What's up everyone? This week, I wanted to share 3 of our most soothing and comforting recipes from the past year, perfect for rainy days or whenever we feel like getting a little more cozy. We have all of the full recipes on our blog, linked in the description. To start, here's one of our favorites, chicken congee. In Cantonese, this classic porridge is known as "jūk", but congee has as many names as it does variations, since it's a staple of most Asian countries. Interestingly, in Chinese tradition, it's considered a bad omen to eat jook on Chinese New Year. When I asked my parents about it, my mom explained that in the "old, old days", many people didn't have enough rice to eat, using relatively small amounts of rice, they made big pots of congee to make their rice last longer. She said that, "the rich ate cooked rice, the poor ate jook" and that congee is not a high-class food, but my dad quickly chimed in: "This is not true, if cooked with high-class ingredients, porridge is a high-class meal." Looking back at historical accounts, there's truth to both sides. Rice porridge saved the lives of the hungry masses but also soothed the hearts and bellies of emperors past and little princes and princesses of present. Chinese parents often feed baby congee to their infants since it's so easy to eat and digest. My parents started feeding us jook when we turned 1 and they'd always cook up a huge batch any time we got sick. Like many of you, jook will always bring me back to my childhood. Hello friends! I hope you are all doing well. Today we'll be sharing our family recipe for chicken congee. This is a popular dish for us Cantonese people. First, for 4-6 people, we'll use 1 cup of rice. Then, I'll wash the rice. Let's wash it twice. For us Cantonese, we're very particular about the soup base. We have to cook the soup base slowly and intentionally. Great - we've washed the rice. Place it to the side. Next, we'll start boiling 8 cups of water to save time for later While we prepare all of our vegetables Peel and chop about 1/2 oz ginger into thin slices, and then into thin strips Then, we'll chop a few strands of cilantro and green onion into small pieces If you don't like cilantro, feel free to skip it. That's it - let's cut our chicken I'm going to use 12 oz of chicken If you want to use more, feel free Once we cut it into thin slices and marinate it When we put it in the congee, it'll be very tender When you're cutting ingredients, place a towel underneath your board That way, the board won't move all over the place Gently cut it into thin slices We're done cutting the chicken Next, we'll marinate our chicken Add 1 tbsp oyster sauce Then, push the chicken to one side of the bowl to clear out space Add 2 tsp cornstarch, 1 tsp chicken bouillon, 2 tbsp water Mix and massage the marinade for about 30 seconds Until there's no liquid left Then, add 2 tbsp vegetable oil to the bowl And mix it around with chopsticks for another 20-30 seconds The benefit of adding oil is to prevent the chicken from clumping together Another benefit - the oil helps trap the chicken's juices inside Great! We're done chopping everything. Let's start making our jook! Cooking jook takes a lot of time Great, for 4-6 people, we'll use 8 cups of water To save on cooking time, we've boiled some water in advance 8 cups of water should be enough for us After you're done pouring the water, set the stove to high heat We'll wait until it boils, then bring it to medium heat And then, wait for another 25 minutes Cover the pot Another tip for making congee: Wait until the water is boiling before adding our washed rice Here, since our water is already boiled, we can add the rice now Once the pot is boiling again, don't stir the rice If you stir, the rice will stick to the bottom of the pot more easily Let's wait for it to boil - cover the pot Making jook takes time. You need patience. For us Cantonese, we need the soup base to be beautiful Be patient. It's boiling now. Great, you can all see, it's boiling now. We'll stir it for a bit now, and then we won’t touch it again Stir, and let it cook slowly When you make jook, don’t stir too much If you stir it too much, it will stick to the bottom of the pot Remember this - don't stir too much. Now, we'll cover the pot partially to prevent it from overflowing Now, we'll adjust the stove to medium heat When we started, we were at high heat Now, after boiling, we've adjusted it to medium heat It should take around 25 minutes to cook fully For us Cantonese, we can't rush making beautiful congee. Be patient. He's sad, he just took a nap. When he woke up, he went like this - Hong Doy! Cam, you wanna eat the porridge? Oooh! How does the jook look? We've already cooked the jook for 25 minutes Let me take some out and show you This rice is already cooked beautifully Next, we'll use a whisk to break up our rice So that it becomes even more heavenly soft Stir constantly with the whisk for 2-3 minutes Keep stirring constantly So that the rice completely separates and becomes very soft If you don't use a whisk, it's fine, you just need to cook it for longer You’d cook for another 10 minutes For us, this is faster, and we can eat sooner This congee base is already very beautiful Remember - don't stir after it's started boiling See? The jook is done now, and it's not stuck to the bottom of the pot Very beautiful This thickness is just perfect Any lighter, and it won't taste as good Since I still have some ingredients to add Great, now we'll set the stove to high heat We'll be adding the chicken, which has already been marinated We’ll add the chicken slowly and spread it apart Don't pour it in all at once, mix and separate the pieces Here, my dad