Chinese Soup — 中国汤

I'm not really sure if I understand what makes a soup truly "Chinese."

Is it just the ingredients put into it?

Or more the philosophy behind it?

Do Chinese people ever get in a hurry and just make soup on the fly out of whatever's on hand?

Or is it always a slow-simmered yin-yang affair?

Would they be adverse to a pre-made broth, as long as it was a homemade broth of the slow-simmered variety?

Or is that idea too Western to be authentic?

I've always got a few jars of slow-cooked stock in my freezer. There's some in quart jars for soup and some in pint jars for sauces. They're perfect when I have run into a challenging week. And this, my friends, has indeed been one of those weeks.

I've been moving furniture since last week. Then on Sunday, a few wonderful people came over to help me get rid of my carpet. The previous owners, you see, had cats and I'm allergic to cats. And I was allergic to the carpet those cats had left behind. But now the carpet is gone and things are much better for me and that little thing called breathing.

But, I've still got boxes and furniture stacked to the ceiling of my dining room. And my clothes are hanging in the bathroom whilst I patiently await floor refinishing and painted walls. The arrangement is OK. The stuff I have to have I can get to for now. But it's a bit like living in some sort of weird hotel with no room service. I feel like I should order a pizza and eat on the floor, not cook in the kitchen.

So when I glanced at the fridge this week and started thinking of what to make for my lunches, I was really looking for something simple. Something easy.

The Feast of the Free Fishes

Ingredients
3 Free fish
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 T sherry
1 inch pc fresh ginger minced
mountain of celery leaves

Once upon a month, I run up to a little Asian market on Olive Boulevard in St. Louis for a month's worth of cooking ingredients for my Asian cooking adventures.

I say that it's little, but this market is not really that little. It's actually closer to the size of a super Walmart, and it's stuffed full of just about every imaginable ingredient. You can find chicken feet. You can buy all manner of fresh fish. You can find eels and a thousand varieties of tea. One time I thought they didn't have something I wanted, but then a store manager took me right to it.

There is, I will warn you, an odd smell when you walk in the door. I don't know what it is. But if you can get past that intimidating smell, there's a whole new realm of new and exotic cooking ingredients awaiting exploration. I say realm, because there is such a kingly amount of ingredients — but the prices won't set the peasants back too much either.

Last trip, the fresh produce aisle sported my favorite bing cherries for 99 cents a pound, and a large bunch of what looked to be organic green onions for only 99 cents! Closer to home I'd have paid $2.99 a pound for the cherries and $1.99 for the green onions. These weren't on my list, but I know a good deal when I see one, and the cherries were delicious!

I don't know that this is the "best" Asian supermarket in all of St. Louis. But it is right across from the King Wonton tea house where I had my first steamed pork bun, so it's earned a soft spot in my heart. It's definitely worth a stop at both places if you're looking for a little adventure at reasonable expense, but if you go, you absolutely must stop at the teahouse for steamed buns. I insist.

On the way home last time, I stopped off at a gas station to refill my tank and whilst rearranging my bags, I felt something cold among the double dark soy sauce and chrysanthemum tea. Something cold and ... squishy.

Totally Cool Green Hummus & beef satay #sundaysupper beat-the-heat

Now I know this is not a very Asian dish. Forgive me, please. But I was having my very own personal Iron Chef moment. It was the end of the month, and just about everything was running low. I didn't even have any soy sauce!

All I could find in the pantry for protein were some lentils I'd bought last year and never did anything with. And in the freezer there was some asparagus and a bit of feta cheese.

I started out making a lentil salad. It didn't thrill me. But I couldn't let it go to waste, either. I have a rule since coming back from Haiti, and I just can't help it. It may not make any difference whatsoever, but food in my kitchen doesn't go to waste if I can help it. No matter what!

Putting away the dishes, dusting, finishing the laundry, it seemed as if I were doomed to another lentil salad the next night. Then, as I trudged to the kitchen, a lightning bolt struck.

Chinese tea eggs 茶叶蛋 -- great breakfast for on the go

A great beat-the-heat recipe because you can cook an
entire week's worth of breakfasts in one pot.

The first place I found these little gems mentioned, I thought the recipe book referred to them as Japanese tea eggs, but a friend from Japan says he never heard of these before.

