the troublesome Water Chestnut Chinese Soup

Water chestnuts are aquatic vegetables, grown underwater in muddy marshes.  It is by far my favorite veg to consume, crispy, clean, slightly sweet and refreshing, especially delicious when you are not the one preparing it!!

Every time I pass by the water chestnuts in the produce aisle of any Asian grocery, the image of a slow dying death comes to mind.  I'm not kidding.  I think, who the heck would torture themselves with the tedious task of washing, cleaning and peeling each and every water chestnut, tablespoon size?  You would have to peel a basket full of these for a single meal!

water chestnuts washed

Over the weekend, I just could not help myself.  These water chestnuts looked soooooo fresh and firm.  It's irresistibly caught my eye, latched on and I thought.... wouldn't it be nice to make a Water Chestnut soup?  I've never heard of it but, ok! before the image of the slow dying death resurfaced, I quickly dropped a good looking package of water chestnuts in the shopping basket without a second thought and continued my merry way.

Just so you have an idea of how this soup will turn out, check it out :)  It is as flavourful, refreshing as it looks:)

Ingredients needed
1 and a bit pound of pork bones
1 and a bit pound of water chestnuts
2 chayote squash
1 carrot
1 bunch of watercress leaves
3 dried longan
2 dried honey dates 
1 tbsp of dried almonds

Total cook time: just under 3hrs for soup, 1/2hr for pre-boiling pork.

As with my normal chinese soup underlining flavour, I used pork bone because when prepared properly, the stock from the pork bone provides a more robust, flavourful base that compliments well with all other ingredients.  When using pork bones to make soup, pre-boiling of the bones is a MUST!  This will remove any unwanted fat, dirt and blood.  This method also helps by removing the irony taste of blood as well as remove the stinky "pork" flavour.

In a soup pot, fill half-way with cold water and return to stove on medium heat.  Add your pork bones in the pot right away.  By soaking the pork bones in cold water, the irony blood and scums will slowly seep out.  Do not cover the pot.  Simply allow the water to heat up slowly, giving time for unwanted flavours to surface.  As the water slowly heats, it will colour like so. Gross right?

Continue to allow the water slowly heat up until boiling point.  This should take about 30 mins.  It will look like this afterwards.  Even more gross right? :D

Turn off heat and dump all contents in the sink.  Thoroughly clean the pot with soap, scrubbing away all scums.  Once cleaned, fill pot with clean, cold water, half way and return to stove.

Clean the bones thoroughly with cold running water, making sure to rinse away any loose grits.

Looks clean! The flavour coming out from this will be unreal. :) Set this aside.

Let's prepare the water chestnuts;)

In a big bowl, rinse water chestnuts until the water is clear.  This will take at least 10 rinses.
Tip:  Use a dash of salt to rinse, this will help draw out any dirt hiding in cervices.

Leave the water chestnuts covered in cold water.  Using a pairing knife, peel off skin and allow to soak in the water so they won't brown.  Be sure to pair away any brown, soft spots if any.

Allow to soak in water until it is ready for use.   Next, lets wash, peel, slice carrot. Cut chestnuts in half.  Set aside

Rinse the almonds, honey dates and logan.  Add this to the pot of water.  Add the pork bones, carrots and chestnuts.  Turn heat to medium heat.  Allow to heat until just below boiling, then immediately turn heat to low.  Cover pot and allow to simmer for 2 hours.

Prepare your chayote, wash, peel and cube into pieces.

Once the soup has been simmering for 2hrs, add the cubed chayote and simmer for another 40mins.

Rinse the watercress in cold water until clean.

The last 10mins, add the watercress to pot.  You can turn the heat up slightly to cook the leaves quicker if you wish but only for a few mins :)

Once watercress is cooked, your soup is ready!! Add salt to taste :)

The water chestnut is not at all overwhelming, in fact, its more like a melody, surfacing smoothly, and just so.  Slightly sweet, flavourful and refreshing.  This has definately become one of my favorite soups. :)

Enjoy!

Korean Braised Spicy Pork Belly

One pot wonders are truly a wonder.  A party of flavours cooked in a single pot over a slow period of time.  The aroma coming from this pot travels and lingers longingly.  Patience is tested.  A taste is not an option for another few hours.  Patience rewards.

This particular pot was quite a torture.  Every time I lifted the lid, to sir, the spicy scent from the sauce escaped and teased my scent sensory.  Braised pork belly, you will soon be eaten, fat and all. :D 

What makes this stew different than others is the sauce used.  Korean sauces has an array of flavours in their dishes and its hard to extract each individual ingredient as they then to blend so seamlessly together.  

