Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht Soup

Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht Soup

Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht Soup

Soup Name:

Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht (with oxtail)

Traditional Chinese Name:

羅宋湯 (luó sòng tāng)

Nature:  Warming

Taste: Savory, sweet, and slightly sour

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

 

Did you know the secret ingredient to an HK-styled Russian Borscht is Worcestershire sauce (and some lemon juice)?

Falling off the bone oxtail?

Soft delicious veggies?

Savory and a hint of tart delicious broth?

Yes, the Hong Kong Styled Russian Borscht is a classically adopted fusion soup that is very different and uniquely different to the traditional European borscht (no beetroots or cream).  Instead, it’s a tomato based beef broth and a range of choice vegetables diced small. 

I love the subtle tart flavours of the soup, but yet incredibly savory and hearty.  This soup indeed eats like a meal!

What’s involved?

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 120 minutes 

Total time: 150 mins

Serves: 8 bowls

Ingredients

  • 1 full oxtail
  • Optional pieces of beef flank
  • 3 potatoes, peeled and largely cubed
  • 2 carrots, peeled and largely cubed
  • 2 celery stalks, peeled and largely cubed2 tomatoes, quartered
  • 1 onion, halved
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 1/2 head of cabbage, slicked thin
  • 3 dried dates
  • Fresh green onions

Flavouring

  • 1 small can of tomato paste
  • 1 lemon
  • 5 dried bay leaves
  • 6 black peppercorns
  • 2 tablespoons of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 2 tablespoons or Worcestershire sauce
  • 11-12 cups of water
  • 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

Cooking Instructions

  1. In your soup pot, with a bit of oil on med heat, pan fry the garlic cloves and oxtails until golden brown and fragrant (they smell so good!).  I don’t blanch and will do this instead.
  2. Add the cubed beef flanks and potatoes, allowing them to also brown nicely
  3. Add in your soup water, about 11-12 cups of water and turn on high heat
  4. I will then drop in my vegetables, tomatoes, celery, onion, carrots, and the dried dates
  5. Cover and let it come to a full boil, then reduce to med heat for another 1.5 hours
  6. Here you can now add in the flavouring of the soup (this is what really makes it distinct as a the HK-styled Russian Borscht)
  7. I will also throw in the cabbage
  8. Cover and let that simmer for another 30 minutes
  9. Garnish with fresh green onions, serve, and enjoy!

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Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw

Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw

Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw

Soup Name:

Healing Chinese Chicken Herbal Soup with Fish Maw

Traditional Chinese Name:

花膠雞湯 (huā jiāo jī tāng)

Nature:  Warming

Taste: Sweet and savory

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

 

The star of this soup is FISH MAW.  This takes collagen to the next level! 

This soup is packed with natural collagens that help retain moisture, firmness, and bounce in the skin.

To make this soup, you’ll need to plan it a few days in advance because of the fish maw preparation.  I would suggest allowing 2-4 days to fully hydrate your dried fish maw.  This depends on the size and quality of the fish maw.

A few tips for preparing your fish maw:

  • I like soaking them in a glass bowl.  That way, I can see it in the fridge when I open and close the fridge door as it soaks.  You can check for murky water, spots on the fish maw, and generally that it’s soaking cleanly as it should.
  • I use tap water (in Canada), although some people recommend using cold boiled water as it’s cleaner
  • After they’ve soaked, I will also flash blanch them in boiling hot water (after the water boils with my blanching chicken since I’m blanching anyways)
  • Cut the fish maw after soaking them.  They’ll be sufficiently soft.

 

What makes this soup amazing?

  • For starters, it’s collagen packed!  Interesting fact though is that fish skin has more collagen than fish maw (according to this one study [source 1])!!!  I guess I’m going back to fish skin as an ingredient as it’s also way cheaper!
  • You don’t need salt or any other flavoring for this soup.  Don’t even think about adding chicken broth (I usually don’t for Chinese soups)!
  • This is a great soup base for other vegetables or additives should you choose to embark on this mission.
  • It’s a hearty soup which can double as a meal (just add rice!)
  • It’s PERFECT for postpartum, as it’s a warm soup with healing ingredients.

