We all love steamboat! We just had our last round few weeks back, when SIL came down to KL on her last trip. We had plenty nice steamboat ingredients for our steamboat that night. Unfortunately my stomach was too weak to experiment the hot and spicy Tom Yam soup that day.

Good that I was able to refrain myself from eating too much otherwise I could not fit into my cheongsam during my brother’s wedding the following week. Surely I have to look presentable for this wedding, even if I could not fit into the slim gowns from
bari jay like those worn by the bridesmaid.

This taste really fantastic. I do not know how Aunty Ma (my next door neighbour) did it, but everything she marinates taste always so well. That goes the same for BBQ chicken she marinated sometime back.

I usually see people using plain chicken, fish for steamboat but during our steamboat session on Chap Goh Mei, Aunty Ma marinated them and they taste just so good. Ya, we decided to hold a small steamboat session, just for the four of us and it was fun. It was not very difficult although we have the boys around. Am looking forward to have another small session again, at home with hubby and the kids one day

Ingredients:

• 50g butter (amount estimated)
• 2 clove crushed garlic
• 2 medium minced onions
• 1 Tbsp cornflour
• 1 box Swiss Brown Mushroom, sliced
• 4 pieces dry Chinese Mushroom, soften and sliced
• broth (I used celery and chicken stock powder)
• Heavy or whipped cream / evaporated milk / sour cream (I used yogurt!)

Fresh Swiss Brown Mushroom (Rm8.90 per packet) from Jusco

Some said that big and fat mushroom are much fresher than smaller ones. Aren’t these mushroom beautiful? Some recipe suggested using Portobello Mushroom (bigger, flatter and darker in color) . Will try to use Portobello next round to see how different it taste.

Crushed garlic and Minced Onions

I just bought a kitchen tool from the market yesterday morning and it is really useful to crush the garlic. Unlike minced garlic, crush garlic are more fragrant when sauteed in oil.

Mushroom, garlic and onion being sauteed lightly on the stove before blending

Preparation Method

Broth / Soup base

Using the easy way out, I boiled some water with the available fresh celery and chicken cube. Hubby said taste too strong. Next round, I should try using only vegetable (celery, carrots, celery leaves, potato, onion) as suggested by Agnes.  Leave aside to cool.

1. Sauteed garlic and onion with butter until soft
2. Add in sliced mushroom on stir fried on high fire till fragrant
3. Add in cornflour and mix well
4. Leave aside to cool
5. Once cool, add some broth to the mushroom and blend them coarsely
6. Return blended mushroom to cook in the remaining broth
7. Add salt and sugar to taste
8. Optional: Add more flour to thicken your mushroom soup
9. Add a little cream (I used yogurt) on top of it when serve

A bowl of very rich mushroom soup top with my homemade yogurt, served with garlic toast

Although nutritious, creamy mushroom soup can be very fattening if you use all butter and heavy cream. Good for those who wish to gain weight or on bodybuilding supplements . For me, I only substitute the cream with yogurt. I should try omit better in future, and replace it with olive oil.

Since I know how to operate the blender now, I wish to try to make my own creamy mushroom soup.  But when I google for mushroom soup recipe, I saw many variation. Most recipe call for heavy cream although some used sour cream. Many even prefer using whipping cream. Kinda waste my effort on loosing weight using my used gym equipment if I make it with cream.  I like the idea of using sour cream so I can use my homemade yogurt instead. Wonder if it will make a difference in taste?

This is a short cut dish. Why short cut, because by just cooking one ABC soup, I get 2 dish (see above picture). Get what I mean? Read further…

Ingredients for soup
chicken (or anchovies), carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes

Ingredient for Stir fried Vegetables

Soup:
1. First, throw all the ingredients for soup and bring to boil.
2. Simmer under low fire for an hour or so.
3. Once ready, take out all the ingredients.

Stir Fried Dish:
1. Fry garlic till frangant.
2. Add in mince meat and boil vege to stir fried.
3. Add in some boiled brocolli (I boiled brocolli in my ABC soup)
4. Add some soup and oyster sauce to taste.

If I can dine daily with a healthy dish like this, I would not need to take any weight loss pills. But do you think I can resist the temptation of all the nice oily food? Hahaha….