gradually added his chicken over the course of 30 seconds If you add it all at once, it will clump together Just let it cook slowly Using chopsticks, gently mix and separate the chicken Gently stir the chicken around for about 1 minute When the jook is boiling again, the chicken will be ready See? See that? The chicken is ready Now, we'll add our flavors We'll add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp chicken bouillon And the ginger we minced from earlier Stir everything around for 20-30 seconds Great, we can turn off our heat now Now, we'll plate the congee See how beautiful the chicken is? It’s so beautiful. See that? Let's pour the rest That perfectly fills the bowl! If you feel the jook is too thick for your liking You can add some boiled water and mix it around But if you’re comfortable with it, you don’t need to do anything Let's add some green onions And cilantro Great! We're done! What a great success! This tender chicken congee is done, let's eat! Next, we’ll be making 白菜豬肉湯, bok choy soup, a really quick and easy recipe my dad used to make for us all the time. Hello, my friends! Today, we’ll learn how to make bok choy soup with pork It'll be very easy to prepare One of the most popular soups for all of you youngsters out there Just like the words "cafe" and "chocolate" Bok choy is a loan word from Cantonese "baahk choi" Which literally means "white vegetable." Bok choy is one of the many different types of Chinese cabbages Cultivated for over 2000 years for its resistance to cold weather This is a super simple recipe That my parents make multiple times a week After you've cooked it We can keep the bok choy in the soup and eat it as is Or, often what we'll do is scoop the bok choy out, Drink the soup and eat the bok choy separately We'll use around a pound of bok choy for this soup We'll be using 5 oz pork chops, cut into slices You can add more if you like more meat Okay, we'll cut the pork first Cut out fatty parts from the pork Next, we will cut against the direction of the grain Cutting it horizontally Do you see these lines? They are all lined up like this Just cut across the grain The cooked meat won't be as tough when we cut this way After marinating with cornstarch, the meat will be smooth and tender We'll slice the pork See? The grain of the meat is horizontal So we'll cut across it Next, we'll be marinating our pork with 1 tsp cornstarch 1 tsp oyster sauce, and 1 tbsp water Stir the mixture until it's fairly even, and add the pork Using a bit of force, massage the pork for about 30 seconds To help the pork absorb the marinade Before we dive back into the recipe I wanted to touch on something really important Which is how to best store your bok choy In our meal time, my parent share their secrets From their decades of cooking with bok choy Is there a way to extend the life of it? Wrap it with paper before storing it in a plastic bag With this, you can store it in the fridge for a week What's the purpose of the paper towel? To absorb the water So you want to make it as dry as possible? Dry, with some small holes Oh, so there are holes on the plastic The most important thing is to make sure the veggies are dry Okay, so you'll set them out to dry after buying? It's better that way For bok choy, some times we'll buy 5-6 pounds for a week Daddy will peel the outer layer of each bok choy after buying It's around 3-4 leaves of each bok choy He'll leave the center part untouched I'll pick the older leaves to cook first He'll peel the 1, 2, 3 (leaves) and cook them that day Oh, cook the outer layer first！ Yeah Cook the outer layer (older leaves) first after buying -Oh! -Yeah! Cook the outer layer first, for all the bok choy Let's say you have 10 pieces of bok choy, peel the outer layer of each Save the middle part, wrap it with paper And poke some holes in the bag so it'll last longer This is so smart! But the outer layer is good for soup Because it has more fiber content It'll be tougher than the middle part of the bok choy Okay, cause this one, it's gonna get so soft It's nice in the soup Whereas the center ones are smaller pieces, easier for stir-fries The center is good for stir-fries, the outer layer is good for soup Okay, very good And now, back to the recipe! We've finished cutting the meat So we'll prepare the bok choy now Some of our viewers asked how we clean the bok choy? Making sure it's clean, without any dirt Let me tell you all about it! When washing vegetables, the leaves should be picked off one by one And soak them in a bucket of water We don't need the stem After picking all the leaves, usually there'll be dirt in the stalk Soak them in a pot of water and wash the dirt off the surface If you have time, it's better to soak the vegetables first For around 15-20 minutes Soak them and wash again Once we're done washing, we'll rinse it again with water Rinse it with water Rub the leaves to wash off the dirt Rinse it See? That makes it clean It's clean now Now, we'll cut our bok choy For bigger leaves, cut the stalk in half This will make it easier to consume Like this big leaf here, just cut the bottom part in half Or you can just leave it as it is Like this leaf here, you can just leave the smaller leaves as is Or cut it in half Okay, we've finished cutting the bak choy See? The bok choy is clean Okay, let's start to cook the soup We'll prepare a portion of about 5 cups of hot water It's okay if you want to add more We'll pour the hot water into a pot so it'll boil faster Next, we'll add a can of chicken broth This can contains about 14 oz of chicken broth Also, our stove is set to high heat We'll wait for it to boil first before adding in the ingredients Let's wait for a while While waiting