: 20 pcs red dates + 6 pieces honey dates + 1.5 L of water. Boil on LOW for 8 hours/ HIGH for 4 hours. Remove dates, add in peach resin. Cook for another 25 minutes.

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STEP-BY-STEP

1. Soak peach gum in water overnight or until they expand and soften

2. Remove the hard black bits from the peach resin (those are barks)

3. Put honey dates, red dates, and water in a slow cooker. Boil on LOW for 8 hours, or HIGH for 4 hours.

4. Remove dates from the cooker

5. Then add in peach resin. Let it cook for another 15 minutes.

6. Serve hot or chilled

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COOKING NOTES

1. Cook in a slow-cooker overnightI  like making this in the slow-cooker right before going to bed. So by morning, the dates would have been slow-boiled for 8 hours.
2. Use a steam oven If you have a steam oven (I have a Panasonic one),  you can also steam it for 3 hours. Head over to this video to see how I did it
3. If cooking in a pot, bring 2 litres of water and dates to boil then simmer for 1 hour with lid closed (or longer depending on how concentrated you want it to be)
4. Add more red dates and honey dates to make it sweeter My family doesn't like food to be too sweet. If it's not sweet enough for you, you can add more red dates, honey dates, or even rock sugar.
5. Buy peach gum at Chinese medicinal shop. I found it online too at Lazada/ Shopee by the name of  Tao Jiao, Peach Resin, and Peach Gum. 

This is one of the easiest and most delicious beauty food that I enjoy drinking. Try it!

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The post Peach Gum Dates Dessert Soup (3 Ingredients)- For Beautiful Skin appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Though I hated the former, I could tolerate the latter. My mother made it almost every week. As I was more interested in other sweet beverages (e.g Coke) than this tonic, she’ll coaxed me to drink it by saying ‘it will make you beautiful and strong’.

Then, I thought it was something she said just to make me finish up the drink. I was wrong. My mother’s claim is backed by science.

High in iron and vitamins

Dates are inexpensive and rich source of nutrients. It has more vitamin C than an orange and vitamin A than a carrot.

A mere ten pieces of dates provides more iron than one palm-sized beef (Source: Singapore Health Science Authority). All theses vitamins and minerals, are known to be highly beneficial for the skin.

Medicinal values & beauty benefits

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine textbook that I read , red and black dates relieves fatigue, anaemia and regulates appetite (Source: Between Heaven And Earth).

As dates replenishes qi and blood, red dates tonic is often served to girls after menstruation and mothers after childbirth. It is believed that a smooth flow of qi and blood translates to a rosy and lustrous complexion.

Now, I try to drink this tonic often. As I’m not a fan of putting much makeup on my face, I do hope that continuously drinking this tonic will spare me from putting on unnecessary foundation and blusher…

TOOLS

• Pot/ slow cooker
• Scissors

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Add 120 g red dates + 60 g black dates + 6 honey dates + 10 cups of water in a pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours. Or cook on LOW in the slow cooker for 8 – 10 hours.

STEP-BY-STEP

1. PREP: Rinse herbs. With a pair of scissors, cut red dates into half and remove its seed.

2. COOK:  Place all the dates and water in a pot. Bring to boil and then simmer for 2 hours. Or cook on LOW in the slow cooker for 6 – 10 hours for maximum flavour.

COOKING TIPS

1. Slice red dates To extract maximum flavour, cut the dates into half. I like to use a pair of sharp scissors to do so ( it’s much easier!)
2. Remove seed to avoid ‘heatiness’ Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that the seed is ‘heaty’, hence it is removed before cooking.
3. Deseeded dates You can buy red dates which seeds are already removed. I normally try to avoid and only buy it when I’m really busy as it deteriorate faster.
4. Add 2 pieces (12 g) of codonopsis root (dang shen/ 党参) for extra energy boost. When I am feeling  particularly tired, I will add codonopsis root which is also known as  ‘poor man’s ginseng’.
5. Make a big batch and keep it in the fridge for a few days. The beverage is delicious when served hot or cold. However, Traditional Chinese Medicine advocates consuming warm drinks.
6. Cook in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes. If you’re short of time, you can cook it in the pressure cooker in 30 minutes. As the cooking time is short, slice red dates into smaller pieces and squash honey dates with the back of the ladle to extra more flavour.
7. Cook in the slow cooker if possible. It’s best to slow cook this tonic. Slow cooking extract maximum flavour and nutrient from the dates.

