Well, to continue where I have left off, I will be sharing a very nutritious soup recipe made from burdock root.  You may have seen burdock root at the grocer’s but never know it can actually be cooked into such a delicious soup.

But appearances are deceptive and beneath it, the goodness of burdock can be plentiful.  See this article if you are keen to find out more information about Burdock.

Ingredients (Serves about 4-5 adults)

• 1 Burdock root (about 30 cm long), peeled, washed and cut into small pieces
• 200 g boneless pork loin, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons wolfberries
• 8 dried honey red dates
• 6-8 cloves of garlic with skin intact
• 3 litres of water

Instructions:

Step 1:  First bring the water in the stockpot to a boil.

Step 2:  Place the pork loin pieces in a separate bowl.  When the water has boiled, scoop some water over to scald the pork loin.  This is an important step as scalding will remove the remaining traces of blood on the pork.  You will notice a layer of “scum” floating on the surface and will be glad that you have skimmed it off before putting these pork in the actual soup!  Yikes. 

Step 3:  Drain the pork pieces before transferring it back into the stockpot.  Put in the rest of the ingredients.  Aren’t the colors beautiful?

Step 4:  Bring the water to a boil again at high heat.  When it has boiled, lower to small heat and allow the soup to simmer for 2.5 hours.

Step 5:  After 2.5 hours, the soup should have turned a really nice flavorful reddish orange color and the water level should have dropped to about 2/3 of its original level.

Step 6: Add salt (about 1 teaspoon) and a dash of pepper to taste.  Mix well.  Turn off the heat.

Step 7:  Serve soup hot and ladle them straight into the lunch jar if you intend to bring them out to keep them as warm as possible.

How does this look?

For those who have not eaten burdock before, I would say it taste somewhat like potato, but less starchy.  In fact, the first time my mom cooked it, she tricked me into thinking that it was potato and I didn’t suspect a thing.  Haha.  So much so for my ignorance then!

This soup recipe can also be an all-in-one meal if you are not fussy.  Just bring some cooked rice to go along with it for a simple, yet satisfying lunch.

Besides prawn fritters, prawn omelette, you can also make a prawn stir-fry for your lunchbox!  This is cooked in a blend of Asian sauces, and it has a slightly sweet taste which goes really well with the onions.

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• 10 medium prawns
• 1 red onion, sliced
• Cooking oil

Ingredients for Asian dark sauce:

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/3 teaspoon pepper
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons water

Instructions:

Step 1:  Wash the prawns, trim off the feelers and legs, but keep the shell intact.  Pat dry with a paper towel and set aside.

Step 2:  Put all the ingredients for the Asian dark sauce in a separate bowl.  Blend well.  It is easier to prepare this in advance.

Step 3:  Heat up a wok or pan with oil to fry the prawns.  When cooked, remove them and set aside on another paper towel to drain the oil.

Step 4:  Leave about 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok or pan for the stir-fry.  Add in onion slices.  Saute them till they are soft.

Step 5:  Transfer the prawns back in the wok or pan and add in the blended Asian dark sauce.  Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes till the sauces are absorbed and coated evenly on each prawn.  If you think the sauce is too thick, add in 1-2 tablespoons of water.  It’s now ready to serve.

I kept a portion for Hubby’s lunchbox.  How does it look?  Try it if you have the time!

Actually, it is like a fruit salad too if you notice!

Ingredients of our Fruit Yu Sheng (Serves about 10-12 adults):

• 1/4 honeydew
• 1/4 rockmelon
• 2 chinese pears
• 8-10 strawberries
• 1 mango
• 1/4 pomelo (or 1 orange)

Ingredients for sauce marinade and garnishing:

• Juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons lemon sauce
• 2 tablespoons honey
• A pack of Chinese shrimp crackers (or 1 cup of plain cornflakes)
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, preferably toasted
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts, chopped finely

Preparations:

Step 1:  Peel and cut the fruits into thin strips about 3 inches long.  For pomelo (or orange), peel and divide them into smaller sacs.  Place each type of shredded fruit on a round shallow plate side by side to make a nice colorful platter.

Step 2:  Sprinkle the crackers, chopped peanuts and toasted sesame seeds on the fruits.

Step 3:  Mix lemon sauce, lemon juice and honey in a small bowl.  Taste.  If you like it sweeter, add more honey.

Step 4:  Drizzle this sauce marinade from Step 3 evenly over the platter.  This is how it should look (or close enough).

Before eating, just toss the ingredients evenly.

Basically this Yu Sheng recipe is made up of fruits, so you can add any type of fruits to the list, but I will advise choosing fruits that are not too soft yet sweet to make the dish taste better.

