I think everyone must be getting tired of reading about how I recycle leftover food so as to take the easy way out. Well, this post is not going to be about that but instead, it will be on another of my hassle-free easy-to-cook dish starting from scratch, right from the very beginning.
Nope! This isn’t the exotic meat that I featured in a post not too long ago – this one’s beef. In the past, I would usually use fresh beef but since it is virtually impossible to get hold of any these days, I settled for the frozen meat imported from New Zealand for this soup dish…
You just cut the beef across the grain into thin slices…and throw it into the pot of water, with 1-2 whole Bombay onions, peeled and a handful of peppercorn and bring that to boil. Throw in some potatoes, cut into chunks and simmer until the potatoes are cooked and the beef has become tender and then, add salt and msg according to taste. Normally, I would garnish with daun sup (Chinese celery) and serve but that day, there wasn’t any at the supermarket near my house…so I settled for some chopped daun bawang (spring onion) instead….
I also added some wolfberries that day, but that is optional.
In the past, the old folks would put in a porcelain spoon or one of those small porcelain soy sauce saucer. According to them, the porcelain would “fight” with the beef and the beef, being not as hard, would lose and turn tender more quickly. Well, there wasn’t any porcelain crockery in the house that was small enough to go into the cooking pot, so I threw in a stainless steel teaspoon instead…and true enough, I did not have to simmer very long before the beef became nice and tender, believe it or not. LOL!!!
Note that I did not add any ginger, and I also did not put any of those spices that you would usually find in the Malays’ sup tulang (bone soup) or sup ekor lembu (oxtail soup)…or the Indians’ sup kambing (mutton soup) as I do not like their overpowering smell.
There wasn’t any garlic in the house that day, so I smsed my missus asking her to buy some on her way home from work. Unfortunately, she is one of those who hardly ever check whether they have any messages…and more often than not, she would fail to hear the handphone whenever I tried calling. So, she only saw the message after she had got back to the house and there being no garlic for me to use, I had to use shallots instead to fry these sweet peas for our vegetable dish…
It turned out all right…but I still think it would have been nicer with garlic.
As a matter of fact, I always fry vegetables with garlic, or most of them, at least. What about you?
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Aiyo… very long never drink ox tail soup liao. So yummy… Oh, god… drooling… must go find and eat. Sobs!
LOL!!! I don’t like the ones at the shops/stalls…oily and all the smell of those spices. I don’t mind those at the beef noodle shops – can order the “kosong”, soup without the noodles…
Ohh… I like to fry my veggies wif sambal+belacan… nice ahhh… 😀
Not sweet peas. I do that for some of the local veg like kangkong, ladies’ fingers, long beans and french beans, paku and midin…
sweet pea stir fry with garlic also nice. The garlic no need to chop. Just biji biji like that. The good thing is that it can repel vampire LOL
Am cooking ABC soup today.
ABC? Air Batu Campur? LOL!!! 😀 Yup…sweet peas, you just boil in water, also nice – very sweet. Not like the flat ones – snow peas… Those, not as nice.
Wow…how come the pictures in this post look more…well taken? 😀
Don’t they always look like that…well taken? 😉
*droooling* U_U prawn ….
i use garlic when fry vegetable too but no prawn ( got fmily mmber alergic prawn. !@@##$$)
u see, im deprived of crab and prawn because whenever i go home to bintangor mum wud said kenot cook that two, got ppl cnt eat T_T
The prawns will enhance the taste of the veg dish – will make it “sweeter”. Bintangor, so small…food so cheap…and servings so large. Can always go out and eat, no problem what…
Yes, I think we Chinese are born with garlic in our food.. u know, nowadays it cost 8.90 per kilo.. so killing! so nowadays i put less and put big onions/shallots instead.. never mind the taste, as long as edible.. yours look good, especially when they are eaten fresh from the wok! yummy!
Yup! There’s one mini-supermarket here – the garlic’s pre-packed in half kg packs…and selling at RM5.00 each. RM10.00 a kg. Never mind…certain things just can’t go with others e.g. my missus will fry french beans with big onions – I don’t like it that way at all.😦
Hahaha. I think it’s so nice of you to be doing the cooking at home while waiting for your wife to come home. How nice 😀
Have to. She leaves the house at 7 something in the morning and gets come by around 6pm in the evening. If I do not cook, she will have to tapao from outside…and these days, I can’t tolerate outside food very well – can’t stand the oil and the msg. Would prefer my own simple cooking anytime…
U make me want Jimbau Sup Power at Taman Harmoni. hahahahahhaha here they called it Sup Torpedo but the taste a bit weird.