For videos, visit us on YouTube. 

What’s involved?

Pre-work: 2-4 days to soak & hydrate the fish maw

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 120 minutes 

Total time: 150 mins

Serves: 8 bowls

Ingredients

Cooking Instructions

  1. With the pre-soaked and re-hydrated fish maw, I will remove them from the fridge, strain out the water, and slice into 1-inch thick pieces (or however you’d like to eat them basically)
  2. At this time, you can prepare your chicken however you’d like.  I usually save the 2 breasts for a meal, keeping only the bones and thighs and feet.  
  3. In a separate blanching pot with cold water, add in as much water to fully cover the chicken and 2 slices of fresh ginger and add in your fresh chicken (there is much debate about whether to blanch in cold or hot water, but I have found it!  Incoming post!).  Use high heat to bring to a full boil.  You’ll begin to see the foam, debris, blood, and bones surface.  Just be careful it doesn’t overboil!
  4. As your blanching water comes to a boil, flash boil your sliced fish maw by dropping them in and fishing them out right away(just to be sure all the impurities are boiled out)
  5. At this point you can set your blanching pot aside and strain
  6. In your soup pot, add a teaspoon of oil and panfry a few slices of ginger with your fresh (or defrosted) abalone on med heat until they are golden brown.
  7. I will also throw in largely cut potatoes at this time and brown them a bit as well.
  8. Add your soup water and turn this on high heat
  9. Then add in the rest of the ingredients:  dried red dates, dried longans, dried sugar dates, dried Chinese Yam (or fresh), and dried scallops.  Cover and continue to boil on high heat for 30 minutes.  Once this is bubbling along nicely, I’ll reduce to a med high boil, still covered. 
  10. Boil for another 1.5 hours.
  11. At this point, you can drop in your prepared fish maw and let that boil for another 30 minutes on med high heat.
  12. Serve and enjoy!
  1. Cruz-López, Honorio et al. “Comparison of collagen characteristic from the skin and swim bladder of Gulf corvina (Cynoscion othonopterus).” Tissue & cell vol. 72 (2021): 101593. doi:10.1016/j.tice.2021.101593

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Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner

Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner

Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner

Soup Name:

Delicious One Pot Vegetable Vermicelli Soup for Dinner.  Literal translation from Chinese is “Mixed vegetables vermicelli pot soup”.

Traditional Chinese Name:

雜菜粉絲鍋湯 (zá cài fěnsī guō tāng)

Nature:  Neutral

Taste: Sweet and savory

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

 

We literally served this one-pot meal in the middle of the table with bowls and chopsticks and chowed down!

The final product!

So this soup sets a great soup base for your choice of meats and toppings.

I added on top:

  • Dried red dates
  • Dried longans
  • Fresh chicken breast slices
  • Fish cakes
  • Fish cakes with mochi middles
  • Fish balls with Unagi stuffing

You could think of it like a hot pot, but the idea is to boil it all in one place so it’s ready to serve and eat right away.  

GET CREATIVE!

 

What’s involved?

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 30 minutes 

Total time: 60 mins

Serves: 8 bowls

Ingredients

Soup base:

  • 1 piece of chicken thigh (marinade is soy sauce, white pepper, sesame oil) – be a chef… use any proportions that make sense 🙂 
  • 1 pack of dried green bean (mung bean) vermicelli
  • 1 fresh white radish, thinly sliced
  • 2 potatoes, thinly sliced
  • Mix of fresh green vegetables (I used, baby napa cabbage, cabbage, broccoli)
  • fresh green onions
  • 5 dried red dates
  • 5 dried longans
  • 2 L of water

