Steamed Egg for Two

I’ve always wanted to make this, especially since my husband absolutely loves eggs. The silky smooth texture is really a treat. The best steamed eggs we’ve had were in Taiwan and Japan. Although this is not as professional and more of an impromptu recipe, it sure satisfies our cravings!  Also, using cute mugs for this makes it fun =)

Ingredients:

• 2 shiitake mushrooms
• 2 slices of carrot
• 1 leaf of a vegetable (your choice)
• 6 ginkgo nuts
• 2 tablespoons (approx.) shredded chicken
• salt
• 1 cup chicken broth (homemade or store bought)
• 2 eggs
• 1/5 cup water (for steaming)

Total preparation and cook time: 2 hrs, if making with homemade chicken broth
or: 45 mins, if making with store bought chicken broth

This is optional, but I like to make the steamed egg with homemade chicken broth. You may think it’s rather time consuming, but if you’re also making chicken soup for dinner… then better yet, you’re killing two birds with one stone–You’ll have both steamed egg and some chicken soup of your liking done within the 2 hrs!

First thing’s first, soak the shiitake mushrooms in some water.

Then, simply boil the chicken with some water for about 30 mins. Make sure you don’t add too much water in the beginning since you don’t want to dilute too much of the chicken flavor. After 30 mins of boiling, taste the broth. If you think it’s too concentrated, add some water to dilute it. Then scoop out a little more than 1 cup of broth and a piece of chicken (dark or white meat) into a bowl.

Add salt to taste. (*note that the salted broth will be diluted with the egg later, so it can be a bit saltier than you’re used to). Let the broth cool, while you continue to make the chicken soup of your liking.

Prepare the ingredients that will go into the mugs. Crack, shell, and remove/peel the skin off the ginkgo nuts. Cut the carrots into flowers. Cut the leaf of the vegetable into small pieces. Shred the chicken into small pieces. Wash and cut the stems off the shiitake mushrooms, then create slits at the top.

In a large bowl, scramble the 2 eggs, making sure there are no large clumps. Strain the chicken broth (only if it’s homemade) and add to eggs. Mix.

Place the shredded chicken in the mugs.

Add the chicken broth egg mixture.

Place 3 ginkgo nuts in each mug. Then add the vegetable, shiitake mushroom, and carrot on top.

Place the mugs in your Tatung cooker. Add 1/5 cup of water in the outer pot, cover, and switch on the cook switch.

Once the switch switches up, make sure to wait about 15 mins before you open the lid to enjoy your mug of steamed egg.

Hot & Sour Soup (酸辣湯)

 

I was craving hot & sour soup last weekend, so I decided to try and make it myself. I gathered all the ingredients that I thought would go in the soup and managed to cook up something pretty good. Here is my 2nd time making it, where I actually wrote down the measurements.

I have to warn you that this soup does takes a while to prepare and cook. I’ve learned my lesson to not make this during a weekday work night :]
–>prep time: ~40 mins. cook time: ~20 mins. total: ~1 hr.

Ingredients:

For marinating the pork:

• 2 pork top loin, thin cut (~0.30 lbs)
• 1 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice wine
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper

For all other ingredients for soup:

• ~7 shitake mushrooms (depending on size)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• ~2 bamboo shoots, large slices (canned)
• ~5 wood ears (optional)
• 1/2 of a large carrot
• 1/2 tofu pack

For soup base:

• 1 cup organic chicken broth, non fat low sodium
• 3 1/2 cups water
• 2 1/2-3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4-5 tablespoons rice vinegar (depends on how sour you like it)
• 2-4 teaspoons white pepper (depends on how spicy you like it)
• 1 egg
• sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons corn starch (optional)
• cilantro (optional garnish)

(yields about 5 servings)

There are two parts to making this soup.

1) Preparation of ingredients: First soak the shitake mushrooms in a bowl of lukewarm water (takes about 30 mins to soften). Then tenderize the pork. Cut into very thin slices. Place the soy sauce, rice wine, and white pepper in a bowl. Mix the sliced pork in. Let the pork marinate while preparing the other ingredients.

Slice the bamboo shoots into thin pieces. Slice the carrot into thin pieces. Slice the tofu into semi-thin and long pieces. By now the shitake mushrooms should be soft, so go ahead and wash them and squeeze the water out and slice into thin and long pieces.

(optional) If you’d like to add wood ears, it would need to be soaked (like the mushrooms) and sliced into thin pieces.

The ingredients now need to be sauteed. Turn the temperature to high. Once the pan is hot, place 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in. When the oil is hot, place the pork in and stir. When the pork is half cooked, place the shitake mushrooms in and stir. Add the 1 tablespoon soy sauce and continue stirring until the pork looks 90% cooked. Add the bamboo and carrot (do not add the tofu in) and stir for 1 more min. Turn the temperature off and move the pan off the stove.

2) Making the soup: In a pot, place the chicken broth and water in.  Temperature on high and wait for it to boil. Add the sauteed ingredients in and also the tofu and stir. While waiting for it to reach another boil, add in the vinegar and soy sauce and white pepper and stir. (Remember to taste it. The measurements that I gave for the vinegar, soy sauce, and white pepper is based on my personal taste.  You can add more or less if you like.) Turn the temperature down to medium. Beat the egg and very slowly add it into the soup to make egg flower–Add in small segments and give it 1 or 2 light stirs after every segment until all the egg has been added in.

(optional) You can make the soup more dense by thickening it with corn starch. In a small bowl, add a little water to the 2 tablespoons of corn starch. Stir until there are no more clumps and looks super milky. Add this in the soup and stir thoroughly.

Add a small splash of sesame oil.

Place the lid on and let the soup simmer for about more 5 mins on medium low.

Here’s to a bowl of hot & sour soup!

Pickled Mustard & Pork Vermicelli Soup (酸菜豬肉粉條湯)

I was feeling a bit lazy to cook tonight, but I somehow got myself excited to make something new. It turned out pretty well (although I didn’t really like the color of the broth). But taste wise, good!

Ingredients:

• 1 bundle of vermicelli (wide glass noodles)
• 1/4 lbs ground pork
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/4 cup pickled mustard, diced
• 1 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1-2 teaspoons green onion, chopped

Serving size: 1 for full meal or 2 for side dish

picture of some of the ingredients to show specifically what I used:

Rinse the pickled mustard before dicing. Soak the vermicelli in water for about 15 minutes and then drain the water.

1) Make the pickled mustard and ground pork: set the temperature to high.  When the pan is pretty warm, pour in about 1 teaspoon of oil. Place the garlic in. Let the garlic sizzle a little and put in the ground pork.  Quickly divide and separate the pork into smaller pieces.  Do this until the pork is partially cooked (half cooked, half raw).  Pour in the soy sauce, stir, and continue separating the pork. Add the pickled mustard in and continue stirring for 2-3 minutes. Then turn the heat off and set this aside, in a bowl, while we work on the 2nd part.

2) Place the chicken broth and water in a smaller pot and bring the temperature to high.  Once it reaches a boil, place the vermicelli in.  Continue boiling for 5 mins and turn off the heat.

3) Pour the noodle soup into a big bowl.  Add the sour mustard and ground pork, and top with green onions.

When I make this again in the future, I’ll probably buy a different chicken broth since the chicken broth that I bought this time was really yellow in color for some odd reason.  I’d want something more clear and less thick looking.

Along with this, I also sauteed some baby spinach. And that was my dinner for the night. :)