THERMAL COOKER - LOTUS ROOT AND MEAT SOUP

It has been raining almost all evening for over a month and the most welcome dish at the dinner table is a pot of boiling hot soup to warm the body after a hard day at work or in school.

This homey soup is one of the many soup dishes which I have prepared which was made easy with the use of the Thermal Cooker.  There is a combination of ingredients [both protein and fibre] for this soup and the taste is awesome.   The only seasoning is just some salt to taste.

Ingredients

1 section of lotus root - skin scrapped and sliced

200 gm lean meat or a section of meat from the pig leg - cut chunky pieces - blanched

3 stumps Eryngii mushrooms - cut wedges

9 red dates

1 small carrot - peeled and cut chunky pieces

30 gm peanuts - rinsed and soaked for several hours

1 small piece of dried cuttlefish - rinsed

3 pips of garlic with skin

salt to taste

1. Bring water to boil in the inner pot with peanuts, dried cuttlefish and garlic for about 15 minutes.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients.  Bring to boil and simmer for about 20 minutes. Add in salt to taste.  Cover pot, off heat and transfer to the outer pot, close the lid and leave to cook for 2 hours or until time to serve.
3. Reheat soup till boiling before serving in individual bowls.
   
   

THERMAL COOKER-BRAISED PORK TROTTER, YAM IN SPICY FRAGRANT SAUCE

This recipe looks complicated with numerous ingredients but if you are used to braising pork, it is not that difficult as most ingredients are easily available in one’s kitchen.

It was the picture of this dish in the recipe book that attracted my attention.  I love to eat the nice soy sauce coloured  QQ [chewy] trotter skin pieces.  The aroma is awesome.  Moreover this dish has the soft, sticky yam pieces that match so well with the other ingredients and sauce.

This dish is good serve with hot plain porridge or rice.  There was a  typo error in the article and some seasoning ingredients have been omitted here.

Recipe from Amy Beh adapted from Feminine Magazine No. 584 with modifications

Ingredients

750 gm boneless meaty pork trotter  - chopped into pieces

Marinade – 1 tbsp light soy sauce, ½ tsp each pepper and salt

350 gm yam – cut into pieces and pan fried/deep fried

2 piece firm beancurd – quartered and pan fried/deep fried

5-6 dried mushrooms – soaked [optional]

2 tbsp sesame oil

Aromatics

1 piece cinnamon stick, 3 bay leaves, 2 star anise, 4 dried chillies, 4 cloves garlic, 40 gm ginger – sliced,

2 pieces Dong Quai, 2 stalks spring onion – white part only

Sauce Ingredients

50 ml light soy sauce, 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 35 gm rock sugar, dash of msg, 700 ml water, adequate salt to taste

Thickening - 1 tbsp potato starch + 2 tbsp water

1. Blanch trotter pieces in boiling water for a minute.  Rinse clean and drain. Season pork trotters with marinade for several hours.
2. Pan fry or deep fry yam pieces and firm beancurd until golden brown.  Dish up and set aside.
3. Heat sesame oil in a heavy base thermal cooker pot, sauté aromatics until fragrant.
4. Put in the mushrooms, trotter pieces, stir fry to combine well, add in seasoning ingredients.  Leave to braise for several minutes before adding the water.
5. Bring to boil, then low heat to simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in the yam  and beancurd pieces.  Mix well.
6. Bring to boil, then transfer to the outer pot. Cover and leave to continue cooking in the pot for an hour or until meat pieces are tender and chewy.
7. Remove pot from outer pot, bring to boil and thicken with thickening.
8. Serve in claypot with salad leaves.
   
   
   

THERMAL COOKER BRAISED SOY SAUCE CHICKEN WITH EGGS

If you don’t eat pork but love the flavours of Braised Soy Sauce Pork [Tau Eu Bak], then this may be an alternative recipe for you.  For this recipe, chicken whole legs are used but the sauce is not that thick and dark looking type like the Nyonya Tau Eu Bak. It is the watery type but you can make it thick by reducing the water and seasoning ingredients.
After 9 days of strict vegetarian diet, this dish serve  on the dinner table is most welcome by family members.

For this dish, I used my Thermal Cooker to prepare it – saves time over the stove and energy.  If using normal pot, do increase the water by about ¼ - ½  cup.  The eggs are braised with the shells on to get a marbled effect [I didn’t manage to get a nice marbled effect], you can shell it before braising, too.

I served this aromatic braised soy sauce chicken and eggs with pickled preserved salted vegetable [kiam chye], sliced cucumber and sambal belacan.  An easy and simple meal for dinner. 

