Chinese Recipes | Cooking Tips | Good Eats

I don’t know what’s the big deal about breastfeeding. There is so much hype here in the US about breastfeeding and its benefits that I feel soooo guilty everytime I give my baby formula. I struggled for the last eight weeks - with breastfeeding and with the guilt that I think it’s not healthy.

I wanted to breastfeed becos it’s free (and yes, of course not forgetting that antibodies in mom’s milk is good for the baby). Now I decided breastfeeding is not really free - I still had to buy a pump (pump extra to increase milk supply) and bottles and nursing pillow, nursing apron and OMG I bought a glider too! I thought it’s kinda cool to breastfeed in public. I now change my mind. It’s quite hard if I am struggling with a hungry baby. I thought breastfeeding will let me spend precious time with the baby - yes… too much time! I love my baby, but not to the extend that I want him latched on every other hour!

Anyways, I am currently only 70% feeding direct or with expressed breast milk and 30% formula feeding. What I learnt is that though breastfeeding has its own intended benefits, it may not be for everyone so don’t beat yourself up if it doesn’t work. As long as you have given it your best shot, the baby’s and mommy’s health and sanity are the most important.

Papaya Fish Soup

Friends told me to eat more fish postpartum so as to help increase milk supply for breastfeeding. Angela’s sister-in-law also had a baby recently. Her daughter is 10 weeks older than Baby J and she was so nice to pass me this recipe.

Ingredients:

- 1 white fish tail or fish bones or fish meat ~ about 1kg
- 100g raw peanuts (or black beans)
- 1 raw or half-ripe papaya, about 1kg - cut into cubes/wedges
- 1 piece tangerine peel
- 4 slices old ginger
- 1.5 litres boiling water
- 2 tbsp oil

Cooking Method:

1. Heat oil & fry ginger slices, then fry fish in oil until brown.

2. Put all ingredients into the slow cooker and simmer for about 2 to 3 hrs - generally until the soup smells really fragrant. Enjoy!

Unfortunately, I could not find green papayas in the 2 Asian supermarkets I frequent so I made do with almost ripe ones. Also, since I belong to the Pork Lover’s Association, I HAD to add some minced pork to the soup. This is the picture of my version: (added minced pork 300g, and did not put raw peanuts and tangerine peel.)

Did this soup really increase my milk supply? I am not sure. All I know is that these days, Baby J seems contented after suckling. The “psychological” effect that the Papaya Fish Soup has on me seems to be working.

I learnt to make this Nutritional Fish Soup from my mom and made it some time ago after coming back from Singapore. This soup is so tasty and delicious! I can eat it with plain white rice or just add some DoDo fishballs to leftovers and make it a one-bowl fish soup meal.

There are two ways to prepare the fish, depending on how proficient you are at filleting the fish.

Mom’s preferred method is to fillet the fish. She likes to cook the minced pork with the fish bones first, then when she is about to eat the fish, she would boil the fish fillet for about 10 minutes to cook it. She said that cooking the fish fillet for a short while would give you more tender fish meat.

The first time I fillet the fish, I couldn’t cut out much meat (must be the knife!) - a lot still got stuck to the bones. So for the second time, I just put the whole fish into the soup to boil. I was worried that boiling the whole fish for too long would toughen the meat… fortunately it didn’t.

J enjoys this a lot and his eyes would brighten up whenever I say I want to make fish soup.

Ingredients (Serves 2-3):

- 1 pomfret (washed and cleaned)
- 1/2 lb minced pork
- salt, pepper, corn starch (for seasoning and marinating fish and pork)
- 1 stalk spring onions (cut on the bias into 2″ lengths)
- 4 slices ginger
- a few stalks of cilantro
- 3 dried mushrooms (optional) (soaked in warm water to remove smell)
- 1 tsp dried shrimp
- 1 tsp dried scallops
- 1 tsp dried sole fish
- 8 cups warm water

Cooking Method:

1. Marinate minced pork with 1/2 tsp salt, a few dashes of white pepper and 1/2 tsp corn flour.

2. Same for the fish, sprinkle fish with 1/2 tsp salt, a few dashes of white pepper and 1/2 tsp corn flour. Rub seasoning on the fish skin and inside the fish stomach too.

3. Scoop minced pork into balls and add minced pork and the rest of the ingredients to the warm water. Bring to a boil, then add in fish. Lower heat to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 mins.

4. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cook’s Notes:

1. After trying 2 methods of cooking the fish (i.e. filleting the fish first versus cooking the whole fish), I chose the latter as it’s easier for me. Besides, after the whole fish is cooked, it’s easier to remove bigger pieces of meat.

2. When seasoning the fish, you can also choose to insert a few pieces of spring onions and ginger slices into the stomach of the fish, but I think this is unnecessary as they will fall out when you boil the fish anyways.

