Taiwanese Stir-fried Squid Soup

I am excited to announce that Random Cuisine has now its own domain. It never crossed my mind of having my own domain as I consider blogging as a hobby, but after three years in the blogging world, it feels right to own one. Anyhow, you will notice that the address bar now reads http://www.randomcuisine.com instead of http://victor-recipe.blogspot.com. If I made the changes appropriately, my old URL will redirect you to my new URL, so you don't need to make any changes.

Ok, now for an anecdote... I know my Taiwanese friend Chris for over four years. We first met when we were knife salesmen the summer before I started my Masters degree in Physics. Since then, we have been cooking together almost every Sunday to test out new recipes and share our food knowledge. He grew up in Taiwan and has traveled around Asia. He is my encyclopedia for Asian cuisine such as Chinese, Korean and Japanese cuisine. He loves to tell interesting stories behind each dish.

This stir-fried squid soup is a classic street food in Taiwan. It is weird to see stir-fry and soup in one name, but it has to do with the cooking method. The aromatics are first stir-fried in hot oil to release its fragrance, then these aromatics provide a flavour profile to the soup. Like most Asian dishes, flavours are balanced by the appropriate amount of sweet, sour and salty ingredients. This is one soup you will definitely enjoy.

Serves 2
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 15 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup carrots, sliced
4-5 slices ginger, julienned
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1 green onions, chopped
2 squid tubes, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 Chinese red chilli pepper (or any chilli pepper), seeded
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp black or white vinegar
1 tbsp white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten (optional)

Procedure

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sauté carrots for 2-3 mins. Add in ginger and garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 min. Add in squid and sauté for 1 min.

2. Pour in hot water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer.

3. Add chilli pepper, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. Cook for about 5 mins until squid is ready.

4. Stir in beaten egg and basil leaves. Serve.

No-Cream Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Have you made any soup lately? Ever since I made the creamy broccoli soup without cream, I fell in love with the recipe and test on other vegetables.  I'm amazed how one potato can convert any vegetable into a creamy soup, even on sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. These soups are simple to make, all you need is to cook everything in one pot and purée it in an immersion blender. Especially during these cold winter times, you do need a nice and warming soup.

Serves 6
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking Time: 25 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 medium onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 cups vegetable stock

1-2 head cauliflower, trimmed and coarsely chopped 

1 russet potato, peeled and chopped

Salt and pepper

Paprika for garnish

Procedure

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté onion until translucent, about 5 mins. Add in garlic and cook for 1 min until fragrant.

2. Pour in vegetable stock, cauliflower and potatoes, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 mins or until cauliflower and potatoes are tender.

3. Purée mixture with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve and garnish with paprika.

Chilled Watermelon and Feta Soup

What is your reaction towards combining watermelon and feta cheese combo? When my labmate was mentioning that he was going to make watermelon feta soup for the Red & White cooking theme, I was unsure if the saltiness of the feta cheese would match the taste of the sweet juicy melon. He did convince me that it is the best soup he had ever tasted so approve it. When I think of it, the watermelon-feta combo is also employed in Greek salad so the soup should not be too bad after at all.

It might be a bad time to post this recipe as there are several feets of snow outside right now and Christmas is arriving soon. If you want to feel like summer again, this is for you. It is cold and refreshing with a fresh herbal taste of mint and the salty feta cheese balances well with the watermelon. The recipe is adapted from Epicurious, but we did not add any sugar as our watermelons are already sweet.

Serves 8
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

6 lbs (9 cups) red watermelon, diced and seeded
2 tbsp fresh mint, chopped

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup Riesling wine (or any lightly sweet white wine)

1 teaspoon ginger, grated

1/4 cup sparkling water

Crumbled feta cheese

Procedure

1. In a blender, combine 8 cups watermelon, mint, lemon juice, wine, sparkling water. Blend until smooth.

2. Strain soup and divide into soup bowls. Top each bowl with reserved watermelon and a teaspoonful of feta cheese. Serve.

My 200th post - The Chinese Feast

Olé! Olé! This is the official 200th post on Random Cuisine. I'm currently writing this post in the bus as I'm heading to Ottawa to visit my PhD superviseur. This is the start of a whole new chapter of my scientific career and an opportunity to explore new branches in nanotechonology, the field of research which I really enjoy doing research on.

