Weekend is approaching and I am sure most full-time working mothers are looking forward to prepare some quick and easy nutritious dishes for the family during weekend lunch or dinner. In this post, I would be sharing
4 quick recipes(2 soup, 2 main dish) to inspire your weekend cooking for the family.
Since working mum has a lot of household chores to take care during weekend, I specially pick up dishes that required minimum preparation time and use "steaming" instead of "stir-fry" to avoid oily kitchen stove. So I am sure these 4 simple soup and steamed dishes would come in handy for your weekend meal ideas.
DOUBLE-BOILED CORDYCEPS FLOWER HERBAL SOUP (虫草花鸡汤)
Cordyceps Flower (虫草花) is not the flower of cordyceps (冬虫草) but rather it is the artificial cultivation of cordyceps. Although cordyceps flower is not natural but it has similar nutritive value with natural cordyceps which helps resist oxidation and improve the body's immune system. You can easily purchased this herbs from major Chinese Medical Hall such as ZTP, Fu Hua and etc.
(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 3 hours in slow cooker)Ingredients:
- 2 Chicken Drumstick, skin removed
- 2 Hard-boiled Egg or 4 Quail Eggs
- 8-10g Cordyceps Flower
- 1 Medium Dang Sheng (当参), cut into 3 sections
- 4 Red Dates
- 10g Wolfberries
- 10g Dried Longan
- 750ml Boiling Water
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Method:-
1. Clean, rinse and blanch the chicken drumstick in boiling water for 2 minutes, rinse and set aside.2. Rinse all the herbs and set aside. Bring
750ml water to boil, add in all the ingredients and when the mixture comes to boil again transfer to a double-boiled pot and place it in the inner pot of the slower cooker.3. I have set it "AUTO" mode to slow cook for about
3 hours. Remember to add water in the inner pot of the slow-cooker after you put in the double-boiler.4. When done, season soup with salt according to your preference(i did not add any salt as the soup is already sweet and flavoursome to our liking) and serve warm before meal or together with meal.
DOUBLE-BOILED GINSENG CHICKEN SOUP
Pao Sheng (泡参) which is the root of the American ginseng is used in traditional Chinese medicine to improve "qi" and reduce "heat" of the body.Ginseng comes in a few form such as Ginseng Slice, Ginseng Root or whole Ginseng itself which are used for different purpose of cooking and medical terms. Here I have prepared Double-boiled Chicken Soup with Ginseng slices which helps to improved the QI circulation in our body as well as benefits those who always stay up late at night.
(Serves: 2 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 3 hours in slow cooker)Ingredients:
Method:-
- 2 Chicken Drumstick, skin removed
- 10g American Ginseng Slice
- 5g Yu Zhu
- 4 Red Dates
- 10g Wolfberries
- 750ml Boiling Water
1. Clean, rinse and blanch the chicken drumstick in boiling water for 2 minutes, rinse and set aside.2. Rinse all the herbs and set aside. Bring
750ml water to boil, add in all the ingredients and when the mixture comes to boil again transfer to a double-boiled pot and place it in the inner pot of the slower cooker.3. Set it "AUTO" mode to slow cook for about
3 hours. Remember to add water into the inner pot of the slow-cooker after you put in double-boiler.4. When done, season soup with salt according to your preference and serve warm before meal or together with meal.
STEAMED PORK BELLY WITH MUI CHOY
(梅菜扣肉)
About two weeks back I have shared a recipe on "Steamed Chicken With Mui Choy (梅菜鸡)" which is a twist from the usual Pork Belly recipe and it is quiet well-received by most of the readers as well as my family. But there are also some readers who are interested on the usual Steamed Pork Belly With Mui Choy (梅菜扣肉) so in this post I am sharing a quick and easy recipe which will enable you to enjoy this all-time favourite at home too.
(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 45 - 60 minutes)Ingredients:
Seasoning:
- 500g Pork Belly (三层肉), cut into bite size
- 2 Stalks (250g) Sweet Mui Choy (甜梅菜)
- 1 Stalk (80g - 100g) Salty Mui Choy (咸梅菜)
- 3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
- 2 Small Chilli, seeds removed
- 1.5 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Cooking Wine
- 1 Teaspoon Sugar
- 1 Teaspoon Cornflour
Method:-
1. Rinse and wash mui choy (both sweet and salty) for 2 - 3 rounds to get ride of the sand and dirt. Soak it in water for about 10 minutes, remove and squeeze it dry using kitchen paper towel.2. Next cut mui choy into about 2" sections and set aside.
3. Marinate pork belly with seasoning for about 5 minutes. Saute garlic and chilli with 1 tablespoon of oil till fragrant, stir in mui choy and continue to fry for another minute or two.
4. Add in marinated pork belly and fry together till the surface of the meat pieces are slight brown in colour.
5. Transfer the pork mixture to a deep steaming plate and steam it over medium heat for about
45 - 60 minutes till meat is tender.Tip:
~ For easy cooking, you can SKIPsteps 3 and 4. Just mix mui choy with marinated pork and steamed it over medium heat till pork is tender.
STEAMED CHICKEN WITH CHINESE SAUSAGE
(港式腊味蒸鸡)
Although this dish might look simple but in term of taste wise, it is very delicious because of the aroma and flavour that is released from the "Lap Cheong (Chinese Sausage - 腊肠)" to the chicken. I love this one dish meal as it is so simple to prepared and yet it goes so well with even just a bowl of steamed rice.
(Serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)Ingredients:
Seasoning:
- 1/2 Chicken (500 - 600g), cut into bite size pieces
- 2 Small Chinese Sausage (腊肠), sliced
- 2 Clove Garlic, finely minced
- 1 Teaspoon Minced Ginger
- 1 Stall Spring Onion, cut into sections
- 1 Small Chilli (optional), sliced
1 Tablespoon Rice Wine/Cooking Wine
1/2 Tablespoon Dark Soya Sauce
1/2 Tablespoon Corn Flour
Method:-
1. Marinated chicken pieces with dark soya sauce, rice wine, minced garlic and ginger together with cornflour and Chinese sausage for at 30 minutes in the fridge.2. Next arrange the spring onion in steaming plate, top with marinated chicken pieces and scatter some cut chilli on it.
3. Steamed in a steamer over medium heat on stove for about
15 minutes or till meat is cooked through.4. Off the heat, leave the chicken in the steamer for another 5 minutes to relax the texture of the meat (learn this tip from the chicken stall owner).
5. Garnish it with extra spring onion, cut chilli and serve with steamed rice.
Till then have a great weekend ahead. Will share more quick and easy weekend dishes in near future. Do drop me a note in the comment if you wish to see your favourite dish being featured on the "Weekend Dishes" recipes.
