Tung Sum,Pak Kei tea

Ingredients:

30 gm “Tung Sum”
30 gm “Pak Kei”
20 gm Red Dates, Removed stones
20 gm Black dates, Removed stones
2.5 litres (10 bowls) water

This is boiled as a sweet tea instead of a soup! Used to relieve stress or tiredness.

Chinese Herbs Info

I find that most of the time soup can be used as a base for porridge. Christopher loves his soup and nothing beats our Chinese herbal soup.

Found some information on the following herbs.

(a) kei chi: tiny little red seeds. It is suppose to improve function and also believed to be good for the kidney and the eyes;
(b) dried longan: good for the spleen, kidneys and lungs;
(c) lotus seeds(lin chi): promotes virility and good blood circulation;
(d) pak kei: Fights fatigue and bad blood circulation;
(e) yoke chok: for illness related to the pancreas,lungs, and throat;
(f) tong kwei: usually consumed by women;
(g) wai san : helps to relieve inflammation of the uterus;
(h) cordceps; (toong choon chou) combat body aches and pain;
(i) ginseng: (pau sum) It adds as a tonic, helps respiratory ailments,relieves insomnia, back pains, lumbago and many others
(j) tung sum/"poor man's ginseng" : improves blood circulation, increases metabolism and reduces fatigue
(k) pak hup/magnolia petals : beneficial for cough and lung ailments

Pork slices with celery

Ingredients:
3-4 cloves chopped garlic
2-3 sticks celery
1 handful of pork
Black fungus (wan yee NOT mok yee) sliced into bite sized
White fungus (suet yee) sliced into bite sized

Fry the garlic a little. Add the celery and some water to soften the celery (since I cook for kids). Throw in the pork, black and white fungus.

Add salt to taste.

Note: Mok yee is harder and is usually only used when cooking stew pork. Mok yee has been known to reduce cholesterol and during confinement to this out the blood. Wan yue is softer and used when cooking vegetables.

Fermented beans pork ribs

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon tau cheong/fermented soya beans
2-3 cloves regular sized garlic, chopped finely
1 tablespoon sugar
1 layer (and a bit more) of pork ribs in a plate the size of a regular rice cooker

Place pork ribs, tau cheong and sugar in your steaming plate, Mix it thorougly. Steam while cooking rice.

Garnish with chopped chilli if required.

Asam Serai Fish

You may need to use fish that can be steamed for this dish.

For a medium sized fish, I add:
2 heapful of asam jawa
3-4 serai/lemon grass, sliced or bruised
3-4 medium sized onions
Sugar and salt to taste

I usually put in slightly more water than my required soup amount. To this I put in the lemon grass and let it boil (bruising it further in the water), adding in after that the onions and then the fish. Put in the asam breaking the pulp in the water. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and a tinge of salt.

When the fish is cooked, add more asam/sugar/salt to taste.

Adobo Recipe

Adobo is Phillipines national dish.

Ingredients
1 small sweet onion, sliced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1 (3 pound) whole chicken, cut into pieces

Directions
Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a small bowl mix the onion, garlic, soy sauce, and vinegar, and pour over the chicken. Cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours.

Some other recipes call for bay leaves and black pepper to be added.

I have tried the recipe with pork and bay leaves and prefer it with bay leaves.

3 -4 lbs pork (cut in 2-inch cubes) or 3 -4 lbs chicken (cut into serving pieces)
1/2 cup vinegar (can either user Apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup water
2 -3 bay leaves, crumbled
2 teaspoons peppercorns (whole)
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium onion, chopped
3/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 teaspoons salt (optional, I do not put it in, it is what the original cook uses)