Then I saw eggs just like them in the book Culinaria Southeast Asia: A Journey Through Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. They were called cháyè dàn (茶叶蛋 ), pronounced chah-yay dan where the marks represent rising or descending tone respectively. You could think of it like saying chah? yay! dan!

The Chinese tea eggs were prepared exactly the same way as the other cookbook had specified. So I think these really are Chinese. Not Japanese, as I had been thinking all this time.

In any case, these marble eggs have become my go-to summer breakfast. They look very elegant no? But they are so seriously simple, a child could make them. And they are a great beat-the-heat recipe. You can cook an entire week's worth of breakfast in one pot in just 20 minutes! They are Super fast! Super easy! What's not to like?

Steamed Buns with BBQ pork -- perfect food

A little while back a friend took me to an authentic tea house in St. Louis, where I had my first steamed bun. It was love at first bite. These little beauties are called baozi (包子), pronounced like you're saying bow in bow-wow followed by zit without the "t."

Steamed buns take just 15 minutes on the
stovetop and they're done. That makes
them the perfect summer bread. They're also
ideal for using up any little dab of leftover
barbecue that isn't quite enough for a meal.
Check below for more great barbecue
ideas from the #letslunch bunch!

The version I had were filled with a little barbecue pork, and they were Delicious. I have been craving them every day since eating the first one. So of course I had to learn to make them! Right away!

Can you say addictive? These certainly are.

I like them for breakfast. They're great with lunch, too. Why not have one for dinner? They'd make a nice little snack before bed. Gee, one more couldn't hurt, could it?

What is that five buns already?

I can't stop eating them!

These are ideal for using up any dab of leftover barbecue that's not quite enough for a meal. They are also a good excuse to squirrel away a couple of ribs before dinner where no one but you can find them. Save everyone else's waistline right? Because, we're thoughtful like that.

These buns will reheat well if you want to steam several at once, but the dough also keeps well for three to five days in the refrigerator or you can freeze them. That way you can steam a fresh bun any time you want. Although I warn you, that power may be dangerous to your waistline. These things are that good!

The buns only take 15 minutes on the stovetop start to finish, which is why they are the perfect summer bread. There's no oven to preheat. It's just 15 minutes on the stovetop in a bamboo steamer and then a little round ball of blissful bread filled with a delicious barbecue is all yours.

Persistence Pizza

The pizza I made at the Kitchen Conservatory.
It was indeed as delicious as it looks!

#letslunch

In my family, dad's stubbornness is legend.

Grandma often told us the story of how the willful toddler hadn't gotten his way and held his breath until he passed out!

Yes, my dad is that stubborn.

And I have inherited this persistence.

Which I refuse to call stubborn, actually. That word has a negative connotation, and I believe this is a powerful gift. No, we don't give up when others would. Is that truly bad? Society needs a few people like that don't they?

I have actually been trying to bake bread since my 20s. Back then, I baked a lot of bricks instead. So many that the ex purchased a bread machine for me, presented with the words, "You'll never be able to bake a decent loaf of bread on your own. So I got you this for Christmas. Just use it instead."

But of course I don't give up that easily ...

Winter Melon Soup 冬瓜汤 — Wonderful!

My sister gave me a wonderful book exploring the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia called Culinaria Southeast Asia. She knows how interested I am in Asian cuisines, so this was almost the perfect gift for me. There are so many interesting pictures and stories in this book, I know it's going to be a fascinating trip!

The first recipe I made from the book did not disappoint. This was a very interesting soup, traditionally made with winter melon and flavored with ham. The book lists it under Singapore, but the Chinese friends I spoke with knew about this soup and say it is more widespread.

According to Chinese medicine, winter melon
is a cooling soup and should be eaten in summer.
Properly prepared, it is a "detoxifying" soup.

Winter melon itself has no flavor, but has the intriguing ability to soak up whatever flavors you cook it with.

In fancier restaurants, the winter melon serves as its own soup tureen. The seeds are scooped out of the inside and the outside is then carved with beautiful figures and symbols for good luck and fortune. These carvings are so elaborate, they can take an entire afternoon or more to finish. The soup is then steamed for five hours. So it is very labor intense and must be ordered in advance. I'm told it can cost a few thousand dollars for this soup!

But you can enjoy the same flavor at home for much less, even if it doesn't come with elaborate carvings of fantasy creatures on the outside. The key ingredient ...