Cooking Instructions

  1. In a bowl, take out your dried green bean vermicelli and add in cold water, ensuring it’s completely covered and let it soak (to soften)
  2. Cut your chicken thigh into one-inch strips and marinade with soy sauce, white pepper, and sesame oil (I eyeballed the proportions but used about 1 teaspoon of soy, half a teaspoon of white pepper, and 1 teaspoon of sesame oil)
  3. In your soup pot, add 1 teaspoon of oil on medium heat and panfry your chicken thighs until they are golden brown
  4. Add in your peeled and thinly sliced potatoes into the pot, panfrying the sides until they are golden
  5. Add in 2L of water to your pot
  6. Cover and let it come to a boil on high heat
  7. Reduce heat and add in the sliced white radish, dried red dates, and dried longans
  8. Cover and let that gently boil for 45 minutes
  9. In the final 15 minutes, add in your softened green bean vermicelli and all the vegetables into the pot covered
  10. Everything should be nicely softened and ready to eat!
  11. Your choice now to add other ingredients (like you would with hotpot).  In this case, I added fresh chicken meat (thinly sliced), random selection of fish balls.
  12. Garnish with fresh green onions
  13. Serve and enjoy!

Tips for making this soup:

  • For a more neutral soup, use neutral vegetables (both in nature and in taste) such as leafy greens like napa cabbage, cabbage, broccoli, gai lan, choy sum
  • Vegetables such as watercress are more cooling and spinach as a particular unique taste that may throw off the soup
  • Add in a few Chinese herbs of choice that are slightly more warm (such as dried red dates, dried longans, even 1 piece of dong quai would be amazing!)
  • Chop your root vegetables thin like the potatoes and white radish.  It makes it easier to cook and eat.  This is literally a quick boil soup!  So you want your ingredients to cook quickly and thoroughly.
  • Get creative with the vegetable base!
  • Vermicelli and vegetables go last.  They cook really fast!

For videos, visit us on YouTube. 

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ABC Soup in a Collagen Rich Salmon Head and Chicken Feet Broth

ABC Soup in a Collagen Rich Salmon Head and Chicken Feet Broth

ABC Soup in a Collagen Rich Salmon Head and Chicken Feet Broth

Soup Name:

ABC Chinese Soup in a collagen rich Salmon Broth (with Chicken Feet)

Traditional Chinese Name:

雜菜蕃茄三文魚湯 (zá cài fānjiā sānwènyú tāng)

Nature:  Slightly cooling

Taste: Sweet and savory

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

 

Taking collagen to the next level!  This soup is packed with natural collagens that help retain moisture, firmness, and bounce in the skin.

What does a jelly soup mean?  (Without using thickeners like corn starch or flour).

It means… it’s got copious amounts of natural collagens!

There are so many ingredients within Chinese soups that allow for natural collagens to seep out into the soup for natural and healthy glowing skin!

This one combines the salmon head and chicken feet!  Just look at how viscous the soup is, it’s probably bordering being a solid!  Full video below on how to make this soup!

 

What’s involved?

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook time: 90 minutes 

Total time: 120 mins

Serves: 8 bowls

Ingredients

  • 2-3 slices of fresh ginger
  • 2 fresh salmon heads

  • 5-7 fresh chicken feet
  • 3 fresh potatoes
  • 2 fresh tomatoes
  • 1 fresh corn
  • 1 tablespoon of dried scallops
  • 5 pieces of dried Chinese yam
  • 2L of water
  • fresh green onions to garnish

Cooking Instructions

  1. Wash and clean the salmon heads, ensuring they are sliced in half (you can get the fish butcher at your market to do this, or if you buy packaged, they are usually precut)
  2. In a shallow pan, add some oil and ginger on medium heat and pan fry the salmon head until the skin and both sides are slightly crispy
  3. Optional step to remove the nails of the chicken feet by either cutting them off with scissors to the first knuckle or chopping with a knife
  4. In your soup pot, begin to boil your soup water on high heat.  Once boiling, add in the cooked salmon head along with the chicken feet.  You can also add the dried scallops and the dried Chinese Yam. (I will add the salmon head into a soup bag first for easier disposal later).
  5. Wash, peel and chop potatoes into large chunks (not too small else they will disintegrate quickly into the soup).  
  6. Wash and chop the corn into 3-4 pieces.
  7. Wash and quarter your tomatoes.
  8. Add in chopped potatoes, corn, and tomatoes into the soup.
  9. Cover and reduce to a medium boil for about 90 minutes.  The longer you boil out the soup, the more the collagen comes out of the salmon head and chicken feet.
  10. Garnish, serve and enjoy!