I hope you like it!

This is a very simple tofu dish you can try.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• 100 – 120 g of minced pork
• 250 -300 g soft/ silken tofu, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 small carrot, diced into small cubes
• 1 stalk scallion (spring onion), washed and chopped
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup corn starch mixture (2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 1/3 cup water)
• 3 teaspoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• Ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon hua tiao chiew (chinese cooking wine)

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate minced meat with 1 teaspoon of light soy sauce and a dash of pepper.  Mix well and leave it aside for about 30 minutes.

Step 2:  Heat up the cooking oil in the fry pan or wok.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the minced meat.  Stir fry till it is cooked.  Add in the diced carrots and scallions.  Stir fry for another 30 seconds.

Step 4:  Add oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons of light soy sauce, hua tiao chiew and a dash of pepper.  Stir fry again to mix well.

Step 5:  Add in water and cover the fry pan with a lid.  Allow the stew to cook for 1-2 minutes.

Step 6:  Remove the lid and add in the silken tofu cubes.  Ladle some sauce mixture over the tofu cubes and cover the fry pan again for another minute to cook the tofu.

Step 7:  Finally, add the corn starch mixture slowly into the stew, stirring it carefully to keep the soft tofu cubes intact.

Does this look really easy?

I only took about 10 minutes to prepare the ingredients and 10 minutes to cook this dish.  In fact, if you are rushing for time in the morning before going to work, you can prepare the ingredients in advance.  Marinate the minced meat, chop the scallions and carrots the night before.  The next day, just take them out and cook!

Aren’t the colors beautiful?

For an even easier variation of this recipe, you can replace the carrots and scallions with half a cup of frozen peas/carrot/corn mix.

This dish is best served piping hot, so if you are bringing it to work, ladle them into a thermos food jar immediately to keep it warm.

For me, this tofu combo makes a simple all-in-one meal as well as it has meat, vegetables and tofu.  All I need is just a bowl of steamed rice to go along with it.  YUM…

Enjoy!

We introduced black pepper to this recipe as it adds a new taste to the dish.  If you have kids who cannot take the spiciness, just cut down on the pepper part.  With the rest of the seasoning, it is still delicious!

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• 2 packets of (200 g) udon
• 4 imitation crab sticks, cut half and peeled into thin strips
• 2 small fish cake, cut into thin strips (optional, if it is not available)
• 1 small bok choy, washed and cut into smaller pieces
• 3 dried or fresh shitake mushroom, trimmed of caps and cut into strips
• 1 packet (100 g) enoki mushrooms, trimmed of ends, cut into half and peeled into individual strips
• 1 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Water, about half cup

Seasoning:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 2 teaspoon black pepper (adjust according to your preference)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Boil some water in a stockpot.  Cook the udon noodles.  Drain and set aside.

Step 2:  Heat up a wok or pan with olive oil.  Add minced garlic when oil is hot.

Step 3:  When garlic starts to brown, add in the ingredients (imitation crab stick, fish cake, mushrooms and bok choy) and stir-fry for 1-2 minutes.  Add half a cup of water and allow the ingredients to simmer for another minute.

If you notice, this whole wok are just the cooked ingredients.  See the mushroom and red imitation crab stick strips?  We like our udon with lots of ingredients!

Step 4:  Add the udon noodles into the cooked ingredients.  Blend well.

Step 5:  Add the list of seasoning next, one by one.  Stir-fry the udon noodles till all the ingredients are mixed evenly.

Finally, our completed wok of stir-fried black pepper udon.  Don’t you think the udon look a little like squid tentacles?  LOL.

Time to eat!

I set a portion aside for Hubby’s lunchbox too.  For this type of meal, I usually use a microwave-safe bento box so that Hubby can heat it up again during lunch.

This udon recipe is really easy to cook and makes a great lunchbox idea for kids and adults.  It is convenient to pack too as it is an all-in-one dish like fried rice.

By the way, don’t you think all-in-one meal ideas are like a godsend on the days we feel really lazy or under the weather?  I am often guilty of this, so I bet I will be sharing more all-in-one meals to come.  Haha.

Well, I travelled to Korea last year and I fell in love with some of the dishes I had there.  In order to satisfy my cravings, I am trying to re-create some of these myself.

I found a simple recipe for Korean bibimbap and improvised it a little for home-cooking.  Bibimbap is a traditional Korean mixed rice dish where different ingredients are topped on steamed rice, and mixed well with gochujang (red pepper paste) before eating.  It is not only delicious, but it is also healthy and easy to cook from your own kitchen as well.

