Ham and Macaroni Soup

This was a very simple lunch but very tasty. I loved the mixture of the egg and the stock, it made a lovely creamy soup. It's a kind of Asian mixed with European soup.

Ham and Macaroni Soup (from Teczcape)

(Serves 1)

40g macaroni

1 small bok choi/pak choi, stalk and leaf separated and sliced

4-5 mange tout, cut in half

1 slice ham

1 egg

stock

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the macaroni according to packet instructions. Add the bok choi and mange tout for the last 2 mins. 

Meanwhile, bring another pan to the boil and poach the egg for a few mins.

Drain the pasta and veg and put into a bowl. Top with the ham and then pour over a little hot stock just until the pasta is covered. Put the poached egg on top and eat.

Thai Yellow Noodle Soup

So I completely adapted this recipe to what I had in and so changed quite a lot. It's Thai instead of Malaysian because of the curry paste but it's still really tasty.

Thai Yellow Noodle Soup (adapted from Chef Mireille)
(Serves 6)

450g king prawns
750ml water
1 veg/fish stock cube

2 tbsp Thai curry paste

375ml coconut milk

1 1/2 tsp fish sauce

170g pak choi chopped

12 baby corn, chopped

2 Kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

225g rice noodles

handful bean sprouts

bunch mint leaves, chopped

bunch coriander leaves, chopped

 

Place noodles in a large bowl of boiling water and let sit for 10 mins or whatever the packet says, until the noodles soften.

Heat a saucepan and add the thai curry paste, stir fry for 1 min. Add the water and stock cube, coconut milk and fish sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 5 mins.

Add the pak choi, baby corn and Kaffir lime leaves. Bring back up to a boil. Add the prawns and bean sprouts. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 3 mins, until the prawns turn pink and are cooked through.

Turn off the heat and stir in the coriander and mint.

To serve, place some of the noodles in each bowl and spoon the soup over the noodles.

Fragrant Beef Noodle Soup

Whilst my presentation and photography leave little to be desired, this was actually a really flavourful dish. I amped up the veg from the original recipe adding baby corn and mushrooms and it was a really satisfying dinner.

Fragrant Beef Noodle Soup (from Waitrose Recipe Card)
(Serves 2)

100g rice noodles
2 beef stock cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
3cm piece root ginger, peeled and thickly sliced
1 red chilli, seeded and thinly sliced
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
230g frying steak, trimmed of any visible fat
8 baby corn, halved
150g beansprouts
2 pak choi, thickly sliced
handful enoki or shimiji mushrooms
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, roughly chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges, to serve

Place the noodles in a large bowl, cover with a kettleful of boiling water and leave to soak for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice to make sure the noodles don’t stick together.

While the noodles are soaking, place the stock cubes, onion, ginger, chilli, cinnamon, star anise and 750ml boiling water in a large pan and bring back to the boil. Simmer for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, cook the steak in a non-stick frying or griddle pan for 2–3 mins on each side, until nicely browned but still a little pink in the centre. Transfer to a plate, let it rest for 5 mins, then slice thinly.

Stir the baby corn into the broth  and cook for 2 mins, then add the beansprouts, pak choi and mushrooms and cook for 2 mins or so more until the vegetables are tender.

Drain the noodles and divide between 2 bowls. Ladle over the broth and vegetables then top with the sliced beef and coriander. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

Grilled Mackerel Salad with Miso Dressing

This is a yummy and very easy summery salad.

Grilled Mackerel Salad with Miso Dressing (adapted from Delicious Magazine)
(Serves 4)

8  fillets fresh mackerel with skin on

4 tbsp oil

1cm piece ginger, finely shredded

2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
2 red peppers, sliced

4 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal

4 small pak choi, leaves separated and stalks sliced

200g beansprouts

Bunch of red radishes, washed and trimmed but leaves reserved
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
salad leaves

 

For the dressing

3 tbsp mild miso paste (white miso is ideal)

1 tbsp rice or white wine vinegar

1 level tsp wasabi or horseradish

1 tsp sugar or honey

2 tbsp cold-pressed sesame oil

Preheat the oven to 240°C/fan220°C/gas 9. Run your finger along the middle of the mackerel fillets to check for any pin bones. Remove them with tweezers.

Rub the fillets with half the oil and lay, skin-side up, in a single layer on a roasting tray lined with baking paper. Bake the fish for 3-4 mins, or until just cooked through. Set aside to cool.

Heat the remaining oil in a large wok and fry the ginger and garlic briefly until just soft. Add the pepper, spring onions and pak choi stalks and stir-fry for 1 min.

Add the beansprouts and stir-fry for 1 more min. Fold in the pak choi and radish leaves, let them wilt, then remove from the heat.

For the dressing, mix the miso, vinegar, wasabi, sugar or honey and oil in a small bowl. Stir in 100ml water and set aside.

Place the salad leaves into a bowl, top with the stir fried veg, radishes and tomatoes. Remove the skin from the fish and flake into large pieces, place on top of the veg. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.

