I love this soup because it is so hearty and warming. I first tasted it at, of all places, Tiong Bahru Plaza's food court. I was feeling sick that day and Husband was scanning the stalls looking for something healthy for me to eat. I wasn't optimistic he'd find anything healthy - healthy food court food is a misnomer! - but he came back smiling & bearing this soup, Samgyetang, on his food court tray. It was expensive ($11!) but very very good. And it perked me up immediately.
Since then, I've been reading more about Samgyetang - here's an interesting article. My sis-in-law recently went to Korea & bought us some "super-powderful" Ginseng Powder. And, coincidentally, I just received a Korean cookbook for Christmas from Husband! So, yesterday, I decided to make Samgyet'ang - the recipe yieled an authentic and super-licious version of the dish which Husband loved! Here it is, my adapted version of the recipe. Enjoy!
Korean ginseng chicken soup (Samgyetang)
1 large chicken, about 1.5 kg *
2 pieces finger-thick fresh ginseng root OR
3 tb dried ginseng shavings OR
4 tb dried ginseng roots and tails OR
1 tb "super-powderful" ginseng powder **
10 dried red dates
4 dried chestnuts
8 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4 to 1/2 cup barley ***
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Wash chicken and pat dry. Place half the red dates, all the chestnuts and barley in the chicken cavity and seal with toothpicks.^
2. Put chicken in pot and add enough water to cover. Add the ginseng, additional red dates and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Bring pot to boil and then simmer covered for 1h or until chicken is tender and meat is falling of bone. ^^
3. Remove chicken from pot & serve with steamed rice.
* A large chicken of this size should serve about 3 to 4 people.
** These are just approximations and it is up to you to add or take away depending on how strong you want the ginseng taste to be.
*** I think traditional Korean recipes use glutinous rice or sweet rice instead of barley. I prefer barley because it balances the "heatiness" of the ginseng.
^ When stuffing the chicken, do not pack the mixture too tightly as it will swell during cooking.
^^ I simmered my chicken for about 1.5 h and consequently it was so tender I had trouble removing it from pot. Which explains why my picture is not very "pretty". But hey, if you like fall-off-the-bone chicken! ^__^
First of all, Merry Christmas to all! Sorry for the belated wishes but the Lau family has been *busy*. Daniel sends his greetings via this pic:
Ho ho ho! Blessed Christmas to all!
Christmas this year was tiring! Our Discipleship Group had a farewell for HM on Christmas Eve at our place. Husband made his famous juicy burgers - this is likely to become a Lau tradition as he made the same burgers last year on Christmas Eve too! - and loads of people descended upon our home for the festivities. Daniel was a really "guai" boy, not even yelping once despite all the strangers carrying him. Maybe he was "scared stiff"! HOHOHO
Juicy burgers - secret recipe guarded WITH OUR LIVES
Bye bye HM! We'll miss you!
Then, Christmas Day rolled round the corner. Mommy got to play music for Christmas service while Husband took care of Daniel.
Rudy & his sotongcaster ^__^
A strange Hebrew joined us for Christmas service...
On Christmas Day, we kept bringing Daniel in and out of the car, of the pram... he looked really peeved/constipated at one point:
Stop moving me around yall!
Then, there was a Lau family dinner, replete with The Biggest Chicken I've Ever Seen (Roasted), and other yummy dishes. Daniel was rather "yelpy" on Christmas Day - perhaps he had reached his friendliness-with-strangers quotient for the season!
Grandpa Lau carving the chicken while various cousins poke at Daniel!
There was also a very yummy BBQ dinner with my side of the family. We still have leftovers from it! ^__^
My culinary contribution for the season was Orange flavoured Chocolate Truffle Tarts. Have received many praises for it and am delighted as they were really easy to do. Just heat 2/3 cup heavy cream (or double cream or pure cream) with 2 tablespoonfuls of butter till scalding point. Then, pour the mixture over 7 oz of semisweet chocolate (I used Hersheys) that has been ground into smaller chunks by a food processor. Stir till all the chocolate has melted and then add the zest of 1 orange and about 1 tablespoon of orange juice. I used store bought tart shells from Phoon Huat so all there remained to do was scoop the truffle mixture into the tart shells and cool in the fridge for a couple of hours. The result - very yummy! The chocolate was not too hard and had a lovely slightly sweet/bitter orange flavour. YAY! ^__^
At the end of yesterday, the Lau family collectively collapsed into bed, exhausted. I managed to find some time to reflect on the reason for the season by reading through the first few chapters of Matthew from the Bible. Thank God for His Son who came to us as a babe (like Daniel) to save us from our sins. It is because of Him that we have hope & life in this world that we live in. It is because of Him that Daniel has hope & life beyond the boundaries of this physical space. Praise God Praise God on High!
