I’ve been making a lot of Chinese home-style soups lately – Nathan has been going through some health challenges lately and all he wants to eat is clear soup. My house smells like Mom’s house when I simmer a pot of soup.

One most frequently asked questions I get is, “what’s your favorite recipe from your Mom?” It’s tough to just pick ONE single recipe so I’ll pick my top 3 categories – Fried Rice, Crispy Spring Rolls and Soup – any Chinese soup.

Soup is easy to make, but tough to master. Simply boiling ingredients and adding enough salt will make anything from flavored water to somewhat decent soup. I’m talking about making a broth that’s rich and concentrated but also clear and clean.

What is clear and clean soup? Well the French technique to making clear soup, or consommé, is to stir in egg whites. The proteins of the egg whites will collect and trap all of the sediment and fat from the soup, which then gets discarded.

The Asian way is different:

• Par-boil the meats and/or bones to get rid of the fats and other “muckity muck” that would otherwise cloud and taint your soup. (i.e. skin, blood, bone fragments, dirt – the stuff that makes for cloudy soup)
• Use umami-boosting dried or preserved ingredients to create nutritional benefits, richness and savoryness – dried Chinese mushroom, dried shrimp, dried scallops, dried abalone, preserved turnip, dried dates, dried lily buds, dried figs….well, you get the picture. If it can be preserved/dried, it will….and the Chinese will use it for soup!

In this recipe for Chinese Diakon and Carrot soup – you can use one or both techniques. I bring a big pot full of water to a rapid boil, then add in my meat/bones. I let it boil like crazy. This violent boiling action “scrubs” the meat and bones, forcing the impurities to be released. Let this happen for 10 minutes and then discard the water and fill the pot with new, clean water to create the broth.

I know your next question….”Doesn’t the par-boiling take away a lot of the flavor?”

The answer is no. Unless you count that scuzzy stuff as flavor. You don’t want that crap in your soup anyways. The real flavor of soup comes from a long, slow, gentle simmer of the meat and bones. Unless you use a pressure cooker, which I sometimes do too. But that’s a different sort of cooking technique.

This recipe, like all of my recipes, is flexible. Don’t eat pork? Use chicken instead. No daikon? Try potato. No dried shrimp/scallops? It’s optional.

Chinese Daikon and Carrot Soup Recipe Video

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We don’t get many choices in Chinese restaurants in my town – all the joints are a jumbled mish-mash of Americanized Asian food and they all serve sushi (because it sells really well with high profit margins).

Last week, we went to one for lunch and Andrew ordered Sweet and Sour Chicken. The chicken was deep fried and the sauce served on the side was neon orange. There is no food item that I can think of that should come in this blinding shade of orange. My iPhone buzzed and flickered when the plate came to the table. I should have tested it for radioactivity.

Unfortunately, Andrew loved it (he’s his Father’s son) and asked me to make it at home. So here’s my version of a healthier, fresher Sweet and Sour Chicken with a delicious sweet, tangy sauce made with fresh blackberries.

The recipe was inspired by my friends at Driscoll’s Berries, who had invited Scott and me to Northern California to sample some fresh berries straight from the field. I promised to create a recipe using their plump blackberries! (see below the recipe for more photos from our trip)

Chicken Breast Tip

I’m a big fan of brining chicken breast and lean pork for grilling. It helps the lean meat stay super-moist and tender. Normally, I’ll place the meat in a brine mixture overnight, but I’ve also had very good results in just an hour. If I’m short on time, I’ll make sure that my chicken or pork is cut no more than 1″ in thickness. For chicken breast, I’ll butterfly the breast.

To brine for this recipe – Grab a big bowl (or use a soup pot) dissolve 3 tablespoons sugar + 4 tablespoons kosher salt* in 1 cup of boiling water. Once the salt and sugar have dissolved, fill the bowl with cool water and ice cubes – enough to make 8 cups of water total. Once the brine mixture is ice cold, add in the chicken. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to overnight.

*If you are using regular table salt, use 2 tablespoons instead. Kosher salt is about 2x the size of table salt.

Grilled Chicken with Blackberry Sweet and Sour Sauce Recipe Video

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Driscoll’s Visit!

we got married at Pebble Beach 10 years ago!

Our tour of the Driscoll’s HQ was so fun! Scott and I got a chance to sneak away for a few days to California. Our tour included stops at various facilities and farm operations. We walked the rows of the strawberry fields and tasted different varieties of strawberries that they were testing.

One of the most important things that learned was all the effort Driscoll’s puts into food safety. Because their berries come from contract farms from all over the world, they have very strict guidelines and checks to ensure that the berries are in the best condition and are safe. What I loved most: the berries are only touched ONCE. The picker packs directly into the clamshells.