Ingredients (Serves 3 adults):

• 3 tablespoons cooking oil (for stir-frying of ingredients)
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil (for frying eggs)
• 200 g minced beef, thawed
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• Pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame oil
• 2 small carrots, cut into 2-inch strips
• 5 fresh shitake mushrooms, trimmed of caps and sliced
• 150 g of bean sprouts, with tails trimmed
• 3 eggs
• 3 cups of steamed rice
• 3 teaspoons of Korean gochujang (red pepper paste)
• Water for blanching the bean sprouts and spinach

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate the minced beef with soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil.  Add a dash of salt.  Blend well and leave it aside.

Step 2:  While waiting for the beef to marinate, heat up 2 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan or wok and fry the eggs, sunny-side up.  Preferably with the egg yolk still slightly runny.

Step 3:  Heat some water in a saucepan.  When it is boiling, put in the bean sprouts.  Take them out with a strainer when they are cooked.  Add a drop of oil and a pinch of salt in the water.  Put in the spinach next. Drain both cooked vegetables of excess water and set them aside.

Step 4:  Heat up 1 tbsp of cooking oil.  Stir-fry the carrot strips until tender.  Remove from heat and place it in a a bowl.  Next, put in half of the minced garlic, let it brown and put in the shitake mushrooms.  Add a dash of salt.  Stir-fry till they are cooked.  Remove them from heat too and set aside in another bowl.

Now most of the ingredients are ready.  Look at the colours!

Step 5:  Heat up the remaining cooking oil.  Add in the rest of the minced garlic.  When it is starting to brown, put in the marinated minced beef and stir-fry till tender.

Step 6:  Fill a serving bowl with one cup of steamed rice and place one fried egg in the center.  Place equal amounts of the cooked spinach, bean sprouts, carrot, mushroom, and minced beef around the egg.  Top with a teaspoon of gochujang paste (or more if you like it spicier!)

Step 7:  Repeat Step 6 for each individual serving.  Remember to mix all the ingredients together before eating.

Doesn’t this look easy?  The crucial ingredient is the gochujang though.  But I think you should be able to find them at Asian supermarkets.  By the way, this is how it usually looks.  I got a 200 g tub which should last me quite a while.

Bibimbap makes a fulfilling lunch box meal as it can be packed easily in a food thermos container.  As I had three individual containers, I put the vegetables in one and the egg and beef in the other.  The last one is of course for the steamed rice.

See how I packed Hubby’s dinner box for that night as he had dinner later than us?  How does it look?

I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Lunch boxes, to me, do mean three things…

1)  Lunch boxes are meals of love, especially if they are prepared by someone whom you love too

When I was in my first year of school, my mum will prepare peanut butter sandwiches for me daily.  She was worried that I may not know how to get the food from the canteen as I was still very young and new to the school.  Sometimes I even protested bringing my lunch box when I saw my friends having the choice to buy what they like to eat everyday.  Of course as I got older, I had more freedom but it was also then that I understand that it is because she was greatly concerned about me going hungry.  Isn’t that a form of love?

Sometimes, I do see male colleagues bringing their own food for lunch.  We will jokingly tease each other “So, eating a meal filled with love today?”  Well, it is true in a certain way.  Their wives have taken the effort to prepare these meals, cooking and packing the food nicely in the lunchbox.  Isn’t that a display of affections too?

2)  Lunch boxes are often healthier than food you buy outside

You have a say in what goes into your lunch box as compared to what you get when you dine outside.  If you do not like MSG (monosodium glutamate) in your food, you can substitute it with natural flavouring.  If you do not like too much oil, you can control the amount you put while cooking.  It’s up to you to create variety in your lunch box.  Beats eating the same food outside everyday right?

3)  Lunch boxes = you spend less during lunch = more $$ at the end of the month

Not everyone thinks this way though.  Most people see lunch as a time where they can socialize and mingle with their co-workers, so they feel that spending on a $10 lunch is worth the money as compared to bringing a lunch box which may only cost them a third.  Sometimes bringing a lunch box might also give others the wrong idea that you are being anti-social.

Well, you don’t have to do it everyday, probably two days out of five days is sufficient to save you some money that can go to the groceries or bills.  A penny saved goes a long way, especially in times like this, where a global recession is looming in the skies.  If the whole family brings their own lunch boxes to work, the potential savings could actually look quite substantial!

So are you a lunch box lover or hater?  There are people who think it is lame to bring lunch boxes and they will never want to be seen with it.  But you will be amazed that there are people who can’t do without their lunch boxes as well!

Where do you stand?