How to get this jelly like soup?

  • To get that thick consistency and jelly like soup, I allowed it to low boil for another few hours and kept it in the pot until the evening, strained all the ingredients and kept just the broth in a bowl and put it in the fridge.
  • You can reheat in a small pot the day after and it is still as delicious! 
  • But this really was my experiment to show you the beautiful collagen in the soup.  It’s not as obvious as a liquid, but when cooled, it looks amazing!

For videos, visit us on YouTube. 

Tips for making (and eating) this soup:

  • You can actually directly pan fry the fish in the pot (it saves one pot of washing)
  • Use a soup bag!  These things are so useful when you want to clean up or strain the soup for later.  However, open the bag… there is a lot of fish meat on the heads, which all contain healthy fats and more collagen!  And the fish cheeks!  Do you know the story of the fish cheeks?  I’ll have to tell it one day! LOL.
  • Don’t forget to scoop out the extra fat, oil, and bits from the soup before serving.  There isn’t a lot from the type of proteins used, but the chicken feet will have a bit.

For videos, visit us on YouTube. 

EQUIPMENT USED

To answer your questions on what equipment I'm using, I've built a section here where you can find and explore what I'm using to make soups.  Ingredients are a little harder, but I will do my best as I source them around.  However, you can always message me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Facebook, and I will reply and try to point you in some direction!  

A great help for fish or small bones in soups, including small ingredients such as barley, fox nuts, spices just to keep everything together.

A MUST HAVE in the kitchen!  Energy saving, cost effective, and perfect for busy chefs!  Check out my article here that explains it.

Another MUST HAVE in the kitchen for soups!  It's so fine that it will scoop off the top oil and foam layer when using meats in your soup!

I use these types of stove top safe tea pots to make most of my herbal teas!

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Turn leftover rice into a delicious, warming congee with shrimp and yams

Turn leftover rice into a delicious, warming congee with shrimp and yams

Turn leftover rice into a delicious, warming congee with shrimp and yams

Soup Name:

Shrimp Congee with Fresh Yams and Lettuce

Traditional Chinese Name:

蝦粥 (xiā zhōu)

Nature: Neutral

Taste: Sweet 

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube. 

Want something easy?  Want something delicious?

This is the perfect lunch to make in 30 minutes with leftover rice.  Instead of going the traditional fried rice route (which I usually do), I went with a delicious, warming, and kind of a random mix of ingredients that blended nicely.

The key is the congee base.  I defrosted 10 shelled shrimp using the their creamy heads as the flavour base.  And then added ingredients I found in the fridge that would go nicely.

It was super easy to make and so yummy!  I had about 2 bowls of leftover rice in the fridge, so it was just perfect because I pretty much grazed on it from lunch until dinner!

 

What’s involved?

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 minutes 

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 6 bowls (2 people portion)

Ingredients

  • 10 shelled shrimp, keeping the heads

  • 5 pieces of garlic, diced
  • 1 yam, peeled and cubed
  • Some lettuce (I used half a romaine)
  • Fresh green onions
  • 2 bowls of leftover white rice
  • 7 cups of water
  • Salt to taste

Cooking Instructions

  1. Remove the heads of the shrimp and in your pot, add some oil and diced garlic and saute on medium heat until fragrant
  2. Deshell and devein your shrimp and marinate with a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper to taste
  3. Add in 7 cups of cold water and cover, allowing that to come to a boil
  4. Once that boils, scoop out the shrimp heads and foam (the garlic will also come with it, which is OK)
  5. Add in your leftover rice and cubed yam.  Cover and reduce to a low-medium heat and let that boil for 15 minutes.
  6. Now add in your shrimp and diced lettuce.  Cover and boil for 5 minutes.
  7. Once it all boils nicely, mix it around and garnish with fresh green onions.
  8. Serve and enjoy!
  9. Salt as needed.