I prefer to make this drink the slow cooker – throw everything into the pot before going to bed and wake up to a pot of nutritious sweet drink. Alternative medicine believe that it is best to drink medicinal tonic with an empty stomach for better absorption.

The above photos is boiled only for 1.5 hours. You can tell from the colour and viscosity of the drink. Slow-cooked red dates drink is deeper in colour, thicker, and pleasantly sweeter than normal.

Enjoy!

The post Red Dates Tonic (紅棗水) – 3 Ingredients appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Instead of the usual chicken congee, why not make flower crab congee instead? Unlike mud crabs, flower crabs are not sold alive therefore easier to handle. Chuck the crabs, rice and aromatic ingredients into the PHILIPS All-in-one cooker, cook under pressure and have a sea-flavoured congee in no time!

This recipe is one that I developed for the Philip’s All-In-One Cooker. I tested this recipe again and again for a duration that I didn’t want to eat any kind of congee. I tried once using just water (instead of stock). Despite flavoured with umami-rich fish sauce, something is still missing. So I decided to add some chicken stock powder; it tasted much better. Then I used ikan bilis stock. The results? Awesome!

It’s quite easy with the All-In-One Cooker, or better known as ‘Instapot’. It’s a pot that allow you to do multiple things like frying, pressure cooking and slow cooking. What I did: make ikan bilis stock using the pressure cooking function, scoop ikan bilis out, chuck in all ingredients for the soup and pressure cook. So easy!

I really like how delicious and impressive this dish taste and look, but the fact is it’s incredibly easy to make. As flower crabs are not sold alive, you don’t have to worry about handling a crab with claws that might snip your finger off (I love mud crab but I really don’t look forward to killing it). I like that I can make the stock in the same pot. Then, it’s just a matter of tossing ingredients into the machine, press a button and wait for a little more than 20 minutes. That’s it!

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Toss 2 chopped flower crabs + 1.5 cup rice + 4 pcs scallops + 10 slices ginger + 4 pcs white spring onions + 1.8L anchovies stock. Boil then simmer until rice turns into congee. Season with fish sauce + salt + green spring onions.

COOK IN 20 MINUTES USING THE ALL-IN-ONE COOKER / PRESSURE COOKER

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 2 servings

INSTRUCTIONS: USING THE PHILIPS ALL-IN-ONE COOKER

1. Rinse and scrub crab to wash dirt off. Remove the shell and its innards. Break off the claws and crush it slightly with a pestle. Then chop its body into half.
2. Toss in flower crabs, rice, scallops, ginger, spring onions and anchovies stock into PHILIPS All-In-One Cooker inner pot.
3. Close the lid and turn the valve towards the ‘SEAL’ position.
4. Press ‘PRESSURE COOK’ and press ‘START’
5. When ready, wait until the pressure is naturally released and the floater has dropped. Then open the top lid.
6. Dish out crab. Then, season congee with fish sauce and salt. Stir to mix well.
7. Dish out congee and garnish with spring onions. Serve hot.

COOKING TIPS

• Make anchovies stock (50 g of anchovies to 1 L of water) in 10 minutes using the pressure cooker function.
• I can’t stress enough that it is very important to use ikan bilis stock. If you don’t have anchovies stock, add ½ tsp chicken stock granules into water.
• The fish sauce seasoning is also very important; it not only gives the salty but umami taste. Using salt alone is not enough.
• Note: Rice measuring cup is smaller ie. about 180 ml, ¾ of a metric measuring cup (250 ml).
• The ratio of rice to water is 1: 10.