Recipe inspired and adapted from Amy Beh’s recipe [Braised Soy Sauce Chicken With Marbled Eggs] – slightly modified

Ingredients

[serves 2-3]

2 large chicken whole legs – skin removed and cut bit size pieces

3 hard boiled eggs [see pictures below on how I cook the hard boiled eggs] – lightly tapped but do not peel

6 dried mushrooms – soaked and stems removed

Seasoning A

1/8 tsp pepper

1 tbsp light soy sauce

Dash of chicken granules or msg

Seasoning B

2 star anise

4 cloves

a  3 cm piece cinnamon stick

2 bay leaves

a  4 cm piece old ginger – lightly smashed or sliced

4 stalks spring onions – use only the end portion

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp brown sugar

2-3 tbsp light soy sauce

½ tbsp dark soy sauce

1 ½ cups water

1. Season chicken with A for at least an hour.
2. Caramelise brown sugar with sesame oil in the inner pot, then add in B ingredients together with water. Bring to boil and simmer over low heat until fragrant.
3. Add in the chicken, mushrooms and eggs into the stock, ensuring all ingredients are submerged.  Bring to boil and reduce the heat to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. Transfer to outer pot, close the lid and leave to cook for about 1 hour or long until serving time.
5. Remove the eggs from stock, shell and serve with the rest of the ingredients with rice.  Reheat before serving if preferred.
   
   
   
   
   Notes:The eggs are boiled together with an timer/indicator [this is a gift from a Japanese friend].  When the portion with the word 'soft' turns white, this means the egg is soft boiled.  See how easy it is?

When you see pink, the eggs are not even soft boiled.

When all turned white, this means the eggs are hard-boiled

THERMAL COOKER - OLD CUCUMBER PORK RIBS SOUP

My mother in-law used to cook this soup very often but I couldn't follow her recipe cos' it is a rather costly soup.  Her version uses several big pieces of scallops, dried squids, lots of pork ribs and a large size old cucumber.  I remembered nobody eats the scallops then.  I was the one picking them to eat at the end of the meal instead of discarding them.

The scallops that she used are from Japan and I know that they are pricey.

This recipe which I used is a 'pauper' version which I hope to share with some readers who are looking for a more economical recipe.  Here, I have omitted the scallops and used the meaty pork ribs which can be eaten too.  There are the smaller size scallops available at the grocery stalls which is much cheaper but I have no idea how is the quality.  

The soup is clear, tasty, nutritious and healthy.

Ingredients

[serves 2-3]

1 medium size old cucumber 

1 carrot - cut chunky pieces

1/2 dried squid - cut smaller pieces and rinsed well

3-4 pieces [300 gm] meaty pork ribs

10 red dates

1 litre water

some peppercorns - crushed

3 cloves garlic - keep whole

salt and msg to taste

1. Sliced old cucumber diagonally and deseeded.
2. Blanched pork ribs and rinsed to remove scums.
3. Bring water to boil with pork ribs, peppercorns and garlic for about 20 minutes in the inner pot of thermal cooker.
4. Add in the remaining ingredients and seasoning to taste.
5. Cover with lid, transfer pot to outer pot, close cover and leave to cook for 1-2 hours or until ribs are tender.
6. Serve immediately or reheat before serving if you like boiling hot soup.

Notes: I tried cooking this soup again with anchovies, the soup is as good too.  

THERMAL COOKER - OYSTER PORK AND CENTURY EGG PORRIDGE

There are numerous versions of oyster porridge with a combination of various ingredients.  This is another version which differs from my earlier posting on oyster porridge.  Here all ingredients are boiled together without any frying.

It is a comfort food for busy days, make much easier with the use of thermal cooker [cooking by heat retention system].

This porridge is as tasty and a healthier version too.  Served with crispy yau char kwai [Chinese crullers], shredded ginger and spring onions make it an appetising porridge suitable for the old and young.

Ingredients

[serves 2-3]

150 gm rice - washed and soaked for 30 minutes

1 tbsp glutinous rice- washed and soaked for 30 minutes

100 gm minced pork

10 gm dried oysters - washed and halved

1 century eggs - shelled and chopped

1.2 litres water

Seasoning

1 tsp salt

dash of msg and pepper

1/2 tsp sesame oil

Garnishing

some shredded ginger

some chopped spring onions or coriander

some deep fried yau char kwai [Chinese crullers]

1. Marinate minced pork with some salt, pepper and sesame oil.  Shape into small balls.
2. Put rice, glutinous rice and oysters in the inner pot with water.  Bring to boil for 15 minutes.
3. Add in meatballs, bring to boil and in seasoning to taste and century eggs.  Cover lid and transfer to outer pot.  Close lid and leave to cook for at least an hour or until the rice grains have blossomed.
4. Scoop into serving bowls with garnishing and serve with crullers.