School Break in March

Yep, it came and went. And am I sad to see that the March hols left us all too soon.

Hmm, I didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment from the short break. Perhaps I didn’t plan to do something that would make myself happy. Don’t get me wrong. I enjoyed spending more time with my family. Just that I didn’t spend time for the inner person to grow. :( Before I knew it, I am back to the hustle and bustle of work life.

I cooked very little over the hols. When pressed for time, I like to do a stir-fry dish to go with a Chinese-style simmered soup. Below is a photo taken of a plate of stir-fried cai xin with shiitake mushrooms. BTW, Hannah loves to eat mushrooms. :)

Stir-fry cai xin with shiitake mushroom in oyster sauce

A quick-fix for lunch when I was too lazy to walk over to the nearby coffeeshop in the hot noon-day heat to do take-away could be a yong tau fu meal. I like to cook sweet corn in boiling water first and then add the yong tau fu pieces and cook until they all float to the surface. Twenty minutes tops.

My yong tau fu bowl and a dipping sauce of freshly cut chilli padi in light soy sauce

I came across a very useful guidebook for new parents at a Popular Bookstore towards the end of the school break. It deals mainly with nutrition for babies from birth (i.e. breast-feeding and/or bottle-feeding) to 24 months (feeding solid foods). What makes it close to heart is its Asian perspective. And the author provides scientific basis for selection of foods too. Although the photos are not professionally taken and processed, they did the job of conveying ideas therein. It is easy reading with many pictures and minimal chunks of text. I was sold when I saw recipes for nutritious Chinese soups thrown in. I was further thrilled to find out that the book also included a section for parents on how to handle food-related problems such as diarrhoea and choking. I got a copy for a friend is going to be a new mother in a matter of weeks. Below is a photo taken of the cover page of the book. Popular is selling it at 30% now.

4 thoughts on “School Break in March

  1. Hi Ling, just curious, what would you put in the soup for yong tau foo? Is it only corn? Do you put other ingredients? I am always amazed how you turn simple ingredients into nutritious and easy-to-cook dish. :) I am thinking of making yong tau foo for the family too.

  2. Hi Theresa,

    You flatter me :) I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed this time. For this dish, I didn’t care for the soup as I didn’t drink it. I just used boiling water to cook the corn and yong tau fu pieces in it. And afterwards, I only eat the ingredients leaving the ‘soup’ behind. BTW, the soup has some flavour due to the salt content from the yong tau fu and the slight sweetness from corn.

    I’ve seen hawkers using soya beans (huang tou) to flavour yong tau fu soup. You might want to use that idea. It would take time to simmer the soup with soya beans though. Okay, let’s say you throw in 2-3 pork bones with 2 tbsps of soya beans in 1 litre of water and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer the soup (covered) for at least an hour. Then bring to boil again and add corn to cook for 10 mins. Finally add yong tau fu pieces and cook until all pieces float to the surface. Done! :)

  3. You’re welcomed, Theresa! Glad to share ideas. :)

    I forgot to mention that the pork bones should be taken out before serving the yong tau fu. Using pork bones is a cheap alternative to pork ribs :) Spare pork ribs is another good alternative. BTW, in case you’re new to this, it is advisable to blanch the pork bones/pork ribs/any other pork parts in a separate pot/bowl of boiling water (a few mins) before placing them in soup for simmering. This will remove most scum (e.g. blood and bits of meat/bone) before simmering the pork pieces in the soup you intend to consume later. :)

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