This and many other recipes are available in my cookbook, ‘One Pot Wonders’

The post Flower Crab Congee (Fa Hai Chuk / 花蟹粥) appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

Dal is a Hindi word which means lentil. The yellow pulse is good source of non-animal protein and rich in iron. It is cooked with rainbow-coloured vegetables with different phytochemicals: red tomatoes, orange carrots, yellow potatoes, red and green chilis, purple brinjal and white garlic. I love that it’s seasoned with turmeric, one of the most potent spice on earth. I’m amazed how all components that makes a complete meal – protein, vegetables, carbohydrate and spices – contain in this single dish!

I also like the fact that dal curry is a versatile meal. It can be eaten with rice or bread, and it is suitable to eat any time of the day. Dhal curry is the first few dishes I learned to make in an effort to eat better but with little time. During my busiest days, I will cook the flavourful curry in a big pot during the weekends and have it almost daily. To me, homemade dal and butter prata makes a satisfying meal.

COOKING TIPS

• Pot/ Pressure cooker
• Pan + spatula

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE
Boil 1.5 cups dhal +1 bulb peeled garlic + 2 red chillies + 2 green chillies + turmeric powder (10 min). Add 1 carrot + 3 potatoes + 2 tomatoes. Cook for 15 min. Add brinjal & cover pot. Fry spices: 1 onion + 1o dried chili + 1/4 cup curry leaves + 2 tsp of mixed dal spices. Add spices & 1/4 cup milk into the pot of dhal. Cook 5 min. Season with salt to taste.

COOKING TIPS

• I like to make this in a pressure cooker. It only takes 20 minutes!
• There are many types of dal such as Mysore dal, Malawi dal, Chana dal and Australian dal. Pick Misore dal as they are the softest hence faster to cook.
• Soak dal overnight as they cook faster.
• Dal curry freezes well; the texture and taste remains the same after reheating. Cook a huge pot and divide them into small container to freeze.
• Plan ahead and take defrost it in the fridge a day before to make the process quicker.
• This curry is delicious with prata. Buy frozen prata from the supermarket. It’ll take only about a minute or two to cook. I think it taste best cooked with butter instead of oil.
• Mixed spice (fenugreek, mustard, cumin seeds, fennel) is easily available at supermarkets and small Indian grocer. If you’re in the latter, ask for talipu, the Tamil name for the spice mix.

Health benefits of fennel (jintan manis) and cumin (jintan putih)Enjoy!

UPDATE:

That was the first dal curry recipe I’ve learned to make. I know that though it’s rather simple to cooks who are used to these ingredients, it can be overwhelming to new cooks.

So I’ve further simplified the recipe (purist will not be happy with it). But a lot of people told me that they loved the simplicity and have started making dal more often. So do try this recipe!

The post Aunty Clara’s Dal Curry appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.

I must admit that it is quite impossible to mimic the strong flavour of processed stock our taste buds are accustomed to. I’ve tried to use purely chicken stock for imitation sharkfin soup; while concentrated chicken stock can taste similar, it is not the same to discerning tongue.

To bring out the flavour of food, I make concentrated broth and uses herbs liberally. I’ve also learned to appreciate and savour the natural taste of food not masked by man-made, chemical flavouring.

While I cannot be sure whether it makes a huge difference to my body, I’m feeling extremely good to know that I’m giving my body nutrient-dense, fresh food. If you’re vegetarian, make vegetable stock instead. Here’s a recipe from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) textbook which I’ve modified:

TOOLS

Pot/ slow-cooker/ thermal cooker

RECIPE CARD

SHORT RECIPE

Simmer 2 carrots + 3 celery + 1 cucumber + 1 onion + 2 leeks (white) + 2 cloves garlic + 1.5 inch ginger + 2.5 L water for 1 – 2 hours over low heat. Strain.

COOKING NOTES

• I do not add salt to stock as it’s used as based in cooking.
• The book suggests that you can add 1 tbsp of sesame oil, 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 2 beets, 1 eggplant, 1 turnip, 1 cup of parsley or 1/2 cabbage
• The original recipe calls for zucchini. It can be replaced with deseeded cucumber.
• Use this as a base for your vegetable soup, noodles, congee or as light flavouring for other dishes.
• Make them ahead and store in separate containers.

Make some vegetable stock this weekend!

The post Homemade Vegetable Stock appeared first on New Malaysian Kitchen.