Sup Power? Bull’s testicles? Eyewwwww….no, thank you! Muahahahaha!!! 😀
i’ve never tried beef in soup yet. 😦 but dat one looks just nice! n the second dish was my fav! mwahaha
Never? You’ve never had beef noodles? Go to the shop in KK a few doors away from Fook Phing Dim Sum – order the kosong (without noodles). BEST in the world, none anywhere can compare. Drool!!! But I hear they use kerbau (buffalo). Never mind, as long as it’s nice.
True enough! My mom always put a porcelain spoon into a pot when she cooks red bean sweet soup, she told me the idea is to beat the beans thoroughly!^-^
The soup looks clear yet appetizing… oh yes, I would prefer to stir fry with garlic over shallots, the latter normally I granish the dish after deep frying it.:)
Have a beautiful morning!
Yup! The soup is nice – you can give it a try! My daughter will cook it sometimes in NZ and her friends also love it! Aha! Another one who has heard about the porcelain spoon – these old wives’ tales actually work! Hmmm…one vote for garlic – not just for taste, good for health too!
They look good. I prefer garlic myself but shallots are good too. Have you tried the power sup place at the food stalls by Kg Nangka, by the Land and Survey? My son’s favorite fried rice place is Mira’s Corner, just a few doors down. Unfortunately, they’re closed most of the time, at least when I was there in July.
Yup…another vote for garlic. Shallots for fried rice, and the fried ones for garnishing. Sup Power, no, thank you! Cow’s balls! 😉 I went once for the ikan bakar and sotong bakar – the fish was really horrible. Never went back again…
i always use garlic too..
Yup…everybody loves garlic! 🙂
Only know putting a porcelain spoon or stainless steel spoon when boiling red bean is to avoid the bean stick to the bottom of the pan.
I prefer garlic to fried vege too. Haha…your wife can shake hand with me. I hardly check my handphone for messages too. Not until I got home only I realised I’ve got sms. hehe…. sometimes, when the phone is in the handbag, I could hardly hear the ringing tone. That explained why.
It’s to make the beans become soft faster…and in the case of meat, it will make it become tender sooner without having to simmer for too long – not to make sure it doesn’t stick to the pan or pot. Ah! Another garlic lover, I see!
Hmmm…I think many women are like that where handphones are concerned. I said if I were dying, I would not be able to contact her…and she said use the house phone and call the workplace – landline…and I said by the time I get to the house phone, I would be dead already! Tsk! Tsk! 😦 …..I make it a habit to always check regularly to see any messages or missed calls…whenever my hp is not with me.
Aiks… I’m not one of those… kekekeke… I mean, I can NEVER live without my handphones, and I never put it in my handbag. (Cuz I dun use one. LOL I use backpack instead… convenient ma). I always put my handphone in my pocket, where I can always hear it and feel it vibrate when there’s incoming calls. The only time I won’t be answering would be when I’m asleep. LOL… yeah… cannot live without my handphone!
Me too… Exactly like you. What has technology done to me? Sobs!!! 😦
*sorry* …i mean pot *** not pan.
Yup…and you also got the “fact” wrong – it has nothing to do with sticking to the pot or pan.
We hardly cook beef at the home here, as my mother in law cannot take beef, as in some religious belief.
When i am at home, i always ask my mum to cook beef with “lak chai” – Sichuan vege? Very nice , i miss that a lot. And i would ask her to fry the beef with bell pepper. Yum yum!!!
Yes, i love to fry vege with garlic, something fried minced meat with garlic nice also.
Meat, if fried – I usually use ginger…but for stewing or soup, I would use garlic or Bombay onions…but sometimes ginger. All depends. I thought Foochows always cook the lak chai with duck? My missus would cook with pork bones. I don;t like bell/green peppers – don’t like the green smell…so I seldom/never buy/cook those…
The beef soup looks yummy .
Tastes as good as it looks…try it! 😉
You put a steel spoon with your soup? And it helped?? But how did you know if the beef would turn tender without the spoon anyway? This is so interesting! Next time perhaps you can do an experiment! LOL!