Orange Pork wth Chinese Greens

I don't seem to be in the mood much for Oriental food at the moment, pasta seems to be my thing, but occasionally I have a craving and this satisfied it wonderfully. I added a tin of bean sprouts to the recipe which worked fantastically and added some extra crunch! I would rather have had fresh but I can't eat them all quick enough before it goes off. I also added some broccoli that needed using up, can't go wrong with extra veggies!

Orange Pork with Chinese Greens (from WeightWatchers Cooking for One)
(Serves 1)
(7 WW ProPoints per serving)

150g lean pork fillet, sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tsp finely grated orange zest
3 tbsp orange juice
1 tsp finely grated root ginger
2 spring onions, sliced thinly
cooking spray
125g green beans, trimmed
1 head pak choi, broken into separate leaves
1 tbsp fresh coriander

Put the pork in a bowl. Add the soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, orange zest, orange juice, ginger and spring onions. Cover and leave to marinate for at least 2-3 hours or overnight.

When ready to cook, spray a frying pan with the cooking spray. Add the pork to the pan, reserving the marinade and cook for 5-6 mins a side. Add the marinade and simmer gently for 2-3 mins until slightly reduced.

Meanwhile bring a pan of water to the boil and steam the green beans for 4 mins and add the pak choi for the last two mins.

Serve the pork and vegetables, with the reduced marinade spooned over, sprinkled with coriander.

Serve with 40g dried noodles for an extra 4 ProPoints.

Prawn and Yellow Bean Chow Mein with Pak Choi

My supper on Easter Sunday was this beautiful prawn noodle dish, it was delicious. I spent the afternoon in the Victoria and Albert Museum at the British Design Exhibition, it's fantastic to think that all the stuff has been done in the country since 1948 and I can't wait for the mini exhibition connected to that on how Japanese fashion has been influenced by British Victoriana, Gothic and Punk that will go up in the Museum next week.

















Prawn and Yellow Bean Chow Mein with Pak Choi (from Ching's Fast Food - Ching He-Huang)
(Serves 2)

100g medium egg noodles
2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp groundnut oil
1 large clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
200g cooked shelled and deveined tiger prawns
100g baby pak choi leaves

For the sauce
1 tbsp yellow bean paste
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine
1 tbsp cornflour

Cook the noodles in a saucepan of boiling water for 2-3 mins until al dente, or according to packet instructions. Drain then rinse under cold running water and drain again.. Drizzle the drained noodles with half the toasted sesame oil and toss together to prevent them from sticking to each other.

Meanwhile mix together all the ingredients for the sauce, along with 100ml of water and set aside.

Heat a wok over a high heat until it starts to smoke and then add the groundnut oil. Add the garlic and stir-fry for a few seconds, then add the chilli and fry for a few seconds more.

Add the prawns, pak choi and the sauce, the bring to the boil. Tip in the cooked noodles and toss together, then drizzle with the remaining toasted sesame oil and serve immediately.

Soy Poached Chicken

I have had a lovely week getting the garden ready for the summer. I went to lots of garden centres with my Mum and bought fuschias and geraniums and surfinas for the tubs and also tomato plants, fennel and herbs. I can't wait for the summer and for all the veg to grow!

I made this delicious soy poached chicken the other day, again a really simple recipe but so tasty.



Soy Poached Chicken (from Everyday Gourmet)
(Serves 2)

2 chicken breasts
500ml chicken stock
200ml water
¼ cup light soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
1 chilli, roughly chopped
2 knobs ginger, roughly chopped
1 clove garlic
1 star anise
juice of a lime

In a medium saucepan, add all ingredients except the chicken. Bring to the boil.

Turn the heat down and add the chicken. Allow to gently simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow the chicken to infuse in the stock.

Remove and slice each into four even pieces. Serve with rice and steamed bok choi and a little of the cooking liquor.

10 Minute Miso Fish Soup

I'm still playing around with healthy recipes and possibly making them less healthy than they should be! This again is a Gillian McKeith recipe that I've messed with. For Asian soups I generally use the veg that I have in the fridge rather than following the recipe. So long as there's veg in it, it doesn't really matter what it is. I think the original recipe had peppers and mange tout but I added to that with some choi sum, mushrooms and green beans. I also added some somen noodles to the soup to round it out as a meal. Delicious!



10 minute Miso Fish Soup (adapted from You Are What You Eat Cookbook)
(Serves 4)

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
2.5cm piece ginger, peeled and finely sliced
1 packet instant miso soup
100g skinless boned white fish, cut into chunks
100g somen noodles
handful mange tout, trimmed and sliced
handful green beans, trimmed and cut in half
5 dried Chinese mushrooms
2 heads pak choi, sliced

Put the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water, soak for 15 mins.

Bring 500ml water to the boil, add the garlic, ginger and miso soup. Boil for 1 minute, then add the fish, noodles, mange tout, green beans and mushrooms.

Bring back to the boil and cook for 2 mins.

Add the pak choi and spring onions and cook for a further minute.

Divide between bowls and serve immediately.