Chinese Spinach Soup with Tofu & Fish

This dish is simple to cook, and my hubby likes to eat chinese spinach. The only thing I don't like is removing the fibre from the stalks of the chinese spinach. To counter this problem, the chinese spinach can sometimes be replaced with other green leafy vegetables that are not so fibrous.

Ingredients:

• one packet of chinese spinach or other green leafy vegetables, about 200gm
• fish fillet (I like to use red grouper or ikan kurau threadfin), about 180gm
• one box of tofu (beancurd), about 300gm
• about 500ml of water or soup stock
• a few thin slices of ginger
• one teaspoon salt
• one teaspoon sesame oil

Marinade sauce:

• one teaspoon salt
• one teaspoon sugar
• one teaspoon soya sauce
• one tablespoon sesame oil
• a dash of pepper

Method:

• clean, slice & marinate the fish
• wash & remove fibre from vegetables, pluck into about 6cm length
• cut beancurd into cubes
• boil water, add salt
• add beancurd, cook for about 10 minutes
• add ginger slices and sesame oil
• when water is boiling again, add fish, add vegetables, and cook for another 5 minutes

If you want the dish to look more appealing, consider adding carrot for colour. Cut into thin slices & cook with the tofu or cook a little while before adding the tofu. Continue with the other steps. Again, play around with your imagination or ingredients & seasoning. The recipe provided here is just a basic one which aims to save time & effort while serving something palatable.

Blanched Kale

If I feel tired but want something nutritious, this is a simple dish to cook.

Ingredients:

• 200gm chinese kale (kai lan), or other suitable green leafy vegetables
• 3 clove garlic, lightly crushed
• 500ml water

Seasoning:

• half teaspoon salt
• one teaspoon sesame oil or normal cooking oil
• one teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
• one teaspoon soya sauce
• one tablespoon oyster sauce

Garnish:

• one teaspoon fried shallot (can be prepared in bulk before hand & kept in the fridge)

Method:

• wash & drain the vegetables
• boil water, put in garlic, salt, sesame oil, fish sauce
• add vegetables and blanch (parboil) for about 2 minutes, until cooked
• remove vegetables promptly & arrange on serving plate
• dribble the soya sauce & oyster sauce onto the vegetables. (if necessary, add some of the water you've used for blanching to moisten the dish)
• add fried shallot as garnish & serve

This dish can be served with porridge for a simple meal. Simple fare, but easy to prepare & easy to digest, easy to clean up too :-)

Mixed Vegetables & Beancurd

This is an "all-in-one" dish. There are more steps involved compared to the others dishes I posted, but still quite easy to prepare. Here I cook in larger portion as the leftovers can be reheated with rice for my next meal, which helps to cut down time spent cooking. If you are preparing it as one of a few dishes for your meal, you could reduce the quantities given.

Ingredients:

• one packet frozen mixed vegetables (carrot & peas). I use an organic packet which weighs about 284g
• 2 tomatoes
• 8 small sausages about 5cm each. I use this because it's more convenient and both my husband & son like the taste. However I prefer to use minced meat (whether chicken, pork or beef) whenever it's available, anywhere about 250-350g is good enough, depending on your preference of proportion of meat to vegetable (I prefer about 250g)
• 2 packets of tofu (beancurd), each weighing 300g
• 1 heaped teaspoon of chopped garlic
• 1 heaped teaspoon of chopped ginger
• 1 heaped teaspoon of chopped shallot (I have a bottle of deep fried shallot which my mum prepared for me to keep in the fridge, I use this for convenience & to help cut down cooking time too)
• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• 2 tablespoon cornflour with 2 tablespoon water (as cornflour mixture)

Seasoning:

• half teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon soya sauce

Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon chicken stock sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 400ml hot water

Method:

• thaw, wash & drain the frozen mixed vegetables & sausages
• wash & dice the tomatoes
• cut the sausages into slices (if you use minced meat instead of sausages, you have to marinate it first with 1 teaspoon each of salt, sugar, soya sauce, sesame oil, cornflour and a dash of pepper)
• rinse & drain the beancurd
• heat 1 tablespoon oil in wok, add garlic, ginger, shallot. When fragrant, add mixed vegetables, tomatoes, sausages (or minced meat) & seasoning. Stir fry for 3 minutes on high heat. Ladle out & put aside
• pour the sauce ingredients listed into the wok. When boiling, add the 2 blocks of beancurd, cover & cook for 3 minutes on medium heat. Carefully ladle onto serving bowl
• continue to heat the sauce over high heat, add cornflour mixture & stir well for 2 minutes
• add the vegetables prepared earlier
• stir briskly for just half a minute to mix
• pour over beancurd

There, you have a colourful & nutritious dish!