Tag: soup

• 

  What Are Soups, Stock, Broths And Stews?

  Is it just semantics or is there a real difference between soups, broths, stews and stocks? If you do a search online you will find a lot of conflicting definitions and see that the terms are used interchangeably.

  So I am going to throw in my two cents too. 🙂

  I believe it is all about the desired outcome.

  Stock

  For me, stock is an ingredient of broths, soups and stews.

  I keep my vegetable stock very simple. It is basically the holy trinity (celery, carrot and onion) in water cooked on low heat overnight. I make chicken, beef, lamb and rabbit stock by also adding their bones and scrap meat.

  Hot tips:

  • Always start with room temperature water as hot/boiling water traps the flavours in the vegetables, we want the opposite affect.
  • Make stock in large batches and freeze it for future use. For examples see my  Slow Cooker Chicken Stock or Rabbit Stock.

  Broth

  I might then take a stock and build flavours on top, generally by the use of additional vegetables, herbs and spices. If I am using a vegetable stock I might add bones too.

  I don’t cook it for long and it is for immediate use. After straining you could eat it right away.

  Soup

  I then take stock or broth and add ingredients (sometimes separately cooked) like meat, pasta, noodles, potato and then garnish with fresh vegetables. As a rule of thumb you need a bowl and a spoon.

  Stews and casseroles

  For me, a stew is something you can eat off a plate and generally has little sauce. It is as much about the method of cooking ie stewing the meat in juices, as any other characteristic.

  We generally use casserole and stew interchangeably in Australia.

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Here are some more cooking techniques:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 6, 2018

• 

  PK’s Pea And Ham Hock Soup

  Talk about nostalgia. My mum used to make this for me as a kid and it brings back happy memories every time. I think I might have done my mum proud with my recipe and stayed true to the dish’s thriftiness to boot :). It also freezes well so I got a whole week’s worth of lunches.

  You don’t have to cook pea and ham soup in a slow cooker but it is worth the low and slow cook for the extra depth of taste you will get. I will also leave the decision to blend or leave the soup chunky up to you. I did a halfway option, blended soup with some of the ham left chunky.

  You will be:

  1. Preparing your ingredients
  2. Cooking low and slow
  3. Removing the bones
  4. Blending or not
  5. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • 1.5 cups dried yellow split peas
    • 2 celery sticks, rough chopped
    • 2 carrots, rough chopped
    • 1 brown onion, rough chopped
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 1 ham hock (mine was ~850g)
    • 10 cups water
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a slow cooker
    • a pair of kitchen tongs
    • a wooden spoon
    • a stick mixer

  Preparing your ingredients

  1. Thoroughly rinse the split peas under cold water until it runs clear.
  2. Place them at the bottom of your slow cooker, turn this on to low.
  3. Chop the:
     • 2 celery sticks
     • 2 carrots
     • 1 brown onion
  4. Add them on top of the layer of split peas.
  5. Add the bay leaf.
  6. Add the ham hock after giving it a quick rinse.
  7. Add 10 cups of water and cover.

  

  

  

  

  

  Cooking low and slow

  Cook for about 6 to 8 hours (more if the meat is not falling off the bone) turning the hock over every now and again.

  

  Removing the bones

  Remove the main bones and then look carefully for any other little bones. This is important if you are going to blend the soup. You can use the bones to make Bone Meal for your garden.

  

  Blending or not

  Blend the soup now if you want to. I did but I kept some of the ham hock whole for serving purposes.

  Serving

  Some crusty bread and cracked black pepper would go a treat :).

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  Related Links:

  • see more soup post here
  • see more slow cooker posts here
  • see more pork posts here

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  September 7, 2017

• 

  PK’s Easy Pho Ga

  When someone mentions Vietnamese cuisine I immediately think of the famous Vietnamese noodle dish called Pho.

  Pho (pronounced like ‘fur’ but without the hard r) is a modern take on more traditional dishes. The Vietnamese people rapidly took to this healthy “fast food” and then spread it around the globe.

  I imagine everyone has their own favourite style of Pho. Mine is a sweet and sour broth with some lightly poached chicken, lots of vegetables and tons of rice noodles. Simply multiply the ingredients below for each person you are serving.

  I go light on the chili factor (even none at all for my family) and then I use Sriracha hot sauce in my bowl to add some heat.

  Tip: Make the fried shallots ahead of time using my method here. They are an optional garnish but I feel they really “make” this dish.