We took Daniel on a short holiday last weekend. It was meant to be an "experiment" to "test" how travelling with an infant would be. We chose Phuket because it's a very laid back place, plus the air tickets on Jet Star Asia were only $28! So we figured, even if it turned out to be disastrous, at least it was cheap bwahahahaha!
Daniel sucking Daddy's thumb before take-off.
So how was the experience of travelling with an infant? Well. It was definitely different from travelling without an infant (DUH). For one, there's all the barang-barang you have to lug along. Imagine going to the beach with a) 4.5kg pram b) 7kg infant c) 1.5kg backpack with emergency items for infant, e.g.,diapers, change of clothes, changing mat, towel etc., We actually "lived out" this scenario - I strapped pram to my shoulder while Husband lugged infant & backpack. Er...needless to say, we didn't get to take any pictures of that excursion - no hands/energy to hold camera! HA.
Pic taken from hotel website.
Most of our time was spent in or near the hotel, Surin Beach Resort, a highly kid-friendly resort that I would recommend for families. (Surin Beach is a quieter beach north of the crass & noisy Patong Beach. It was unaffected by the tsunami and was open for business the day after the tsunami struck.)
During the day, we took Daniel swimming. He looked so cute in his thermal infant swimsuit & infant float. And thankfully, he was very calm & agreeable in the water.
At night, after Daniel obediently fell asleep at 7pm, we would roll him out surreptitiously in the pram & explore the yummy restaurants nearby. Surin Beach Resort is just next to Noon, one of the best Japanese restaurants in Thailand. Scrummy!
Daniel at Noon Japanese Restaurant (asleep!).
Daniel spent most of his time chewing stuff. ^__^ Daddy got
to squeeze in a massage and we also spent a lot of time having fun with Daniel
(and at Daniel's expense) as this video
will show:
Of the three days we spent in Phuket, there was only one very horrible afternoon. Instead of getting his 2h nap at noon, he slept not even 1.5h, not even 1h, not even 45min, not even 30min, but 15min!! It was our fault because we were hauling him from location to location and he couldn't nap properly. As a result, we spent a very tiring afternoon trying to calm him down and getting him to sleep. We did this in a corner of the food court on the 5th floor of Robinson Shopping Centre in Phuket town. We didn't get to do much shopping, but we certainly got to know the food court and its interior very well! It was... a bit run down, very empty and thus very conducive for calming a crying kid. Cough.
All in all, it was a successful experiment. But definitely a less carefree experience than our other Thailand trip. I enjoyed the very good conversations Husband & I had in the evenings whe Daniel knocked off for the day. Travelling with an infant certainly requires some adjustment, but it's not a complete disaster thank God!
I made brownies using the recipe passed to me by Michelle from The Bakers Rack, my BBM3 partner! They turned out great and the recipe was so easy, it's definitely a keeper.
I sliced the brownie into squares and held them in brown paper as was preparing to take them to Bible Study. ^__^
p.s. why do brownies and other baked goods taste better after being refridgerated overnight? !!
Daniel: Daddy, Mommy, I very sad. My friends say I look like a girl.
Mommy: Nonsense! You do NOT look like a girl.
Daniel: I do, I do. My friends say my hair too long, look like girl.
Daddy: Which friends?
Daniel: ALL my friends. Teddy bear saidit when I was talking to him during tummy time the other day...
Daniel: ... and then tigger also said the same thing when I was giving him a ride to the kitchen to look for ice cream...
Daniel: Oh, and even Ella the bear told me I look like a girl, just before I bit her head! ^__^
Daniel: I'm worried mommy, daddy. Do I look like a girl to you?
Mommy & Daddy: Hmm. Well ok la, maybe possibly like sometimes on certain particular days when the sun is shining at a certain angle or something or other. OK la OK la... we go get haircut for you! Come! But you better no regret ah!
Daniel: Won't regret one! This will make me look like a big, strong, manly man! I want a GI Joe haircut!!! I want to be macho!!! Here we go!!!! Ooh... that razor feels ticklish! OOh OOh OOh!!
Mommy: OK Daniel, haircut is over. How do you look? Nice or not?
Daniel: H...hmm....ee...a.a....ahrr....br....uaw...aa..w.ww.ww.waAAAAAHHHH!
WWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! WWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Mommy & Daddy: SIGH. KIDS THESE DAYS.
^__^
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* Einstein Never Used Flash Cards - How Our
Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize less
* The Bible
* Love & Respect by Dr Emerson Eggerichs
* What to Expect When You're Expecting
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