Salmon Bone Sinigang

The weather has been rainy on and off.  Sometimes I want to go for a walk and then it rains and I change my mind and I hate it.  To me, a walk was never enjoyable in the rain.  It's messy and dirty, you're trying not to get wet, your sunglasses get fogged up, and if it's windy an umbrella doesn't help.

The worst experience I've ever had being out in the rain was during a bike tour in Bangkok, Thailand.  The first part of the tour was to go from the check-in point through the slums and highway to get to the dirty, polluted river.  I mean it was great to get to see a different part of the world.  But riding a bike through the dirty slum rain water on the roads was not pleasant at all.  I had that line of crap water all over my back from the rain splashing up from the back tire.

Anyway, enough about that.  Since it has been rainy and it's soup weather, I craved and wanted to make a filipino soup called sinigang.  My mother and grandmother made this and I had never took the time to learn how to cook this dish.  I called my mom and she went over the basics of the recipe.  She didn't suggest fish bones, but it was the cheapest cut in the store, I know there's still a lot of flesh left on them, and collagen from bones are good for hair, skin, and nails.  OMG, it was so good!

Ingredients:

• 3 small tomatoes, sliced
• 1 long eggplant, cut into 3-inch segments and halved
• 3 baby bok choy, chopped
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 3-inch piece of ginger, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons patis (fish sauce)
• 1 pound salmon bones
• 2 cups water (more or less depending on how watery you like it)

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as listed above (chop, slice, halve)
2. Place tomatoes, onions, ginger, fish bones, and patis into pot.  Cover and let cook until the natural liquids are released. (This allows you to gauge how much water to add)
3. Add eggplant, bok choy, and water. Cover and simmer until eggplant is cooked through.
4. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Salmon Bone Sinigang (short clip, sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Salmon Bone Sinigang (full video with closed captioning)

YouTube post of new video: Salmon Belly Sinigang (full video)

IG post of reel: https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaOm_URDm9p/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

YouTube post of new video: Mackerel Sinigang (full video)

Green Onion Soup

My father gave me a bunch of green onions from his garden.  I knew I wouldn't be able to eat them all before they went bad, so I chopped them up and froze most of it for later use.  I saved the white bottom sections of the onions for this recipe.   

This is a variation of a leek soup.  The recipes I looked up actually asked for the sour cream to be blended into the soup.  But I forgot to do that.  So I just put a dollop in the middle and it was still delicious that way.

Ingredients:

•  1 lb. potatoes, diced
• 1 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 4 cups water
• 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon
• 2 Teaspoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• dollop of sour cream

Instructions:

1.  Prepare ingredients as described above (dice, chop).
2. Add all ingredients, except sour cream, to slow cooker.
3. Cook on low for 8 hours.
4. Transfer soup to blender and blend until smooth.
5. Add a dollop of sour cream to middle of soup and sprinkle with extra thyme if you want to be fancy.
6. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Green Onion Soup (sped up short clip for IG)

YouTube post of this video: Green Onion Soup (full video with captions)

Mushroom Pho

My version

I recently ate some vegetable pho at a local Honolulu restaurant called Ha Long Pho.  I honestly would've preferred to have some chicken or some type of meat in there, but I'm trying to increase my vegetable intake, so that's why I opted for the vegetable choice.  I thought it might be bland, but the broth was very flavorful.  Here's the link to Ha Long Pho's website. http://halongnoodle.com/wp/ 
 

Vegetarian Pho from Ha Long Pho

This inspired me to want to try and cook vegetarian pho myself.  I found a recipe by Cookie + Kate for a vegetarian pho.  I made a spin off their recipe and changed a few things.  Here's the link to the original https://cookieandkate.com/vegetarian-pho-recipe/.


Things I changed:

• Used chicken bouillon base instead of vegetable broth
• Used dried shiitake mushrooms instead of fresh
• Cooked shiitake mushrooms directly in the broth instead of stir fry (I think stir fried and added later as the original recipe directed would've been better)
• I ended up adding more star anise and cloves than what is shown in my video.  I needed the flavor stronger.
• I cooked it on low in a crock pot for 24 hours.

But anyway, if you want to try my version, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2  3-inch cinnamon sticks
• 8 whole cloves
• 5 star anise
• 1 large onion, peeled and quartered
• 4-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and halved
• 4 teaspoons chicken bouillon base
• 8 cups water
• 2 Tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
• 6 ounces (one large handful) rice noodles
• 5 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms

Garnishes:

• Mung bean sprouts
• Chopped cilantro
• Sliced Jalapenos
• Wedges of lime
•  Sliced onion
• Chili oil

Instructions:

1. Toast spices - cinnamon, cloves, and star anise.
2. Peel ginger and cut onion.
3. Add spices, ginger, and onion to slow cooker.
4. Add chicken bouillon, water, soy sauce, and mushrooms.
5. Cook on low for 24 hours.
6. Soak rice noodles in hot water and prepare garnishes.
7. Add desired amount of each broth, mushrooms, noodles, and garnishes to your bowl.
8. Add chili oil if heat is desired.
9. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
YouTube post of this video: Mushroom Pho (full video, regular speed, with captions)

Tuna Tofu Cucumber Patties

I got the big three-pack of cucumbers from Costco.   I had used two up to make quinoa salads.  But I had one more cucumber left in my fridge that needed to get used up and didn't know what to make with it.  I had too much quinoa salad and was over it.

So basically, this is the recipe I came up with.  I pretty much had everything else on hand.  I think if I made this again, I'd use celery instead of cucumber.  But it turned out fine.

I know, my leafy garnish is always limp and appears dead.  I don't have any fresh herbs besides green onion because that's the only thing that will live.   Additionally, the environment I live in is rainy and windy a lot of times and I don't think it's an ideal environment for the herbs I would like to grow.  I've tried mint, parsley, basil and cilantro and they're just not tough enough to withstand it.  Needless to say, I will be moving soon and it is highly unlikely that my plants will be moving with me. 😐

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 cans tuna, drained
• 1 english cucumber, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 block tofu, crumbled/smashed
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon paprika
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup panko
• olive oil, for cooking

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients except the olive oil.
2. Mix well and form into patties.
3. Heat pan and oil.
4. Brown both sides.
5. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Tuna Tofu Cucumber Patties (sped up for IG)
YouTube post of this video: Tuna Tofu Cucumber Patties (full video, regular speed) 

Sardines with Spinach and Noodles

I got a suggestion from one of my Instagram followers, @vokullove_carter, to try making a recipe with canned sardines.  So here it is.   It was quick and easy and only required six ingredients.

I have eaten this is the past without the spinach, but I am trying to add more vegetables to my diet.  My thought was that a soft vegetable would match best with this. 

Ingredients:

• 1 package bean threads (2 ounces)
• 1 can sardines in tomato sauce (5.5 ounces)
• 1 package pre-rinsed spinach (8 ounces)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• olive oil

Instructions:

1. Soak bean threads in water to soften.
2. Slice onion and chop garlic.
3. Heat pan and add olive oil.
4. Add onions and garlic. Stir fry until fragrant.
5. Add spinach and cover to wilt. Stir.
6. Add sardines and bean threads. Stir well and serve.
7. Enjoy!

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Sardines with Spinach and Noodles (sped up for IG)

YouTube post of this video: Sardines with Spinach and Noodles (full video, regular speed)