Tips for making this congee:

  • The shrimp heads are key in this congee, which is what creates that delicious congee base
  • I tried to blend ingredients that would go nicely with the shrimp flavour (so you can get creative here).  Carrots, potatoes, or onions would also compliment.  [I had tofu in my fridge and thought about adding that with seaweed, but to be honest, not sure seaweed would go with this blend!]
  • It’s quick boil because the rice is already cooked (which is typically the longest to cook since it’s raw, but that’s why this congee can be made in 30 minutes)
  • Use small, diced cuts for quick boil soups or congee (they cook faster)

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Warming Chicken and Coconut Herbal (Healing) Chinese Soup

Warming Chicken and Coconut Herbal (Healing) Chinese Soup

Warming Chicken and Coconut Herbal (Healing) Chinese Soup

Soup Name:

Warming chicken and coconut herbal (and healing) Chinese soup

Traditional Chinese Name:

椰子雞湯 (yē zi jī tāng)

Nature:  Warming

Taste: Slightly sweet and savory

For more videos, you can follow us on YouTube.

Oh!  This soup!  It delivered – and more!!

Warm with intense flavours of rich coconut and savory chicken, it really hits the spot when it’s cool (or cold) and you just want a warm blanket to hug you.

I made a rather large pot in the morning and grazed on it all day.  As it continued to sit in its own broth and stew away, the soup became more and more intense and became a rich, earthy tone at dinner.  You can tell this by the colour of the broth.  SUCCESS!

3 key things for this soup:

  • Don’t drink the coconut water!  Save it for the soup!
  • Use the smaller round coconuts  (brown fruit) instead of the traditional larger coconuts.  Their flesh is sweeter and so is the coconut water.
  • Pan fry the chicken thighs (rather than blanch) to give it a savory, toasted flavour to the soup. 
What’s involved?

Prep time: 45 mins

Cook time: min 2 hours

Total time: 2 hours 45 mins

Serves: 6 large bowls

Ingredients
    Cooking Instructions
    1. Prepare your coconut.  This means, poking holes at the top, drain the coconut water in a separate bowl.  Using a hammer, just smash smash smash the coconut to shreds.  Remove the outer shell from the coconut meat and cut into 2×2 inch pieces.
    2. Cut your chicken thighs into 3 pieces and in your soup pot (or a shallow pan), pan fry on medium heat until the skin and edges are crispy.
    3. Add in your water to your soup pot and set it on high until it completely boils
    4. Cut your cut into quarters and drop into the soup
    5. Drop in all the Chinese herbs
    6. Pour in the reserved coconut water
    7. Cover and boil for 20 minutes and then reduce boil to a medium simmer for another 1 hour and 40 minutes
    8. Taste, salt as needed, serve and enjoy!

    What I love about soup is that it doesn’t go from clear water to broth in the snap of a finger.  At what point does it make this transition?  Fascinating.

    Do you see how deep, dark, and rich that broth looks?

    The best thing about this soup post making is that you can eat it all!  The chicken thigh is falling off the bone, tender, and tastes like coconut.  I don’t even need to dip it in soy sauce like I do with pork shank.  The corn is bulbous and some of them are filled with soup.  I don’t even need to butter it!  And the coconut meat is soft, flaky and rich.  You can really taste the coconut flavours.  This soup was super nice.  I’ll need to make another batch.  The only downfall is that preparing a coconut is like going to battle – me vs the coconut.

    Here are some tips on using fresh coconut in Chinese soups! 

    • Reserve the coconut water (where possible!).  It’s delicious, sweet, and adds an amazing fragrance to the soup!  I ended up drinking one because I had 2.  LOL.
    • Use a hammer to smash it open.  I’ve seen people do it with a butcher’s knife (back side), but hammer works!  
    • Put a towel to absorb the impact of the smash underneath the coconut.
    • You can use a butter knife to cut out the flesh if it sticks to the shell.
    • Rinse the freed coconut flesh under water to remove debris, shell, dirt before adding to your soup.
    • Boil for at least 1 hour to soften slight, but coconut meat doesn’t really become that soft.  It’ll stay slightly crunchy and textured.
    • Don’t overcomplicate the soup with a lot of ingredients to allow the highlight of the soup (the coconut) to shine!

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    FOLLOW US AND SHARE.