Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Minestrone Soup Using Lee Kum Kee Tomato Garlic Prawns Sauce

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I love cooking... For its therapeutic nature, and partly because my taste buds do fuss a lot. By far, I do not adhere to any recipe, dread the use of any measuring equipment and the aftermath of cooking (washing, scrubbing, wiping etc.) More subtlety put, free-style and intuitive or you may call it lazy.

For the next few posts, I'm going to share with you my experiences in cooking. I usually cook individual portion for just myself, and when I have gatherings, it would then be more towards tapas-style. I won't say that my recipes are original. They are more of inspirations or motivations derived from other meals. I feel once you start to get your creativity working, cooking can be rather simple.

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Many may find it not worth the hassle just to cook for an individual portion. It can be tricky when comes to buying the ingredients - too much for too little used. To counter that, I try to use more versatile ingredients that allows me to create a variety of dishes throughout the week and those with a longer shelf life means you don't have to worry buying too much of it. Using pre-mix sauces can be one of the ways to help lighten your load. They enable you to create the flavour without you having to purchase the numerous ingredients.

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I was really disappointed with a minestrone soup which I tried recently in a restaurant. Hence, the very first dish that I am going to share with you is my own version of Minestrone Soup made using Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns. Soup is usually the first dish I would make for the meal as time is needed to get the goodness out of all the ingredients. By the time I am done with the rest of the dishes, the soup will be just ready in time together with the rest.

I love making soups, because I just need to put everything into a pot and leave it alone. For this minestrone soup, it's the same. Simple ingredients - onions, tomato, carrot, celery. As I'm not of a meat person, I used cod fish bones in place of pork ribs or chicken bones to give the soup some sweetness and viscosity.

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After the water came to a boil, I threw in all the ingredients and let it boiled for 20 minutes in medium heat. As all are hardy vegetables, I do not need to worry about overcooking them. If you prefer, you may add some white pepper corn to spice it up a bit, especially on wet days.

After 20 minutes, the vegetable cubes were pretty soft. I mixed in 2 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns into the soup and let it simmered in low heat for another 10 minutes for the ingredients to soak in the flavour.

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I think sweet corns, leeks or even potatoes very suitable for such vegetables soups as well. To make it even more sumptuous, seafood such as prawns, squid and white fish will make the taste more robust. On lazy days, a hearty soup makes the best meal.

Dish: Minestrone Soup

Ingredients
- Onions
- Tomato
- Carrot
- Celery
- Cod Fish Bone
- Lee Kum Kee Garlic Prawn Sauce
- Optional: Other vegetables e.g sweet corns, leeks, potatoes, or seafood such as prawns for a more hearty soup.

 Directions
1) Dice all the ingredients.
2) Bring the water to a boil.
3) Put in all the vegetables and let it boil for 20 minutes.
4) Put in 2 tablespoons of Lee Kum Kee Sauce for Tomato Garlic Prawns. (You may put more if you want to make it more flavourful)
5) Simmer for another 10 minutes or more for a thicker broth.

Lee Kum Kee
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeeKumKeeGlobal
Website: http://singapore.lkk.com/en/Kitchen

Written and Photography By Si An. A girl who is allured by travelling, loves the feel of freedom, smell of the rain and the aroma of fine coffee and food. 

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh 榕城(新民路)肉骨茶 @ Midview City (Sin Ming Road)

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Among the different style of Bak Kut Teh in Singapore, my favourite is still the Teochew Bak Kut Teh. To savour this local delicacy, one of my favourite place to visit is Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh at Midview City 榕城(新民路)肉骨茶. Don't be confused by the other Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh that is a stone throw away at Blk 22 Sin Ming Road. In fact, that is the original stall runs by Lionel's dad, Mr Lim who started the business back in 1976. Both outlets uses the same ingredients and recipe just that one is a stall in a coffeeshop while the other at Midview City is a standalone restaurant which is more spacious and offers a variety of cooked food on top of their popular teochew style bak kut teh.

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Pork Rib Soup 4.5/5

Not known to many, in the earlier days no one uses the prime ribs or better known as 龙骨 (dragon bone) for their bak kut teh. It was Uncle Lim who started to use them and everyone follow suit. Nowadays the prime ribs are a priced item as the demand has increased but there are just the number of spare ribs available in each pig. Lionel shared with us that he has an open kitchen and he will cook the doneness of meat accordingly to the customer. He told us the young generations prefer their meat to be tender and fall of the bone while the older generation likes it tougher with a bite. I belong to the young group. I like my meat to be tender and my soup to be peppery. Rong Cheng bak kut teh hits the right spot for me.

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Sliced Belly Meat Soup 4/5

Uncle Lim was the first to introduce the prime ribs bak kut teh. His son, Lionel inherited his entrepreneur spirit and came up with the Sliced Belly Meat Soup ($7) or what I called the sliced pork bak kut teh. This is the first in Singapore catering to the young and more health conscious crowd. The soup may not be as robust compared to the pork ribs but it has a more subtle clean flavour.

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Salted Vegetable 4/5

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Braised Beancurd Skin 4/5

Besides the bak kut teh, Rong Cheng also offers some side dishes to go with the delicious bak kut teh. During my visit, I got to try the Salted Vegetable ($1/$2), Braised Beancurd Skin ($1/$3) and the Liver & Kidney Soup ($6). The comforting and hearty sides are perfect to the complete the whole meal.

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Liver  & Kidney Soup 4/5

Drinking tea or more correctly 功夫茶 (Gong Fu Cha) is part of the whole food heritage of bak kut teh. In the early days, after finishing the bowl of pork soup, it is refilled with tea to wash down the greasiness. As time evolved, the tradition of consuming the pork soup and drink tea becomes our modern day's Bak Kut Teh. Rong Cheng still continues this tradition servicing their bak kut teh with gong fu cha. Their tea are from one of the oldest tea merchants in Singapore, Pek Sin Choon.

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If you feel intimidated by the different steps in drinking Gong Fu Cha, Rong Cheng's staff is more than willing to guide and assist it. If not, Lionel has also introduced Floral Tea to pair with bak kut teh. While the tea taste is milder, it comes with a more floral fragrance. Lionel hopes to upkeep the tradition of pairing tea with pork rib soup with a modern element to arouse the interests of the younger generation.

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Besides floral tea and sliced pork belly, Lionel in recently years has also switched to using natural pork for their bak kut teh. Natural pork has no antobiotics, no medicated feed, no growth hormones and no animal protein by-products.

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Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh definitely is my favourite to go place for a Bak Kut Teh whenever I have a craving. The outlet at Midview City is spacious and has ample parking lots. With its extended menu offering cooked food and steamed fish, it is ideal for a family meal together or group gathering.

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Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh will be taking part for the very first time in this year Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014 at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Hall 401 & 402 on 22 November 2014, 11am to 5pm. This is a fund raising event for the beneficiaries under the care of Touch Community Services regardless of race and religions. Coupons for the event can be purchase at https://www.ultimatehawkerfest.sg/. Let's do a part for charity while at the same time savour of the best bak kut teh in Singapore. See you at Ultimate Hawker Fest 2014.


Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh
榕城(新民路)肉骨茶
Midview City
Blk 26 Sin Ming Lane
#01-117
Singapore 573971
Tel: +65 66841889
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rongchengbkt
Website: http://www.rongchengbkt.com/
Nearest MRT: Upper Thomson (TE Line)

Opening Hours:
Daily: 7am - 9pm

Direction: 
1) Alight at Upper Thomson MRT station. Take Exit 1. Turn left and walk down Bright Hill Drive. Walk to destination. Journey time about 5 minutes. [Map]