As big as Driscoll’s is, they are very family focused – in fact, their vision is: “to become the world’s berry company, enriching the lives of everyone we touch.” 

Part of our adventure was at a location that Scott and I are very fond of – Pebble Beach Resort. Ten years ago, we got married there! The resort hosted the annual Pebble Beach Food & Wine Festival and we were treated to an entire afternoon of sips and nibbles.

Oh – and look who I got to hang out with!!! Cutie patootie Caleb.

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The great thing about living near a farm store is that I no longer need to have baby fowl delivered via postal service. The bad thing about living near a farm store is that I just cannot stay away.

Last week, the kids and I snuck over there while Scott was out of town and brought this little guy home. His name is Nibbles and he’s a Khaki Campbell duck.

Khaki Campbells are known for their egg-laying ability – even surpassing some of the best chickens! I read that they can lay an average of 320 eggs a year. Have you ever tried a duck egg? I can’t wait.

She’s still an itty-bitty little thing.

Actually, I don’t know whether Nibbles is a girl or boy. We’ll find out in 6 months! (Yes, there’s a way to determine the sex of a duckling, but it involves pinching and prodding duckee parts that I’d rather just leave alone.)

If you haven’t yet seen this little video of Nibbles learning how to waddle:

Nibbles stays under the protection of her big sisters (again, I’m just guessing that they are girls) – she tries to keep up with them! Watch Scarface learn how to swim – the hard way!

A few days ago, I put out a little tub of water for them to play in. You have to wait a couple of weeks before letting newborn ducklings swim – they have no feathers  yet, and can get sick (or drown) if you let them play in water too soon. Scarface and Duckee Momo have GROWN SO FAST!!! In just 2 weeks they went from fitting in the palm of your hand to now being able to be carried under your arm.

Here’s the ducks’ first time in water & and update on our 10 hens:

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We’ve been a little distracted for the past week, new babies, another new baby that is just learning how to waddle and getting quotes to build a new fence for animals (sheep! alpaca! bunnies!) Pretty soon, I’ll have to rebrand this site to be “Steamy Farmer” right?!

So, dinners recently have been super quick-cooking meals and raiding my pantry/refrigerator for something to cobble together. This is one of them. In fact, I think Thai Curry is the queen of emergency quick-cooking.

This version of Vegetable Thai Curry Noodle Soup consists of:

Pantry – Thai curry paste, coconut milk, carton of vegetable broth, rice noodles, bamboo shoots, baby corn.
Refrigerator – bell pepper, mushroom, tofu, basil

All of the refrigerator items are long-lasting type of ingredients that stay fresh for about a week.

15 minutes tops, from pantry/refrigerator to table.

Vegetable Thai Curry Noodle Soup Recipe Video

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My parents came to visit us last week, a pitstop on their way to a Transatlantic cruise and vacation. Normally, when they come visit, Mom will call a week before to get “my list” of things to bring – Asian foodstuffs that I can’t buy in my Florida markets but that she can find near her home in Las Vegas.

This time though, their luggage was limited and I could only request what could be hand-carried. I asked for probably the most rude things to hand-carry on a plane — Chinese Preserved Salty Fish (Chinese Fried Rice with Salty Fish will be an upcoming recipe and video).

Mom surprised me with two other items: special brand of Chinese sausage from Canada and 2 pounds of fresh Chinese Roast Pork from the #1 rated place in Las Vegas – BBQ King.

You know your parents love you when they dare to bring such possibly pungent delicacies on the plane. Thank goodness that the salty fish was triple wrapped and sealed tight.

Chinese sausage is unlike any meat you’ve ever eaten before. “Lap Cheong” 臘腸 is made most popularly from pork and is marinated and smoked. You can also find Chinese sausage made from duck liver or pork liver too (darker deep reddish/brown color).

Flavor:  sweet-salty, smokey, savory and unctuous with little pockets of fat that just melt during cooking. Think of candied bacon. Or when maple syrup from your pancake pools onto your thick bacon. That’s about the closest I can get to a description.

Most Asian supermarkets will stock Chinese sausage – since it’s dried, cured and smoked, the package will last for over a year if unopened (also check the expiration date on package). You can also freeze the package for a long time If you’ve opened a package and only use a few links, wrap the remaining tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 6 months or store in freezer.

 If you’ve got a Chinatown in your area, sometimes you’ll find Chinese sausage hanging by string like the photo above! (photo source)

Okay, now how to cook with Chinese sausage!? The simplest way is to just snuggle a few links into your rice grains and they will cook up along with the rice. Once cooked, just slice and eat.

