Thousand-year-old eggs – 皮蛋 - pe`ih-daahn – in congees or as hors-d’oeuvres

Despite their name, the “thousand-year-old eggs” are not that old!

Thousand-year-old eggs (also called century eggs) are preserved duck eggs (皮蛋 - pe`ih-daahn in Cantonese).  You can easily find them at wet markets.  The century eggs are covered with mud and chips and left to ferment – not for a century – but up to 100 days. After that period the white has turned to opaque black and its texture is gelatin-like. The yolk has become black-greenish, is creamy and has a pungent alkaline taste.

 

The outside is gelatin-like  / inside is creamy and has a strong alkaline taste

Cabbage, Bean Curd and Pork Ribs Casserole & The vegetable (Choi菜) family

Cruciferous are vegetables (choi 菜) of the family Brassicaceae (also called Cruciferae). They are said to contain a good amount of calcium and phosphorus as well as many other minerals and vitamins. They are our good friends and should be included in our daily meals.

Although most of the cruciferous are available all year round they are cool season crops.

Here are the most common cruciferous vegetables (in alphabetical order) found at Hong Kong markets (most of them are pictured on my Local Vegetables Page).

Lace pattern of superimposed cabbage leaf-layers

About Chinese Soups & Chinese White Cabbage and Bean Curd Soup

Before coming to Hong Kong I only drank vegetable soups. Most of them were made with potato, leek, and carrot – homely soups prepared every day by my mum.  However, here in Hong Kong, most of the Chinese soups contain meat in addition to vegetables. They also include dried fruits such as honey dates, legumes or nuts such as green beans, peanuts, apricot kernels, and even dried seafood.  

At first I found Chinese soups quite strong in taste and too greasy. I would not have imagined that one day I would drink such a rich broth. During my first year in Hong Kong I did not really appreciate Chinese style soups.  It was as if I was drinking the broth of a pot-au-feu [a popular and rather low-cost French dish made of carrots, turnips, leeks, onion, and beef - usually a cartilaginous cut or bone with marrow - and boiled for a few hours]. Pot-au-feu is the closest thing I can think of that can be compared with Chinese soups.

Today I really appreciate the taste and virtues of these nutritious soups and like most local people I drink them with pleasure. I do believe that similarly to western medicinal herbs most of the dried foods (such as those put in Chinese soups) have specific therapeutic values.

After almost 25 years in Hong Kong I say without hesitation that I love Chinese soups. Of course I still love the soups my mother makes although they taste different.  I even enjoy having a soup in the summer!  I also understand why my husband after a few days in France would always ask my mother to prepare him a dish of “pot-au-feu”. He is missing Chinese soups!

I think that Hong Kong people not only like soups for their properties but also the feeling hidden behind: going to one’s parents to drink soup is very important.  I often heard my colleagues and friends mentioning that their parents had asked them to go home to “drink soup / yám tong”.

Are soups a symbol of love and more specifically of filial love? Is it because not only soups are nutritious but also need time to cook and therefore shows the mum’s devotion to her family?
Time spent by the mother expresses her love towards her children. After their young ones get married and live on their own they usually have no time to cook such soups at their home as they work long hours. Parents will call back their little ones home and show their love by preparing them a nutritious soup to keep them strong and healthy!

There are 3 kinds of soups:

1) Slow-cooked soups that are simmered for at least 2 hours under direct heat.

2) Double boiled soups (or herbal soups) that are made with delicate ingredients such as bird’s nest.

3) Quick soups: as the name indicates, need a shorter time to cook than slow-cooked soups.

Here is my recipe of Chinese white cabbage and bean curd soup (a quick soup).

Soup with fresh baahk-choi only

Soup with fresh and dried baahk-choi

Ingredients: 

• ~300gr (1/2 catty) spareribs (cut into small pieces) or lean pork (sliced)
• 1 block of solid bean curd
• 300gr (1/2 catty) Chinese white cabbage (cut into short lengths)
• 6 rice bowls of water
• 1 slice ginger
• ½ tsp salt

Steps:

1. Wash meat clean and scald it in boiling water and drain for use.  Wash Chinese white cabbage. Wash the bean curd clean.
2. Bring water to a boil. Add meat and ginger slice in and bring to a boil. Cook over medium heat for ½ hour.
3. Put the bean curd in to boil for 15 minutes.
4. Add the Chinese white cabbage in and boil for another 10-15 minutes.
5. Add salt to taste before serving.

Option: Add ~75gr of dried baahk-choi (previously rinsed with water and soaked in warm water for at least 1 hour). Remember to decrease the quantity of fresh baahk-choi (250gr are enough).  

Dried Chinese white cabbage (baahk-choi)

Note: I bought a pack (130gr) of dried baahk-choi at HK$12 (at Yue Wah Chinese Products). The pack can be divided to make 2 soups.

About Spinach - Chinese Spinach in Broth

Chinese spinach or yihn-choi in Cantonese is sold at wet markets with roots (see photo below). One of the varieties has red leaves.  

There is another kind of spinach bô-choi which is more like the western type. We also find in Hong Kong a variety of water spinach / tûng-choi which is excellent stir-fried with garlic and fermented bean curd / fuh-yúh or even dried shrimp sauce / hâ-jeung. A popular dish at Chinese restaurants is fuh-yúh tûng-choi.

Here is my recipe of Chinese spinach in broth:

Chinese spinach in broth



Ingredients:

• 300gr (1/2 catty) Chinese spinach / yihn-choi
• 2 cloves of garlic
• Some Tsinghua ham / gâm-wàh fó-téui (a few thin slices)
• 1 pinch of salt
• A dash of vegetable oil

Broth: I make my own broth with 1/2 catty (300gr) of lean pork and 1 slice of ginger.

1) Scald meat in boiling water. 2) In a large saucepan filled with 6 rice bowls of water, add pork and ginger and bring to a boil. 3) Cover and reduce heat and simmer for 30mn.

Optional: Add 1 block of soft bean curd. 

Steps:

1. Prepare broth (see above recipe). Remove meat and ginger (reserve bean curd for later)
2. Bring the broth to a boil, add ham, garlic and spinach (previously washed and trimmed of roots).
3. Bring to the boil again and cook until the leaves and stems are tender (to your liking). Season with salt and add oil.
4. Transfer the spinach into a large serving bowl and pour some broth around the spinach.   
5. 
   Scoop the garlic and ham and place them on top of the dish to garnish. If you have prepared your broth with bean curd you can place the block cut into small cubes around the spinach.

Chinese spinach (red-leaves type)

Water spinach / tûng-choi

Chinese spinach (green-leaves type)