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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Corn Soup


















I think this is the longest break I ever took. Hopefully it wouldn't happen so often. Sudden rush of emotions and work madness didn't help. As a result, I could only stare blankly at the screen, not knowing what to do. Fortunately, after blogging for a while, instincts take over whenever I finish cooking a dish or completed an order, else there will be no pictures. Not sure if this is considered a boon or bane as this has resulted alot of backlogs, all sitting comfortably in the draft box, waiting for the text to be fit for posting. Of course, there will always be distractions like the Facebook farming stuffs. Facebook is a such a convenient platform to post anything and reach out to an audience. More importantly, you don't have to write much. As such, I have become lazier. It is not a good sign. Though picture speaks a thousand words, some memories, like recipes, have to be captured in words to be shared with loved ones.

I'm back with more recipes which I tried during this period. I will also be posting some pictures which I took when I went for my long walks, away from the maddening crowd, thinking and keeping my sanity. As usual, I am only armed with my camera phone so pictures might not do justice.

Back to the soup. This soup was what I read about during my late teens when I was addicted to Chinese romance novels. I managed to re-create the soup based on the descriptions and it was really easy. I came to know that this soup is quite common in Taiwan, kids take to it quite well. So I experimented on my kids years later.

Corn Soup (玉米浓汤)

Ingredients
1.7 litres Chicken Stock
380g pack Del Monte Sweet Corn Cream Style
380g pack Del Monte Whole Kernel Corn, drained

150g Enoki Mushrooms, sectioned into halves or third (depending on length)

Salt and Pepper to taste *(No salt is required if you use commercial chicken stock or you have already seasoned your homemade stock)

100 ml Water
4 Tbsp Potato Starch (3 Tbsp is you prefer less thick)

150g Ham, diced
3 or 4 eggs, beaten


Garnish (optional but recommended)
Chopped Parsley
Chopped Spring Onions


Method
1) In a pot, add chicken stock and 2 types of corn. Bring to a boil.

2) Add in Enoki mushrooms, stir for about 3 to 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper if required. Lower heat. Mix starch solution, pour slowly into soup and stir till thickens.

3) Add in ham, drizzle eggs on the soup. Wait a short while before stirring again.

4) Serve with garnish.

Easy peasy, almost effortless and you can have your soup ready in no time. Letting the eggs to rest a while in the soup before stirring gives you chunkier bits of egg drops. This recipe will yield quite a big pot of soup. My kids and I are 'soup-people', so usually we have seconds. Also, I will also save it for next day's breakfast. The original recipe does not call for enoki mushrooms. I added them based on a couple of factors; one of them is adding texture. After cooking, the enoki mushrooms do not lose their crunch. I'd like to think of it as a substitute to sharks' fins. I occasionally attend vegetarian banquets and they usually substitute sharks' fins with 'tang hoon'. While it does resembles sharks' fins, the texture is nowhere near. So I told Ah Girl that this is mommy's 'poor man sharks' fins soup'. She then went on telling me why we shouldn't eat sharks' fins, to my delight. Seems that they are teaching eco-awareness early in school now.

10 comments:

Edith said...

Rei, welcome back.

I love this soup. Mom used to make this for us when we were young.

Noob Cook said...

hey, glad to see a new recipe from u! I like this type of soup. and I always buy Del Monte Corn though it never occured to me to make this soup. Gonna try it out next time. Take care, hope you are feeling better and look forward to more updates ^^

lena said...

hi, started visiting yr blog , i think last year and glad to know that you're back, dont be too stressed up, allow yourself to have your own time and looking forward to your postings!

Bakericious said...

Rei, welcome back and can't wait for your next posting!

KWF said...

LOL...My son tells me the same thing. Don't eat sharks' fins. And he really don't!

Anonymous said...

This soup sounds simple and hearty, i love corn soups!

Family First said...

So glad to see you back in action and also feeling more positive. I do learn a lot from you, not only the baking part, but also as to how to hang on and get on with life. Thank you for sharing again.

Unknown said...

Hi,

The dish looks lovely and inviting...:)

Dr.Sameena@

www.myeasytocookrecipes.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Hi Rei,
i just made your mango mousse cake and linked u up in my blog.I hope u don't mind. Feel free to notify me if u do, i will gladly take it down. Thanks for sharing the recipe. It was a hit with my family!

Anonymous said...

Hi,

I came across your blog while searching for good pineapple tarts (pa) because LE Cafe, the people who make golf-ball size pa down on Middle Road, have gone big-time and have no time and patience for small quantity buyers like me.

Your blog "A time to say 'No'" moved me; I am sorry to hear that your in-laws are insensitive, rude and brutal and you are not alone. Too many Singaporeans use wealth as a yardstick to measure their friends and relatives' social status and how they should be treated. This is a very sad state of affair, where wealth is the sole determinant of your value in this society.

I prefer to befriends people who care about others and who do not use wealth as a yardstick for their relationship. Thanks for sharing.

By the way, can I order a small quantity of pineapple tarts?

Best Regards,
Ben