I also love dicing Chinese Sausage for my fried rice like this:

(The Chinese Sausage Fried Rice recipe is in my first cookbook, The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook now available in paperback for $16.35 at Amazon)

Years ago, Mom taught me how to make Chinese Sausage with Sweet Soy Sauce drizzled on the rice and it’s still one of my all-time favorite Chinese dishes. (Actually, I think Scott and the kids would also agree it’s theirs too) This recipe is also in my first cookbook – but I’m sharing it with you below.

Here’s a new video to show you how to cook the sausage with the rice!

Chinese Sausage and Rice Recipe Video

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I like to blog.

I’m a ridiculously handsome duck.

Do you want to read what I wrote?

Are you suuuure?……….Okay, I’ll show you!

Oh yes, you read that right…..eat mor beef. Beef is yummy. Ducks are not.

In addition to blogging, we can do other chores too, like picking kale from the garden.

That’s my brother Scarface sitting down below.

He has a scar on his head. I think he got in a fight with a baby chick with a sharp beak.

We love our new family, but we aren’t so sure about the other 2 pets.

Especially this one.

I hear he’s eaten over $500 worth of remote controls.

I don’t think I like him much. He’s got a big head.

garglegarglegurglegurgle

We need a bigger swimming pool.

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This weekend, Scott and the boys helped me clear out some of the raised beds – our broccoli has bolted, the lettuces bolted and it’s time to plant more heat-resistant vegetables.

Massive cabbage

While Scott is planning on building a greenhouse, I’m moving forward to expanding our animal family. First, a little about the greenhouse – we’re trying to find a suitable site on our 5-acres to build, his criteria was a little different from mine. Scott needed a site that was flat, had water and power access and big enough to put in a 200sf greenhouse with an 800 gallon fish tank for the aquaponics tank.

My criteria was simple. Don’t block my peaceful, lush, green view of the pond, dock and fruit trees from the house. That left only a couple of spots available. I don’t know what he’s decided yet, but I did overhear him on the phone with a concrete pourer asking for a quote to pour the slab that will serve as the floor of the greenhouse. I think this will all be happening in the next few days!

Scott measuring possible site for greenhouse

This morning, I called for a fencing company to come out and take a look at the acre of land that I’d like to fence in for our current hens and future animals.

An acre-ish area to fence in for our animals.

There’s already wild duck that come everyday to hang out.

The kids and I would just LOVE to have our own little petting zoo or Noah’s ark. Two of each: sheep, goat, alpaca, angora rabbits. These animals would also serve as my personal fiber store – I spin yarn and knit voraciously!

In the very near future* we will also get some ducklings to raise for eggs and meat. Though the latter may or may not actually happen. I still haven’t had the guts to move forward with butchering any of hens.

On the north-west side of our property, we have a little pond and enough land for:

• a brood of chickens
• a paddling of ducks
• a hurtle of sheep
• a wrack of rabbits
• a trip of goats
• a herd of alpaca
• a kine of cattle (okay, maybe just 1)
• a romp of otter
• a shoal of fish
• Here’s more fun words to know about collections of animals!

*I just found out that our local farm store has 4 BABY DUCKLINGS FOR SALE!!!!! So “very near future” may = 3pm today. Squueee!! 

This morning, I told the hens about their possible future roommates. They weren’t very happy. Looked quite grouchy to me.

WHAT?! New animals? NO!

Seriously? Do we look like we need more friends?

Why would you ever want sheep? They smell.

We protest!

Even the hen laying eggs wouldn’t look at me.

harrumph!

Despite having 3 custom designed nesting boxes, each with a bed of soft pine shavings, all the hens lay in only ONE box. In the beginning, they all fought over this box. Now they’ve just learned to take turns. I think they have an appointment book somewhere.

This morning’s collection so far:

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At the beginning of our Winter growing season, we planted a short row of onions in the raised bed. I’ve been using the long stalks as “green onions”, just clipping what I need. Some of the stalks grew over 3 feet long, and so we had green onions galore so far all year. They taste the same!

Since I use green onions (or scallions, as some say) almost every day in my cooking, it’s so convenient to go outside and cut a single long leaf  to use in a dish. In fact, I had forgotten that the plant was actually developing a sweet onion underneath the soil until my a few days ago. My parents have been visiting us, and when Dad went out into the garden, he came back with several onions the size of baseballs.

The garden onions have been used all week long – Mom has been cooking every day and we’ve had Chinese Fried Rice, Vegetable Soup with Papaya, Firm Tofu with Preserved Radish, Lemongrass Pork, Chinese Sausage and Boiled Chicken with Garlic and Ginger Sauce. My house smells very “Chinese”!