Then I would have to cook two pots simultaneously. Usually, we would simmer the beef for a long long time…and when it was tender, we would add the potatoes…otherwise, all hancur. But this time, after boiling for a while, I tried the beef and found that it was already tender…so I added the potatoes…and once cooked, the soup was ready. Very fast. Dunno whether it was the spoon…or NZ beef not as tough as our fresh beef – all the old cows perhaps, best for curry! LOL!!!
@witch the steel spoon makes the water boil faster and the temperature hotter…so the meat would be more tender, and there would be less cooking time. I do that too.
@Cikgu.. I think it’s the spoon, and also the beef. NZ beef more tender than our local beef.
Oh? I didn’t know that… But my mum’s time, she used a porcelain spoon ? Maybe her time the metal spoons not safe for use – the soup spoons were metal painted red, I remember those…and the western cutlery were coated silver and would turn yellow very soon.
sometime i also cook vegetables with shallots,the taste was quite fine to me. Next time if you run out of garlic, may borrow some from neigbour.Because last time my neigbour did borrow eggs from me.
Ya…I guess I can do that. Or I can go and buy myself – the mini supermarket just 5 minutes’ walk away. LOL!!! I thought it would be more convenient for my missus to stop by the shop and buy on her way home. She does that all the time anyway…
Whoa..throw porcelain/stainless steel spoon..interesting. I must try that!
Hee hee..I’m like your wife.. I never chk/hear sms/calls. Ppl very very fedup with me. Tee hee….
I sympathise with them… LOL!!! 😀
Oh..and my phone I put in my jeans pocket one..not handbag..and yet I still don’t feel the ‘vibration’.
kakakakakakakaakakakakakaakakakakak!!!!
She does that too! But makes no difference whatsoever – but she’s very quick to hear MY hp ringing in MY pocket though…and she’ll tell me right away, “You have a call!!!” Chesh! Women! LOL!!! 😀
LOL. Cikgu… ur an attractive, lovable man. Ur missus takut u got gf outside la… that’s why very sensitive to your incoming calls… kakakakakakakak!
Ummmm…attractive, dun think so…lovable, perhaps! Muahahahaha!!! 😉
Long time ago, I also put the porcelain chinese spoon to cook with my tuka soup with ‘meng-yee’,but somehow over time just slipped my mind to do so till i read yr blog today. But I don’t think it does make any difference for without the spoon the tuka still tender leh! But my big sis sworn by this spoon thing, so there you go! Ya,I also sokong garlic with vege, only exception will be frying the okra,goes better with fried shallots.
Okra…I fry with sambal hay bee…or boil and ulam with sambal belacan. Don;t like it any other way. I guess these days with pressure cookers, slow cookers, claypots and whatever extra hot cooking pots and what not…people do not need the spoon anymore.
report ok…will be back tomorrow – got to go pick up anak anak
Yup…see you tomorrow. Download Google Chrome – I’m lovin’ it…more than Firefox.
Stp, you sure give me ideas what to cook the next day. Ja, I usually cook with garlic. Peeling onions/shallots give me tears!!, lol!
I never cry when peeling onions. Dunno why. Maybe I’m too tall or my eyes are very small. LOL!!!
Nice new layout!
However, I’m sceptical about the spoon thing. WHERE IS THE LOGIC??
Maybe you should kiss, caress & massage the beef first before gently slicing them with lots of love.
That makes more sense than the spoon thing.
haha~~~
I’ve seen chefs doing that on AFC…but no, don’t expect me to make love to a slab of meat…no, thank you! You can do that if you are thus inclined…LOL!!! 😀
ah^kam_koko’ … the steel spoon makes the water temperature hotter… it gathers heat, therefore… the beef gets softer with less cooking time. They taught me this in physic last time.
I dunno know any Physics, so I’m staying out of this. Just following what my mum used to do…
wah it does really look tempting lo.. your cooking is good (from the pictures la) and I’m sure it tastes great too!
Hop over anytime…and I’ll whip up my best dishes just for you… Everyone can fly! 😉
This is nice. Haha…the beef and the teaspoon fought while you are cooking.
My mom also like to cook a dish similar to this one. One of the mainstay dish that I eat every once in the week.
Once a week? Gosh…that’a a lot of red meat. We do not eat beef that often…