两菜一汤 (two dishes one soup)

Today is really one of those days where I miss home alot. Indeed, home is where the heart belongs. So, I thought of bringing some food that I truly miss to my home tonight.

Whenever my family have dinner, my mum never fails to put 三菜一汤 (three dishes one soup) on the dinner table. It always makes her so happy and satisfied to see that after her long time of preparation of the food and cooking, we all "wiped" the plates clean. 

And so I set off to the bustling market where there's a huge array of daily vegetables, produce, poultry etc.

Today my 'mission' is to replicate a similar 三菜一汤 (three dishes one soup) for dinner. But of course, with only two of us (hoping in the near future there might be more than that ;)) I only made 两菜一汤 (two dishes one soup).

For Mr G, soup is always a must. This could possibly be because of his maternal grandmother who is Cantonese and always cook a good soup daily. 

My knowledge of soups are not that many so I turn to my trustworthy friend, Google for more soup recipes, especially those that explain the uses of drinking certain soups. In particular, I like this recipe from Cuisine Paradise. I call it the double fungus soup. Does it sound odd that way? When you read on further to know the goodness of this soup, you will definitely want to try it. **Note: wooden ear is also otherwise known as black fungus.

As Ellena has mentioned, this is a very soothing and nutritious soup. I like this soup because it is able to prevent blood vessel blockage, reduce bad cholesterol level, reduce blood pressure, etc. Best of all, this will help to reduce spot appearance which I believe it does mean spots like aging spots. For us women, this soup can also cleanse and moisturize our skin.

See my modifications in blue below.

Ingredients:

2 Chicken Drumstick, removed skin and fats
2 5 Pieces Of Wooden Ear, about 40g Black Fungus (stems removed)
1 2 big Pieces Of White Fungus, about 10g (stems removed)
10 – 12 Red Dates
1 Tablespoon wolfberries
3 Slices old ginger
salt to taste 1 to 1.5 chicken stock cube (less MSG)

Method:

1. Soak white fungus and wooden ear in water until soft.
2. Remove the stems, rinse well and tear into small pieces and scald then set aside.
3. Rinse and scald the chicken.
4. Crush the red dates with flat side of knife, remove the seeds and rinse well. The red dates I use are very small in size and don't have seeds so I removed this step.
5. Boil 1.5 – 2 Litres of water to boil, then add in all the ingredients and boil for 10 minutes.
6. Transfer to a slow cooker and simmer on low heat for about 3 – 4 hours.
7. Season with salt and serve.

For me, I prefer to use chicken stock cube to season the soup instead of using salt. You may use salt if you prefer.

Can you see how rich the double fungus soup has become with the goodness of the white and black fungus? Mr G loves it and gives it a good thumbs up! Despite the sweltering weather, this soup seems to aid in cooling the body down. Kudos to Ellena for this soup recipe!

We also had 2 other dishes which are packed with protein and vitamins! One being teochew steamed pomfret and the other being stir fried vegetables in olive oil.

Simply put, this plate of simple stir fried vegetables consists of mainly broccoli, carrots, shitake mushrooms, black fungus and snow peas.

The protein dish which I miss about home is the teochew style steamed pomfret. I got this recipe from noobcook which I followed it to a T. Like what she says, yes this is indeed the teochew style steamed fish I have been eating since young. What are the other ways you use to steam your fish with?

So what did you have for dinner tonight? It really doesn't matter as long as you are having it with your loved ones and people whom you hold dear to your heart.