I’ll be posting some homestyle Chinese recipes from Mom soon. In the meantime, I’ve got a recipe for Lebanese Roasted Stuffed Onions from a book called, The Food and Cooking of the Middle East. The onion is boiled for a few minutes until the layers are soft and pliable. The layers are gently taken apart, stuffed with ground meat (try ground lamb!), warming spices like allspice, cinnamon and coriander, basmati rice and then then roasted. What a nice surprise to open up a rolled onion to find a savory, meaty filling!

What I loved about this dish was that each “stuffed” onion just uses a single layer of onion and that the presentation was so beautiful.

Lebanese Roasted Stuffed Onions Recipe Video

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My new cookbook is available for purchase now wherever books are sold!

You can also pick up a copy on Amazon for $13.98!

©Steamy Kitchen Recipes, 2013. | Permalink | 20 comments

I want to share something with you, a video that gives you a little glimpse into our everyday lives. The video is a present from our “family” – Todd and Diane of White on Rice Couple. Scott and I had a chance to see them for a few minutes right before our talk at the International Assocation of Culinary Professionals conference in San Francisco yesterday (red eye back home this morning!)

Todd and Diane were out here a few months ago to shoot our cookbook trailer and surprised us with editing a clip that showcased our family and our “Family Motto.” They thought that you all would love to hear more about our driving force in life, what steers our family and how that also steers our Steamy Kitchen family business. What wonderful friends Todd and Diane are.

“Creating Magical Moments” has always been my personal motto, but really, our entire family has embraced the little saying as a way of life. What does it mean?

We as a family do not have a specific religion, we don’t go to church but we do love both God and Buddha. Our family belief centers around everyday being the very best person, mother, father, brother, sister, sibling, spouse and friend possible. Scott and I have taught the boys to always remember that every moment is a chance to be the very best person and that every moment is a chance (and a choice) to be happy.

What guides our every decision in life is asking ourselves this question, “How can we create a Magical Moment?” It could be for ourselves, for a friend, for a stranger and even an animal!

Scott and I decided in late 2010 that we had to change the way we lived and ran Steamy Kitchen. Back then, I was traveling way too much, worked crazy hours and was “always super busy,” a phrase that I caught myself saying too much. Since then, we’ve restructured our business and our lives to be able to both work at home and only work a handful of hours each week. We began involving the boys in business decisions. We began charting the success of the business in terms of “Units of Happiness” instead of “Gross Revenue.”

Here’s a little slice of what we mean – and moving forward, if you are interested, we’d love to share with you more about our lives and how we specifically are able to create a lifestyle of Magical Moments. I’m sure the boys will chime in too – they love reading all your comments!

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My parents grill outdoors quite often, they live in Las Vegas so they can pretty much grill year-round (though I bet during the hottest summer weeks, you could grill directly on the sidewalk). Mom is one of the best hostesses I know, always making sure that there is plenty of food and drink to feed all the guests plus extra in case 30 more people show up.

I have to confess, I’m the same way too. The extra food never gets wasted – our guests can bring home a leftovers or our animals get a nice treat. Our dogs, Coco and Buster, gets first dibs…..then the 10 hens and then lastly, the compost worms get to feast. If we happen to to have shellfish shells, like lobster shell, clam shell or shrimp shells, the hundreds of little Bluegill fish in our pond get a treat.

This is a recipe that I’ve learned from Mom, who has such talent for creating simple, but powerful recipes. Shrimp are marinated with what I call the “Chinese Trinity” – the trio of garlic, ginger and green onion. In addition, I’ve added minced hot chile pepper from our garden.

The Holy Trinity of Chinese Cooking

If you’re familiar with New Orleans cooking, you’ll know that the “Holy Trinity” begins many Cajun and Creole recipes: a saute of onion, green bell pepper and celery.

In Chinese Cooking, the three key aromatics are a stir fry of garlic, ginger and green onion. These three ingredients dominate much of Chinese recipes. If you have time, read Tiger & Strawberries (one of the very first food blogs that I fell in love with 5 years ago) article on The Chinese Triad. Barbara’s post is thorough and also provides some cooking tips on how to use this triad of aromatics.

Mom’s Chinese Grilled Shrimp is one of the simplest recipes that highlights how powerful the combination of green onion, garlic and ginger can be. You can marinate the shrimp overnight or even for just a few minutes if you don’t have time.

Other ingredients that you can add to The Chinese Trinity that are great with this recipe are: cilantro, minced hot chile pepper, orange zest, Chinese 5-spice powder (just a pinch), sesame oil (just a dribble) , Chinese rice wine (just a splash).

Chinese Grilled Shrimp Recipe Video

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