Pig Stomach and Fish Maw Soup 猪肚鱼瓢汤

This is a very rich in taste soup that I like. But it’s tedious work to clean the pig stomach. Nowadays, I try to get those cleaned one to lessen the work. Lazy bum, me!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pig’s stomach, cleaned and sliced
• 4 pieces of fish maw
• 1 small can button mushroom
• 10 black Chinese mushroom, soaked to soften and stalk removed
• Stock
• Pepper
• Salt to taste

How to do it:

1. Blanch the cleaned and sliced stomach and set aside.
2. Cut the soften mushrooms into half if you are using big mushrooms. Set aside.
3. Soften the fish maw by putting it in hot water. After that, cut into smaller pieces. Set aside.
4. Add the pig stomach and mushroom in a pot of stock and bring to boil.
5. Turn to small fire and let it simmer for 4 hours till the ingredient soften.
6. Now add in the fish maw and button mushroom and let it simmer for another hour.
7. Add pepper and salt to taste.
8. Serve.

Note:

• You can add ginkgo nuts, peppercorn, etc if you like. Be careful with the peppercorn. Too much of it will make your soup too spicy. I would say about not more than 10, depending on the quantity you are cooking.
• If you are using ‘fresh’ pig’s stomach, you have to rub the whole thing with salt. Scrub like you are scrubbing your clothes. You can use limejuice too. Don’t be surprise I used COKE to wash it before too! Yeah, the one we drink. Hey! It worked, you know!
• To shorten the time required to soften the mushrooms add sugar to water to soak mushroom.

Orange Agar Agar 柳丁菜燕

Someone I gave this to thought it was an actually orange. It's looks and taste nice. My son loved it!

Ingredients:

• 5 oranges
• 6 tablespoon sugar (depending on how sweet you want)
• Clear agar agar powder

How to do it:

1. Wash the oranges and cut it into halves.
2. Squeeze the juice out. Be careful not to damage the orange skins.
3. Scoop out the remaining orange pulp.
4. Measure the orange juice you have and set aside.
5. To make the agar agar, boil water required as instructed on the pack MINUS the amount of orange juice you have.
6. Stir in the sugar till dissolved. Add more sugar if your orange juice is sour.
7. Turn of heat and add in the orange juice.
8. Pour the orange juice agar agar to the orange cups.
9. Before that, make sure you put the orange cups on your drinking cups so it doesn’t topple when you pour the juice in.
10. Chill till it set.
11. Cut the orange agar agar into 3 slices and serve.

Note:

• Do not cook the orange juice otherwise it will turn bitter.
• You use carton orange juice too.
• If you do not have a juicer, you can use a fork to poke in the orange and twist. Do it for a few times (not on the same spot lah). As you do that, squeeze the juice out at the same time. Works the same as a juicer.