  You will be:

  1. Building the broth
  2. Poaching the chicken
  3. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • Broth for one:
      • 3 cups homemade chicken stock
      • a splash of fresh lime juice
      • 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
      • a small chunk galangal (galanga)
      • a small chunk ginger
      • 1/2 cinnamon stick
      • 1 star anise
      • 1 tsp raw sugar
      • black peppercorns to taste, ground
      • 1 coriander root
    • Bowl for one:
      • 250g chicken tenderloins, sliced
      • 250g rice noodles, pre-softened in boiling water
      • a handful of torn coriander leaves
      • a handful of mung bean sprouts
      • a few sprigs of vietnamese coriander
      • 2 spring onions, white parts, sliced on an angle
      • jalepenos , sliced, to taste
      • 1/2 a lime (for people to adjust the fish sauce/lime juice balance)
      • fried shallots and garlic slices
      • A handful of chopped mushrooms like shitake or enoki
  •  Equipment:
    • a long sharp knife
    • a chopping board
    • a grater
    • a large saucepan
    • a serving bowl

  Building the broth

  I use my home-made chicken stock because it starts you off with a broth that has been built up with chicken bones, vegetables and garlic.

  Making a starter broth this way allows you to subsequently build dish specific flavours on top of it and this is what we will do now.

  1. Add the 3 cups of chicken stock to the saucepan.
  2. Peel a chunk of galangal and a chunk of ginger and throw them into the pan whole.
  3. Add the:
     • splash of fresh lime juice
     • 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
     • 1/2 cinnamon stick
     • 1 star anise
     • 1 tsp raw sugar
     • ground black peppercorns
     • 1 coriander root
  4. Let everything sit for 5 minutes, to infuse, if you have time.
  5. Put the saucepan on low heat and then gently simmer for about 10 minutes.

  Poaching the chicken

  1.  Add the 250g of sliced chicken tenderloins to the gently simmering pan of broth.
  2. Allow the chicken to cook for 5 minutes and then remove the pan from the heat (by this stage everything is cooked and you don’t want the chicken to overcook as it will go leathery).

  

  Serving

  Serve the broth over the rice noodles and vegetables. Garnish with slices of chili, fried shallots and even omelette and peanuts.

  Have in easy reach extra fish sauce, lime wedges and of course Sriracha sauce so you and your guests can adjust the taste to suit.

  

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  July 25, 2017

• 

  PK’s Creamy Cauliflower And Parmesan Soup With Soft Pork Belly

  I was day dreaming about a new dish for dinner and thought it would be cool to try pork belly with this soup instead of bacon.

  Hope you like it.

  Pork belly aside, the soup only takes about 30 minutes to cook and the hands on bit only takes 10 of them.

  You will be:

  1. Making the pork belly
  2. Making the cauliflower soup
  3. Serving

  You will need:

  • Ingredients:
    • A slice of pork belly for each serving (ingredients are here)
    • A good slug of olive oil
    • 1 celery stalk, rough chopped
    • 1/2 onion, rough chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
    • 1 potato,  rough chopped
    • 3 cups PK’s Slow Cooker Chicken Stock
    • 1 bay leaf
    • 500g cauliflower florets
    • 1/2 cup milk
    • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
    • Water, add in small portions if soup is too thick
  •  Equipment:
    • 1 chef’s knife
    • 1 chopping board
    • 1 soup pan
    • 1 stick mixer
    • 1 wooden spoon

  Making the pork belly

  Make and then chill a strip of pork belly for each serve. Please see the recipe here.

  Making the cauliflower soup

  1. Chuck a slug of olive oil into the pan and bring it to a medium low heat.
  2. Add and sweat the chopped:
     • 1 celery stalk
     • 1/2 brown onion
     • 1 garlic clove
  3. Add the bay leaf.
  4. Add the 500g cauliflower florets and 1 potato and sweat for another minute or so.
  5. Add the three cups of chicken stock and bring to the boil.
  6. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or the potato is cooked.
  7. Pull out the bay leaf
  8. Allow to cool a little and add the 1/2 cup of milk and blend with a stick mixer.
  9. Add small amounts of water if the soup is too thick for your liking (remember that we are about to add cheese which will thicken it further),
  10. Add the 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and mix with a wooden spoon or the like.

  Serving

  My original idea was to serve the soup warm with a piece of pork belly. I ended up chilling the soup however. It was marvelous and the pork belly really complimented the soup’s gentle flavours.

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

  ---

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  May 7, 2017

• 

  PK’s Potato and Bacon Soup

  I love Potato and Bacon soup and make it in large batches primarily for a mid morning work snack. This saves me lots of money and I know I am eating healthily. The only salt is from the bacon and the salted margarine/butter blend.

  

  I add a few additional fresh ingredients to suit what is growing in my kitchen garden at the time. Below I added lots of chives as I have an excess at the moment.

  The basic idea though is that you sauté onion, bacon and potato in butter or olive oil until they are starting to soften. You then add your liquid of choice to cover everything and bring to the boil.

  Then leave it simmering until the potatoes are cooked. You can keep it chunky but I generally blend everything at this point and add a bit of milk to the portion I am not freezing.