So to begin, let's start by making the sauce!

Spicy Sauce Ingredients:

5-6 cloves of garlic 

1/2 of onion 

1 asian pear or alternately I used 2 gala apples (I had a fridge drawer full of it :D) 

3 tbsp of gochujang - korean chili paste

2 tbsp of soy sauce

1 tbsp of sesame oil

salt and white pepper

Directions:

Over medium high heat, pan fry the cloves of garlic until light golden brown with olive oil.  This will enhance the sweet flavour of the garlic and cook out the bitter kick.  Once golden, turn off heat and set aside.

Next, peel off the skin of asian pear or apple, whichever you decide to use and slice onions.  Asian pear will provide a sweet savory liquid component to the sauce without the need to dilute with water.

You will need a food processor to pulse all the ingredients together.  In the process bowl equipped with the blade, throw in the sliced onions, cubed apple (since that's what I used instead of pear) and all other ingredients found above list.  EXCEPT for the sesame oil.

Pulse until it comes together looking like below picture. 

Now add in your sesame oil and mix.  Tada! Your sauce is completed. :) Set aside.

Next, lets prepare the vegetables. You'll need one whole turnip root, carrot stalk, 2 - 3 sticks of sweet long pepper & green onion stalks.

Peel off skin of turnip and carrot.  Cut in 3/4" slices. 

Slice peppers in 1/2" pieces.  Optional to keep or remove the seeds.

Only use 3-4 bottom part of the green onion stalks.

Set vegetables aside.  Let's prepare the pork belly now!

Pork belly are sold in different ways, as a huge slab, thinly sliced or pre-cut into huge chunks.  For this particular dish, you'll want the big chunks, approximately a pound of it.  Most of the pork belly come with the skin on.  If you are a skilled butcher, feel free to slice off the skin, otherwise, just leave it on.  You don't need to eat it. :) 

Tip: slice the meat using a knife but since the skin is real tough, I recommend using a kitchen scissor to cut the skin part.  

We are almost done prepping! 

Let's start putting the pot together.

Line the bottom of the ceramic pot with the radish. This will act as a barrier for the pork from touching direct heat, allowing the meat to slowly heat up and soften during cooking time.

Add some of the other vegetables too. 

Layer the pork belly on top like so. 

Next, spread all the sauce overtop. 

Add the rest of the vegetables overtop.  Add a little bit of water (approx. 1/4 cup) into the bowl that use to hold the sauce, scrap down and mix any leftover sauce and pour overtop of vegetables.

Turn on heat to medium low and cover.  Allow the contents in the pot to slowly heat up without forcing the heat.  This will take approximately 30-40 mins before bubbles is visible on top.  Avoid taking off the lid at this time.  

Once you see bubbles on top, turn down the heat to low and allow to simmer for another 2 - 3 hours. 

That's how it looks after simmering for 1.5hrs.  You can see the sauce has somewhat reduced.

After another 1hr on the stove.  I added fried tofu balls to the pot just because.  This is optional.  Simmer for another hour.  The fat from the pork belly will melt, adding flavour to the sauce. ;) 

This is how it looks after another hour. :) 

Finally!! Ready to be eaten!!.  Be warn, this is spicy, so to control the spice level, add less Gochujang.

The meat of the pork belly should be soft and flavourful, sweet and spicy.  Enjoy with a bowl of rice!

Dark Hot Chocolate ~ decadently rich

winter is honestly my favorite season for many reasons.  The wintery white scenic.  the sharp smooth glide of metal against ice.  The crisp cool air interrupted by steady balloon of breath against a glass pane.   Gentle falls of snowflakes on your wool jacket.

Ahhhhhh.  The simple pleasure of having a hot chocolate, frozen fingers wrapped around your china cup, sipping the smooth hot drink while wrapped in a fleece robe, cozy up by the fireplace........

Woah..... went a little too far there! I may not have a fireplace to warm up my current residence, but nothing beats a good cup of hot chocolate!  Since I`m not a big fan of the pre-mixed store brought hot chocolate powders due to their high dosage of sugar, I`ve resorted to using dark chocolate bars as the basis to hot chocolate.  

Now you can use any dark chocolate bars you wish!  I just happened to have Lindt Swiss Dark Chocolate bar on hand.

Break off 3 squares of chocolate and place in a pot, over medium low heat.

Allow to melt and pour a cup of milk into pot.

Begin whisking using a balloon whisk until chocolate square melt thoroughly.

Turn off heat.  For those who enjoy an adult version of hot chocolate, spike with your choice of beverage! :D my choice would be Bailey`s :D

Enjoy:D  Instant hot chocolate powders can remain on store shelves :D :D