3. You can still make this soup even if you only have dried shrimp or dried scallops or dried sole fish. They are flavor enhancers. Of course adding ALL THREE of them will give your soup more OOMPH!

4. The mushrooms did not have much taste after the cooking. Maybe all the flavor went to the soup.

5. This Nutritional Fish Soup is so so tasty and easy to make too! If you have leftovers, do not throw away the fish bones. Boiling that again makes the soup even more tasty!

Soup may be correctly served in several different ways, the method to adopt usually depending on the kind of soup. The spoon to be served with soup also depends on the kind of soup, but a larger spoon than a teaspoon is always necessary.

When soup is served in a soup plate, a dessert spoon is used. Bouillon spoon is the best kind to use with any thin soup served in bouillon cups. Such a spoon is about the length of a teaspoon, but has a round bowl.

To increase the attractiveness of soup and at the same time make it more appetizing and nutritious, various accompaniments and relishes are served with it. Many soups, especially vegetable soups, are improved in flavor by the addition of a spoonful of grated cheese, which should be sprinkled into the dish at the time of serving.

In summer clear soups are sometimes served cold, as cold soups are found more desirable for warm weather than hot ones. However, when a soup is intended to be hot, it should be hot when it is ready to be eaten and every effort should be made to have it in this condition if an appetizing soup is desired. This can be accomplished if the soup is thoroughly heated before it is removed from the stove and the dishes in which it is to be served are warmed before the soup is put into them.

Summary of SimCooks’ Got Soup? series:

I hope you have enjoyed reading SimCooks’ Series of Got Soup? posts. I am sure you, like me, have found the information useful.

(1) - Introduction
(2) - General Classes Of Soup
(3) - Stock For Soup And Its Uses
(4) - Soup Extracts, Stock Pot, Flavoring Stock
(5) - Principal Ingredient (Meat)
(6) - Principal Ingredient (Herbs And Vegetables)
(7) - Processes Involved In Making Stock
(8) - Removing Grease From Soup
(9) - Clearing Soup
(10) - Thickening Soup

Although thin, clear soups are preferred by some and are particularly desirable for their stimulating effect, thick soups find much favor when they are used to form a substantial part of a meal.

Besides giving consistency to soup, thickening usually improves the flavor but its chief purpose is to give nutritive value to this food. In fact, whenever a soup is thickened, its food value is increased by the ingredient thus added. For this reason, it is advisable to thicken soups when they are desired for any other purpose than their stimulating effect.

The substance used to thicken soups may be either a starchy material or food or a puree of some food.

The starchy materials generally used for this purpose are plain flour, browned flour, corn starch and arrowroot flour. Any one of these should be moistened with enough cold water to make a mixture that will pour easily and then added to the hot liquid while the soup is stirred constantly to prevent the formation of lumps. A sufficient amount of this thickening material should be used to make a soup of the consistency of heavy cream.

The starchy foods that are used for thickening include rice, barley, oatmeal, noodles, tapioca, sago and macaroni.

Many unusual and fancy forms of macaroni can be secured or the plain varieties of Italian pastes may be broken into small pieces and cooked with the soup. When any of these foods are used, they should be added long enough before the soup is removed to be cooked thoroughly.

Purees of beans, peas, lentils, potatoes and other vegetables are especially desirable for the thickening of soups, for they not only give consistency, but add nutritive value and flavor as well.

Another excellent thickening may be obtained by beating raw eggs and then adding them carefully to the soup just before it is to be served. After eggs have been added for thickening, the soup should not be allowed to boil, as it is liable to curdle.

Previously: Got Soup? (9) - Clearing Soup
Coming Up Next, Final post on SimCooks’ Got Soup? series: Serving Soup

Sometimes it is desired to improve the appearance of soup stock particularly a small amount of soup that is to be served at a very dainty luncheon or dinner.

In order to do this, the stock may be treated by a certain process that will cause it to become clear. After being cleared, it may be served as a thin soup or, if it is heavy enough, it may be made into a clear, sparkling jelly into which many desirable things may be molded for salad or for a dish to accompany a heavy course. Clearing soup is rather extravagant; however, while it does not improve the taste, it does improve the appearance.

A very satisfactory way in which to clear stock is to use egg whites and crushed eggshell. To each quart of cold stock should be added the crushed shell and a slightly beaten egg white. These should be mixed well, placed on the fire, and the mixture stirred constantly until it boils.

As the egg coagulates, some of the floating particles in the stock are caught and carried to the top while others are carried to the bottom by the particles of shell as they settle. After the mixture has boiled for 5 or 10 minutes, the top should be skimmed carefully and the stock then strained through a fine cloth. When it has been reheated, the cleared stock will be ready to serve.

Previously: Got Soup? (8) - Removing Grease From Soup
Coming Up Next: Thickening Soup