  Hot Tip: If you are blending it and the result is too thick, add very small amounts of boiling water, stir and then taste again. I do this until I get a balance between taste and consistency.

  Below I used some of a beautifully smokey home-made chicken stock that made use of the remains of a roast chicken I did in my Weber charcoal BBQ (not my slow cooker version).

  Sweat the vegetables:

  

  Add liquid to cover, boil and then simmer until potatoes are cooked:

  

  Blend and serve:

  

  Enjoy,

  PK

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  Written by

  PK

  ·

  February 7, 2017

• 

  Welchy’s Wonton Noodle Soup

  And so I’m back

  From out of space

  I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face …the sad face I am referring to is that of my older brother’s. I have been a bit busy and whilst I have been taking lots of photos – I then never got around to writing the actual blog. So here goes…

  My boyfriend loves Wonton Noodle Soup and will only eat it from one place (International Food Court in Morley if you ever get a chance). It’s divine – with slivers of pork, crunchy bok choy for texture, a gorgeous broth and then these silky full of flavour wontons… it’s basically Heaven in a bowl. And to top it all off they scatter crumbled pork crackling over the top.

  I finally convinced him to let me have a go at cooking my own and suffice to say the results were amazing. Like most men (my younger and ‘opinionated about food even though he never cooks’ brother is one) if he goes for a second helping then you know you are onto a winner. It’s a little fiddly so unless you make it on a weekend, try and make the wontons ahead of time as they can sit in the fridge until you are ready 🙂

  Ingredients:

  For the Soup

  • 2½ cup chicken stock
  • 2½ cup water
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 3 garlic cloves, smashed
  • 3 to 4⅛-inch thin fresh ginger root slices (approximately 1 oz.)
  • 2 green onions, cut in halves
  • salt and pepper to taste

  For the Wonton Filling

  • 4 oz. ground pork
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine, you can substitute with dry sherry)
  • 1 tsp. cornstarch
  • ¼ tsp. sugar
  • ¼ tsp. sesame oil
  • ¼ tsp. ground fresh ginger root
  • 1 small garlic clove
  • 1 green onion, finely chopped
  • small pinch of black or white pepper
  • 20 square wonton wrappers

  For the Garnish

  • chopped green onion
  • Cilantro leaves

  Method

  1. In a medium/large pot, add all ingredients for the soup. Cover, bring it to boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let all the flavor come together. Meanwhile, let’s make wontons!

  2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the wonton filling and mix well with a spoon until cornstarch incorporated with other wet ingredients.

  3. Take a wonton wrapper on your left hand(if you are right handed) and paint edges of square lightly with cold water using your finger tip. Put ½ teaspoon of filling in centre of wrapper. Fold in half, triangle shape and seal it tightly by pinching edges together with your fingers. Paint one of lower side corners of triangle with water and bring right and left corner together (water painted side down) and press well to make traditional curved wonton shape. Place wontons 1 to ½-inch apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat until you finish with wonton filling and wrappers.

   

  4. When your wontons are ready, discard solid ingredients from soup base and bring it to boil.

  5. Carefully add wontons and cook for 10 to 15 minutes. wontons will be fully cooked in 3 minutes, but cook it longer so all flavour from wontons will melt in to soup. Taste and add salt and pepper to your taste at this point.

  

  6. Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with green onion, cilantro and pepper to your taste.

  

  And then…being super sneaky…I fried a couple of the wontons while the wontons were cooking in the soup. So totally worth it! Would be amazing on a cold night, but no matter the weather I’d eat this haha.

  

  Katie

  Related Links:

  • see more Welchy posts here

  Written by

  lilwelchy

  ·

  December 22, 2016

• 

  Welchy’s Easy Mushroom Soup

  There’s nothing better on a cold winter’s night than to sit down and tuck into something hot!

  Whether it be a curry, casserole or soup…I love nothing more than eating a dish that warms you right down to your bones!

  Mum has made soups all my life. As a kid, she may as well have put hearts and livers on a plate and put it in front of me. There was nothing worse than the idea of soup, let alone Mushroom soup. But as with most dishes, nostalgia tends to set in and I have a newfound appreciation of all things my mum cooked as a kid and how much I wish to be there again.

  This dish is about 10 minutes of prep (if you are slightly mad and enjoy cracking the stem of the mushroom off and then peeling each..and every…single…mushroom). And then 20-30 minutes simmering.

