Spiced Lentil Stew

 

"This stuff is so authentically delicious," says the Chinese girl. Seriously, this dish was so tasty without being complicated. I may not know Indian food apart from restaurants and friends' cooking, but I know I liked this recipe.

1 1/2 C (10.5 oz) lentils--I used green although the recipe called for yellow

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

2 fresh hot green chiles (Serrano), minced (I omitted)

1 tomato, seeded and finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp firmly packed golden brown sugar

salt

2 Tbsp canola or peanut oil

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1 dried red chile (I omitted)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1/4 C minced fresh cilantro (optional)

Pick over the lentils, discarding any stones or misshapen or discolored lentils. Rinse and place in a deep pot. Add the coriander, cumin, turmeric, green chiles, and 5 C of water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook at a low boil, uncovered, stirring often, until the lentils are very soft, about 50 minutes.

When the lentils are soft, beat them with a wooden spoon to make a chunky puree. Add the tomato, brown sugar, and 1 tsp sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to very low to keep warm while you make the spice mixture.

In a small frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil. When hot, add the mustard seeds and cover the pan. When the sputtering stops, after about 30 seconds, uncover and add the dried chile. Continue frying until the chile turns almost black, about 30 seconds longer; using tongs, remove and discard the chile. Add the garlic to the pan, stir briefly, and immediately pour the contents of the pan over the lentils. Mix, ladle into small bowls, and serve at once garnished with the cilantro, if desired. 

Serves 6

Training Flu Chicken & Rice Soup

Everything in my 4th term was 7-fold intensified, even my flu. This chicken soup was something simple and therapeutic I could whip up in my feverish, dizzy, hallucinating state.

1/4 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
kosher salt
1/2 bag of baby carrots, chopped (1/4 C)
1/3? C (a handful) of jasmine rice
Cooked chicken breast (pre-cooked slices from F&E)

Heat up a pan with a little oil on high heat. Then saute the onion and carrots until the onion is softened, then the rice and garlic. Add a pinch of salt and the chicken. Then add enough water to cover it all and bring to a boil. Add salt to taste.

Easy Sickie Soup

Boil up 3+ thin slices of ginger, 2 talks of green onion, and lots and lots of garlic. My housemates said it smells funny but it's loaded with potent superhero-like powers that can knock out your cold with a one punch pot!...Besides, I think it tastes good.

Rice Cake Curry Soup

A quickie home cooked idea. Everything depends on you. How many rice cake thingies do you want to eat? How salty do you want it? Saltier? Add more curry.

A handful of Rice Cakes (see below)
1 can of chicken broth
Japanese Golden Curry (less than a block)
Green leafy veggies (like bok choy or spinach)

Boil the chicken broth in a pot, when boiling, add the rice cakes. Meanwhile, soften half a block of the curry with 1/2 tsp of water and form into a paste. Right before it hits boiling, (make sure the rice cakes start floating and taste test to see if they're almost done) throw in the veggies and cook for 1 minute for the bok choy, a couple seconds for spinach and then pour in your curry paste.

Don't stir too much...for some reason, it tastes better when it's floating around in only a part of the broth. By the way, if you don't want to use these rice cakes, you can also use udon noodles or any noodles. Just boil them separately till al dente and add them in after the veggies.

Of course, you can always add more to this soup like green onions and cilantro to garnish or some kind of meat, but this one's meant to be super quick and easy.

Childhood Chinese Pork Meatball Soup

When we were little, our dad used to make soup with these meatballs and stab chopsticks into them. My sisters and I would run around with meat on sticks, munching as we played. Not much has changed since then, except for maybe the running part.

There were a few years when I went to college that I didn't know which meatball my dad used. I went through packages and packages...was it fish? (I wanted that white color.) Pork? (I wanted that flavor.) One day, eureka! To me, this brand with the disturbingly happy pink pig is the best--great bite, no weird muscles or tendon interfering with the texture, just smooth, pure pork. Boil the celery until just heated, but not cooked--it should still be crunchy. Then add the meatballs. Garnish with cilantro and green onions and serve hot.

Cilantro, less than a handful
Chicken broth, the whole can is okay.
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped
Green onions 1-2 stalks, sliced
Flamingo Brand Meat Balls:

Oh yes, my darling pink piggy...you are the one.

Vegetarian Egg Drop Soup

Judy Chao’s specialty for her dad’s birthday. Reminds me of shark fin soup without the shark fin. I think it might have been the stock she used…Big asian can of something.

4 C vegetable stock
2 eggs, beaten lightly
2 green onions, chopped
1 tsp soy sauce
¼ tsp white pepper
½ tsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water
optional: ½ C canned/fresh corn

Heat stock and add soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil. Add cornstarch mixture and raise heat until soup begins to slightly boil.

Remove from heat and slowly drizzle the beaten egg over the top of the hot soup with one hand while gently stirring with the other. The egg will cook when it comes into contact with the soup. Add the green onions and heat a little more back on the stove.

