Chayote and Fresh Chinese Yam Soup

Just a quick update on soup using chayote and chinese yam.

I have only 1 large chayote so I just make do with it but reduced water accordingly, else the soup will be too bland.  This is a milky soup as chinese yam is used, supposingly to relieve cough and colds.

Another mild sweet soup, we like it.

Chayote and Fresh Chinese Yam Soup
Ingredients
300g pork ribs/lean meat
1 - 2 chayotes (佛手瓜 fo shou gua /合掌瓜 hup jeung gwa)
1 fresh chinese yam (淮山 huai shan /山药 shan yao)
1200ml water
Salt to taste

Method

1. Wash and cut chayotes and chinese yam into cubes.
2. Blanch pork ribs/lean meat.
3. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients in a pot. Using medium fire, bring water to boil again and cook for 30 minutes, reduce to small flame and simmer for 2 hours.
4. Add salt to taste before serving.

Stir-Fry Chayote with Black Fungus

I usually fry chayote with garlic and salt so when I saw this recipe here, I wanted to give it a try because I love black fungus!  However, I couldn't find the fresh black fungus at the supermarket so I replaced it with dried ones.

I personally prefer this version but my 2 elder kids hated black fungus.  I believe for every different kind of food introduced, the taste is acquired so I'm definitely going to cook this again next time.

Stir-Fry Chayote with Fresh Black Fungus
(Recipe adapted from Tigerfish's blog)
Ingredients
1 Chayote, peeled and thinly sliced (佛手瓜/合掌瓜)
dried black fungus, rinsed and sliced
salt and white pepper to taste
drizzle of sesame oil
2-3 slices of ginger

Method

1. Wash and soak black fungus in water till soften.  Slice thinly and set aside.
2. Heat some oil in a pan. Add ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Add the chayote slices and fry briskly.
4. Add the black fungus, fry and mix well with the chayote.
5. Add 1-2 tbsp of water and allow to simmer at low-medium heat till chayote slightly softens.
6. Salt and white pepper to taste and drizzle with sesame oil before serving.

Chayote, Corn with Mushroom in Pork Broth (合掌瓜玉米茶樹菇豬骨湯)

Remember my post on Mushroom Chicken Soup?  I saw some fresh Agrocybe Aegerita (茶树菇) in our local supermarket so I bought a packet. I didn't realise this was 茶树菇 as it is labelled as "Willy Mushroom" until I took a closer look at the chinese words.  They are always on the shelves, just that I didn't pay much attention to unfamiliar things/objects around me.

I stumbled upon The Chinese Soup Lady.com and saw this recipe with 茶树菇 and since I've got all ingredients on hand, I decided to give it a try.  It has a mild sweet taste and the kids love it :-)

Chayotes, Corn with Mushrooms in Pork Broth (合掌瓜玉米茶樹菇豬骨湯)

Ingredients

500 pork ribs

200g agrocybe aegerita (茶树菇)
1 large chayotes (佛手瓜/合掌瓜)
2 fresh corns
1.5 - 2 litre of water
salt to taste (optional)

Method

1. Wash and soak agrocybe aegerita in water.  Trim away the ends of the stalks.
2. Wash and cut chayotes and corn into cubes.
3. Blanch pork ribs/lean meat.
4. Bring water to boil and add all ingredients in a pot. Using medium fire, bring water to boil again and cook for 30 minutes, reduce to small flame and simmer for 2 hours.
5. Add salt to taste (optional) before serve.