In October, I was really pumped to start my new research and I had planned my farewell party three weeks before the departure date. A few days before the farewell party, I received an e-mail from the institute that I can't work due to "security issues" and these issues should be cleared by the month of February. I felt heart broken, but at least my life as a graduate student is not ruined. I can still pursue research at McGill with my Master's superviseur while the institute resolved these bureaucratic issues. Well, the new graduate students of my "old" research group are glad that I can share my scientific know-how. My friends are also glad that I continue organizing weekly cooking sessions which  have been running for over 2 years now. As I can't officially start working in Ottawa, occasional visit like the one right now and e-mail exchange with my PhD superviseur are the only possible solutions. Life is full of ups and downs. We have to live by our choices and let the dice rolls.

Despite these unfortunate circumstances, I didn't want to cancel the "farewell" party after weeks of planning the menu and food preparations. Here is the final version of the menu:

Soup

Ginseng Soup

Appetizers

Vietnamese Rolls

Pork Dumplings

Vegetarian

Mixed Chinese Vegetables

Singapore Noodles

Choy Sum (Chinese Leafy Greens)

Meat

Sweet Glutinous Rice

Curried Pork Chops

Sauteed Beef with Sugar Snaps

Shrimp in Rice Wine Sauce

Stuffed Eggplants in Oyster Sauce

Roasted Turkey

Desserts

Hong Kong Egg Tarts

The menu is a tour of some traditional dishes usually found in real Chinese restaurants. These dishes would not be realized without the help of my brother and my parents. I can guarantee you this Chinese feast can feed up to 50 guests. At the end of the night, everyone was really full and ended up bringing 2-3 large tupperwares of leftovers home.

Warning: the following images can make you drool. I simplify some of the recipes to 4-6 servings, the images might or might not be representative. I don't have all the recipes in hand, they will be updated in the future. Sorry for the incovenience...

Ginseng Soup

A traditional Chinese herbal soup which consists of ginseng cooked in homemade chicken stock. The soup tastes a little bit bitter and provide health benefits (according to my parents).

Vietnamese Rolls

A refreshing appetizer which consists of rice noodles, thinly sliced vegetables, and Chinese mushrooms (wood ear, shiitake, cloud ear) which are then wrapped in rice paper. These rolls can be dipped in either soy sauce or plum sauce. You can find this recipe in one of my past post found here.

Pork Dumplings

This appetizer is suitable for dim sum lovers, my mom loves to make it for breakfast when ground pork is on special. This filling is customizable, you can find alternative ones such as Assorted Mushroom Dumplings and Steamed Gyoza. Here is our family version of the filling:

Serves 6

Preparation Time: 1hour

Cooking Time: 10 mins per dumpling

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1lb ground pork
3-4 shrimp, deveined and deshelled

4 oz. nappa, finely diced

3 shiitake mushrooms, finely diced (optional)

1-2 tbsp Chinese chives, finely diced

1/2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Pinch of sugar

Procedure

1. In a large bowl, combine well filling ingredients. Cover and place in fridge for 30 mins.

2. Place a teaspoonful of filling in center of each wrapper. Moisten edges of wrapper with water. Fold in half to enclose filling and pinch edges to seal.

3. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Arrange dumplings in pan, avoid overlapping. Cook for 2 mins until light golden.

4. Add about 1 cup water to pan, cover and cook for 5 mins. Uncover and let liquid evaporates, about 1 min. Serve hot.

Mixed Chinese Vegetables

This will sure satisfy your vegetarian guests. This dish contains broccolis, carrots, fried tofus, lotus roots and, shiitake mushrooms cooked in a light soy sauce.

Singapore Noodles

Curried vermicelli noodles consist of a blend of vegetables. Meat such as chicken, pork and shrimp can be added to the dish. This recipe will be added soon...

Choy Sum (Chinese Leafy Greens)

A classic Chinese vegetable mainly found in Chinese market. You only need to cook these vegetables in boiling water with 2 crushed garlic cloves. It is fully cooked once it changes from light to dark green. These are usually served with a drizzle of oyster sauce and light soy sauce.

Sweet Glutinous Rice

This rice requires an overnight soaking before employing it. Once ready, the rice is then cooked in a rice cooker. Chinese sausages, dried prawns, shiitake mushrooms and soy sauce are then mixed with the rice to provide a sweet and salty taste.

Curried Pork Chops

This dish is a family favorite, all you need is to marinade the pork chops in curry and it is ready to use for your next meal. The recipe can be found here.

Sauteed Beef with Sugar Snaps

I love my mother's marinated beef. If you need to make a quick dinner, this is it and complement it with rice and vegetables.