  Ingredients

  • 1 kg mushrooms, stems removed if you wish and peeled
  • 1 brown onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon butter
  • 6 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 cup thickened cream

  Method

  1. Melt butter in a Crock pot or large saucepan. Cook the onion until partly softened. Add garlic and cook until onion is browned and softened.
  2. Now add in the mushrooms and cook until they are lightly browned, stirring often so they don’t stick to the pan.
  3. Add the vegetable stock and season with salt and pepper.
  4. Bring to the boil and then allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Once the mushrooms are tender and cooked through, remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.
  6. Use an electric mixer to puree the soup (I personally like it to be slightly chunky, but puree a bit longer if you like a smooth soup).
  7. When ready to serve, stir in the cream and top with freshly chopped basil. And as always…enjoy!

  

  Enjoy,

  Welchy

  Here are more soup posts and Welchy recipies:

  Written by

  lilwelchy

  ·

  May 19, 2016

• 

  Easy Chicken Katsu Udon

  Chicken Katsu Udon is an amazingly versatile dish, perfect for snacks, sides or a main meaIs. At is simplest it consists of a bowl of noodles, vegetables and broth topped with crumbed fried chicken.

  It is very easy to make and friends of mine have even made it on a camping trip.

  

  This recipe will feed two adults for lunch. Add more noodles, chicken, vegetables and broth to bulk it up for dinner.

  You will be:

  1. Preparing the chicken.
  2. Frying the onion toppings.
  3. Preparing the other vegetables.
  4. Cooking the noodle broth and crumbed chicken
  5. Serving.

  You will need:

  • Ingredients
    • 1 large chicken breast, butterflied
    • Ground rock salt, to taste
    • Ground black pepper corns, to taste
    • White flour, enough to coat the chicken breast
    • Panko bread crumbs, enough to coat the chicken breast
    • 1 egg, beaten egg
    • 1 brown onion, sliced
    • 1 cup Asian greens e.g. bok choy leaves and stems
    • 1 small handful torn coriander (cilantro) leaves
    • 1 packet of soft Udon noodles
    • 4 cups home-made chicken stock
    • Olive oil and/or chili oil, enough to cover the base of the pan to half the depth of the chicken breast and a splash for frying the onions
    • A handful of sliced shitake or enoki mushrooms
  • Equipment
    • several chopping boards
    • a long sharp knife
    • a rolling pin or meat tenderiser
    • two large plates
    • one medium sized bowl for coating the chicken breasts
    • a medium sized saucepan for the broth and noodles
    • a deep frypan for shallow frying the crumbed chicken
    • paper towel to absorb excess oil
    • deep bowls for serving
    • tongs for cooking the chicken in the oil
    • tongs for adding the hot noodles to the serving bowls

  Preparing the chicken

  

  1. Take your chicken breast and butterfly it. I completely separate the halves at this stage, place them on a chopping board and bash the stuffing out of them using a rolling pin. This makes them really tender and easier to cook through without burning the outside crumb coating. This dish also works really well with chicken tenderloins (these are the pectoralis minor of a chicken and they don’t need tenderising).
  2. Salt and pepper them to taste and then successively coat them in flour, dip them in the egg and roll them in the panko crumbs.
  3. Refrigerate them for 30 minutes or as long as it takes you to prepare the rest of the dish.

  

  

  

   Fry the onions

  1. Thinly slice the 1 brown onion.
  2. Heat the oil in your deep fry pan.
  3. Add the onions and crisp them up, moving them continuously.
  4. Pop them into the fridge after soaking up excess oil with paper towel.
  5. Clean the fry pan with some paper towel so you get rid of any burnt onion bits.

  

  Prepare the vegetables

  

  1. Roughly chop your Asian greens and other vegetables of choice. No need to cook the greens as they will quickly steam as you add them to the hot broth at serving time.
  2. Tear the coriander leaves to make a nice garnish.
  3. Hot Tip – Bring the crumbed chicken breasts out of the fridge at this point and allow them to return to room temperature. This will allow you to cook them golden brown on the outside and avoid a raw center.

  Cook the noodle broth and crumbed chicken

  

  You are going to have to keep an eye on two processes here. Sorry 🙂

  1. Add the stock and noodles to the saucepan.
  2. Heat the oil in the deep frypan so it is lightly bubbling.
  3. While you are lightly frying the chicken, slowly bring the noodle broth to the boil.
  4. When golden brown on both sides, remove the chicken from the oil and pat dry with paper towel.
  5. Slice the chicken.

  The panko crumbs are so light that I prefer a longer slower fry:

  Cooking the noodles in the broth as it comes to the boil:

  

  The sliced chicken:

  

   

  Serving

  1. Add the desired amount of noodles to each bowl using tongs.
  2. Add the desired amount of greens and vegetables to each bowl.
  3. I add the slices of mushroom now.
  4. Pour in the desired amount of broth to each bowl.
  5. Top with some of the torn coriander and the fried onions.

  

  Happy slurping,

  PK

  Here are more soup recipes and Japanese cuisine posts:

  Written by

  PK

  ·

  March 10, 2016