Serves 5-6

Vegetable Soup

So there are a few options to enhance the flavor of the soup. You can...
1. Make it in advance and let the flavors meld together
2. Use Swanson's chicken broth
3. Throw in a Parmesan rind

2 yellow onions, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, minced
2-4 medium carrots, chopped
1-2 T Italian seasoning, I used Trader Joe's Pasta dried seasoning which is a blend of onion, garlic, basil, lemon peel, fennel, oregano, black pepper, ginger and thyme)

1 medium bell pepper, chopped
14 oz. of washed, chopped collard greens or kale
1 15 oz. can of corn
1 15 oz. can of beans (kidney, garbanzo, cannelloni, or whatever you like really...)

2 15 oz. cans of broth (chicken or vegetable, I used Swanson's low sodium, no msg)

Heat oil in pan until it reaches the smoking point. Add the onions and cook until softened and fragrant, then add the garlic and carrots. Cook until slightly soft and add the seasoning of your choice.

While on the stove, you can prepare the other vegetables and drained the canned corn and beans. Add the bell pepper and collard greens and cook until greens have shrunken down and are a deep green color.

Add the broth and cook on medium high until boiling, then turn down the heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes or till serving. Feel free to add water or salt to adjust to taste.

Serve with parmesan cheese and crusty bread if you'd like.

Lazy Man's Dumpling Soup

The secret to lazy cooking is to gather and prepare today so that you can be a bum tomorrow. Basically, I'm talking about having a well stocked pantry with random junk you can throw together.

For example, today I'm sick (yes, again. Bad, immune system! Bad!) and lazy but I can still have a good meal in under 10 minutes with minimal clean up because I have a bunch of stored up food. Granted, you must have fresh fruit and vegetables!!! (Which I stole from my roommates. Shhh...)

But most of this stuff for the soup you can buy and store in your home. You know, like a squirrel preparing for winter. Here's the soup that saved me tonight. No pictures because of course, I am sick and lazy.

2 packages of Japanese "Instant Soup, Mutenka Iri" (see above)
Tofu, cubed (optional especially if you've got dumplings)
2 T dried seaweed
1/3 C broccoli
1 tsp soy sauce
dumplings of choice

Boil 2 C water. Add the instant soup mix and boil dumplings until floating, then add the soy sauce and tofu and seaweed. Broccoli last. Add enough packages to taste or add more water.

Mung Bean and Rice Ball Soup Dessert

I learned this from my dad. This is also the basic rice skin for stuffing with a sweet sesame paste or a sweet peanut filling and then boiling. Those are sooo good. He seems to love making rice based desserts and food. I especially like the chewiness. Mmm!

The above picture is actually what it looks like before you boil it. Can you believe I rolled each one of those teeny tiny little balls with my paws?!??! Not so useless now, are they Vicky??

1/4 C mung beans (or red beans) soaked in warm water 4-6 hours or overnight
1/4 C rock sugar, or sweetener of your choice (agave nectar, honey, sugar)

1/8 C boiling water
1 package of glutinous rice flour

Discard the bean soaking water and fill a medium pot with the beans and water till it's a little more than halfway full. Bring to a boil, add the sweetener, and then lower heat to medium and let them cook until the beans are soft.

While that's cooking, mix together the hot water and 1 C of rice flour with a wooden spoon. Turn out onto the counter (I use a silicone baking mat for easier cleanup) and knead flour in until it's pliable and not sticky anymore. It should feel like silly putty, firm yet yields slightly.

Roll into little balls, whatever size you like. I like it when they're the size of marbles. Store them in a bowl with some rice flour in it. (Or, you can roll them into bigger balls, roll them out into a 3" circle and stuff some desired filling in it like peanut butter, canned red bean paste or canned black sesame seed paste, seal it up and boil!)

When beans are about ready, boil another pot of water and add rice balls to the boiling water. Don't add so much that they crowd. Let them cook until they float up from the bottom and then sink back down. Test so that they are squishy, not chalky and then they're done! Drain and add to the mung bean soup.

Serve hot or chilled.

Miso Pumpkin Soup

Something I learned from my mom. The pumpkin cuts down the savory saltiness of the miso by adding a subtle sweetness. The photo makes it look like a mishmash of soup stuff, but it's really good!

1/4 C miso paste (I buy the one with a baby on it and rainbow lettering)
1/2 a can (or 7.5-8 oz) of pumpkin puree
2 C shredded cabbage
1/4 lb. fish (take your pick: salmon, cod, halibut, orange roughy)
1/8 C (about a handful) shredded dried seaweed

1 12.3 package of firm tofu
1/4 C of sliced green onions for garnish

Blend miso paste and pumpkin with about 5 C of water in a large pot. Taste a little bit, it should be flavorful and salty.

Basically throw everything except tofu green onions in the pot and bring to a boil. Add tofu and heat thoroughly. Taste. If it isn't salty enough, add more miso paste. If it's too salty, simply add more water. It's pretty simple like that.

When serving, top with green onions.