Serves 4

Preparation Time: 10 mins

Marinade Time: 30 mins

Cooking Time: 10 mins

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1/2 lb beef tenderloin, thinly sliced

Marinade

1 tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

1 tsp rice wine

2 tsp ginger, cut into matchsticks size

1 garlic clove, minced

200g sugar snaps or snow peas, ends removed

1/2 cup beef stock

2 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch + 1 tbsp water

Procedure

1. In a bowl, combine marinade with beef. Cover and let it marinate for 30 mins.

2. In a wok, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add beef and sauteed for about 2 mins. Set aside.

3. Add in sugar snaps, sauteed for few seconds. Add oyster sauce and beef stock. Cover and cook for 2 mins.

4. Meanwhile, make slurry by mixing cornstarch and water.

5. Return beef to wok. Add in slurry to thicken. Mix well and serve.

Shrimp in Rice Wine Sauce

A classic Chinese dish which consists of shrimp cooked in a rice wine sauce.

Stuffed Eggplants with Oyster Sauce

This is Japanese eggplants stuffed with grinded shrimp and fish. All is cooked in a rich oyster sauce.

Hong Kong Egg Tarts - Dan Tat

What is the best way to end this Chinese feast? Even with a hyper full stomach, there is always room for desserts. See my post on Hong Kong Egg Tarts - Dan Tat for details.

This is all folks! I hope you enjoyed reading this one in a lifetime 200th post!

No-Cream Creamy Broccoli Soup

Potatoes are a versatile ingredient to have in your pantry. Since it is considered as a starch (not a vegetable), you can use it as a thickener to give a creamy texture to the soup. This creamless broccoli soup can easily fool you and your guests for a cream of broccoli soup. This soup requires only three main ingredients, making it vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free. Tip: if the soup is too salty, add more steamed broccoli instead of water.

Serves 6
Preparation Time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 large russet potato, peeled and cubed
3-4 broccolis, chopped
3 1/2 cups vegetable stock
Salt and Pepper to taste

Procedure

1. In a large pot, combine potatoes, broccolis and vegetable stock. Cover and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 mins or until potatoes are soft.

2. Purée mixture with an immersion blender. Season with salt and pepper. Serve.

Thai Coconut Soup (Tom Kha Gai)

What twist do you add on a classic chicken soup? A few months ago, I was trying to figure out a theme for the next cooking session with my group of friends. I was out of ideas and decided to let my brother to choose one. The theme was unusual and was not sure if it was going to work. He suggested to my friends to create a dish which starts with the letter T. I was amazed how well this theme works. As usual, we always have a full course meal: soup, appetizers, main dish, sides and dessert.

Let's start with the soup. My Australian friend decided to make a Thai coconut soup, which consists of coconut milk, galanga, lemongrass and chicken. I really enjoyed the soup, one sip of the soup will burst your mouth with sweet, sour and spicy flavors. This is great for the cold times. Try it out, you won't regret it!

Serves 8

Preparation Time: 15 mins

Cooking Time: 40 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups chicken broth
15-20 kaffir lime leaves
4” galanga root, cut into thick slices
4 stalks lemongrass, cut finely

2 boneless chicken breast, cut into bite size

1 can coconut milk
juice of 2-3 limes (adjust to taste)
2-4 tbsp fish sauce (adjust to taste)

1-2 red chillies (dried or fresh)

about 1 tbsp of palm sugar or brown sugar (adjust to taste)

250g cremini, shiitake and/or oyster mushrooms
3 scallions, thinly sliced
½ cup cherry tomatoes
¼ cup coriander leaves, chopped

Procedure

1. In a soup pot, bring stock to a boil with lime leaves, galanga, and lemongrass. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes to let flavours infuse.

2. Add chicken, cook for another 5-8 minutes.

3. Add the coconut milk. Add lime juice, fish sauce, chillies, and sugar. Adjust quantities to get the right balance of sweet, sour, salty, and hot flavours.

4. Add the mushrooms, scallions and tomatoes, and let simmer for five minutes.

5. Remove lime leaves, galanga, lemongrass. Serve with coriander.

Bouillabaisse

The name bouillabaisse is divided into 2 French verbs : bouillir  means to boil and abaisser means to reduce, together it means to reduce by evaporation. Bouillabaisse is a fish stew which originates from the city of Marseille in France. This is also known as a fisherman's soup using the remains of the day's catch. It consists of a variety of herbs and spices mainly saffron, garlic and bay leaf as well as a variety of white fishes and seafood. You can imagine the amount of seafood flavors in this stew. It is like eating a paella where you can't stop eating until you are full. Try it out, use any seafood and white fishes and let me know the results. Bon appétit!

Serves 6-8
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 50 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes with juice
4-5 cups vegetable or fish stock
1 1/2 cup white wine
5 fresh bay leaves
1/2 tsp saffron threads
200g mussels, cleaned
250g cod, cut into 2-inch pieces
250g haddock fillets, cut into 2-inch pieces
1/2 lb shrimps, peeled and deveined
100g scallops

Procedure

1. Heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic, cook for 5 mins. Stir in tomatoes, stock, wine, bay leaves, and saffron. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to simmer for 30 mins.

2. Put in mussels in the pot. Cover bring to a boil for 4 mins.

3. Turn heat to medium-low, add in fish and cook for 3 mins. Simmer for 2 mins. Afterwards, add in scallop and shrimps until the shrimp changes colour, about 3-4 mins. Make sure that the liquid is covering the seafood, add more stock if necessary.

4. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaves, and ladle into serving bowls.

Lion's Head Meatball Stew

At first glance, the name might sound weird for a dish. The Lion's Head Meatball Stew is traditionally cooked in Shanghai which consists of oversized pork meatballs and greens. The large meatball size represent the lion's head and the greens for its mane. For the stew, we added some leftover pork and beef balls.

Serves 4-6
Preparation Time: 15 mins
Cooking Time: 30 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb ground pork
1 tsp ginger, minced
2 water chestnuts, peeled and minced
1 egg
1 tsp sake
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and pepper
1/2 nappa
5-6 cups chicken stock or water
2-3 scallions, diced

Procedure

1. In a bowl, combine pork, ginger, water chestnuts, egg, sake, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.

2. Shape ground pork into large meatballs, about 3'' in diameter. Flatten them a bit so it is not completely round.

3. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Pan fry meatballs until golden on the outside.

4. In a soup pot, cover bottom with nappa. Place meatballs on top of the nappa.

5. Pour chicken broth and bring it to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30-45 mins until meatballs are fully cooked. Garnish with scallions.

Italian Wedding Soup

I'm finally done with my finals. This is probably the last time that I will have to take academic classes. I'm back to research and currently in the process of writing my thesis.

I found a great-looking soup on My Tasty Treasures, a blog that I regularly follow. One that caught my eyes was the Italian Wedding Soup. At first glance, it looks like a strange name to give for this dish. It seems to be an Italian mistranslation, Married Soup, which refers to the combination of green vegetables and meat.

Serves 8-10
Preparation Time: 20 mins
Cooking Time: 45 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup pearl barley
3 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 lb ground pork & beef
6 cups chicken stock
1 egg, beaten
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 (10z.) bag of spinach, triple washed

Procedure

1. In a medium pot, add barley and 5-6 cups water. Boil over high heat and simmer fo 30 mins. Set aside.

2. In a large soup pot, cook carrots, celery and onions over medium heat, about 5 mins. Season with salt and pepper. Add broth and keep it hot.

3. In a bowl, combine meat, egg, garlic, parmesan, bread crumbs, salt and pepper. Shape into meatballs and add it into the soup pot. Cook until all browned about 10 mins.

4. Add in spinach and pearl barley to the soup pot. Cook until spinach changes color.  Serve.

Taiwanese Sesame Chicken Soup

I have quite a collection of Taiwanese recipes on this blog. Seasonings such as soy sauce, rice wine, sesame oil, ginger, chili peppers, cilantro and basil are very common. My Taiwanese friend made an interesting soup dish which requires a fair amount of sesame oil and rice wine. The quantities here are readjustable, especially the soup alcohol content.

Serves 2-4
Preparation Time : 10 mins
Cooking Time : 40 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

8 chicken tights
1/2 ginger, sliced
1/2 cup sesame oil
1/2 cup rice wine

Procedure

1. In a skillet, heat oil over medium-low heat and stir fry ginger until edges curved.

2. Add chicken tights and drizzle a tsp of sesame oil. Cook until meat is white on all sides. Season with salt.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium pot, combine rice wine and 1 1/2 cup of water. Heat over medium heat. Do not boil.

4. Add chicken, sesame oil and ginger into pot. If necessary, add more water or rice wine to cover chicken.

5. Simmer for 30 mins until tender. Serve.

Daikon Soup with Short Ribs

It has been a while I haven't posted anything about Asian food since last October and I'm pretty sure you readers are looking forward for my next Asian recipe. This recipe is a classic winter comfort soup that is easy to assemble. However, it takes quite some time to cook. For the vegetarian version, water is substituted for vegetable broth and obviously, the ribs are omitted.

Serves 4
Preparation Time : 5 mins
Cooking Time : 1 hour 45 mins
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb short ribs, separated into individual ribs
4 cups water
1 large daikon
Salt

Procedure

1. In a medium pot,  place ribs in water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and remove scum from the top of the liquid. Simmer for about an hour or until almost tender.

2. Meanwhile, peel and slice daikon into 1'' thick rounds, then into quarters.

3. Add daikon to the soup, and simmer for 45 more mins or until daikon and ribs are tender. Add salt to taste. Serve.