for it to boil, we'll add a few slices of ginger This will enhance the flavor of the soup Just 3-4 slices will do You can choose whether to add it according to your preferences For those who like ginger, 3-4 slices is enough The soup tastes better with ginger Add 1 tsp of oil before adding in the bok choy Same goes for salt, add 1 tsp of salt Oil and salt will help the bok choy retain its color We'll add the veggies in separately First, we'll throw in the stalks Because those are harder to cook They need to be cooked longer After adding the stalks How long do you wait before adding the rest? It doesn't take long, just add the stalks first When you first add the stalks, the water temperature is higher, right? By the time you add the leaves, the temperature will be lower So we add the bok choy after the water boils? Yes, the bok choy is added after the water boils, understand? By adding vegetables after the water boils This helps the vegetables retain their color If we add in vegetables before the water boils, they'll turn yellow Because if we cook the veggies for too long The heat will destroy the chlorophyll in the leaves So it won't be as good We'll cover the wok and wait for the pot to return to a gentle boil Before adding the pork slices This depends on your setup but it took us about 3-5 minutes I also wanted to make a special shoutout to thank all of our wonderful Patreon supporters for helping bring this video to life. If you enjoy our videos and are interested in supporting us directly, head on over to patreon.com/madewithlau to learn more! Okay, the water is boiling It's boiling, the bok choy soup is boiling Now, we'll add the pork to the soup The meat must only be added after the bok choy soup is boiling Now, we'll add the pork into the soup Okay, it looks beatiful So what should we do now? Chicken bouillon You can choose not to add it, it's up to you You can add it if you want the soup to have more umami You can also leave it out Add 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder to the soup After adding the pork chops, once the pot returns to a boil The soup is ready to eat This should take about 1-2 minutes Great, the bok choy soup is ready Okay, here's our bok choy soup with pork! Aiyah, it's beautiful! The bok choy looks beautiful, it's still green, right? The meat slices look good too This bok choy soup with pork is ready to eat! Next, we'll be making 雲吞面, wonton noodle soup, one of my all time favorites. Hello, my friends! What we're going to learn today Is Wonton Noodle Soup. The noodles are made using egg noodles. A whole pack of egg noodles is around 15 oz. The amount of noodles depends on the number of people eating. One clump of these noodles is enough for each person. Around 5 oz of noodles for each, it's quite a big portion. We're feeding the whole family So I'll make more, this is 15 oz of noodles. Wonton Noodle Soup is one of my all-time favorites And it was actually one of the recipes I really wanted to share When we started this channel, because my parents made this Basically every other day for me as a kid. Like many of you, this dish brings up a ton of nostalgia for me. In Cantonese, wontons are pronounced wàhn tān Which roughly translates to "swallowing a cloud". They're a staple of Cantonese cuisine And in places like Guangzhou and Hong Kong It's almost impossible to NOT run into a restaurant or food stall That sells a cheap, heartwarming bowl of wonton noodle soup. Usually when we cook at home, we'll add vegetables to the soup. We'll use bok choy. Cut it into quarters. We're not stir frying, so don't chop it into small pieces. We're using 12 oz bok choy. You can add more if you like. Wonton noodles served in restaurants will only have 2-3 stalks at most. Usually for home cooking, I'll add more vegetables. The soup will taste a lot better with vegetables added. We'll also add green onions to the soup. That's all the chopping. To make it more visually appealing for the video I'll add some shrimp to the noodle as garnish. And it'll also taster better, right? It's optional but recommended to use about 7-8 shrimp here. They're not only tasty but also give the soup broth a nicer flavor. To cook the noodles, you must use boiling water And also use more water to cook, so the noodles cook faster. First, loosen the noodles. Because you don't want them to stick together? Loosen them so it'll be easier to cook, right? Okay, we're cooking 3 servings of noodles (15oz) So I'll split it to cook twice, once will be too much. Set the stove to high heat. And let the noodles cook in the boiling water for about 60 seconds. Don't have to cook it for too long. We'll scoop out the noodles now. Then, we'll soak the noodles in cold water. This is what they call "shocking". Is there tips to make the noodles more bouncy and chewy? The difference between less and more water Is less water takes more time to cook So the noodles will absorb more water and become too soft, right? That's why it's less bouncy and chewy. After shocking the noodles We'll drop the noodles in boiling water again. Noodles cooked like this will be more chewy. After quickly dunking them in cold water We'll place the noodles in the pot again for about 15-20 seconds. We don't need to put the noodles in cold water a second time. Put them in a bowl. These noodles will be very chewy. The noodles cooked in restaurants will be mixed with pork lard But I don't use pork lard, olive oil works too. The noodles will be smoother this way. Making wonton noodles from scratch is an art form That generations of people have devoted their whole lives to. It's a dying tradition But one of the original methods involves Smashing the noodle dough by bouncing your body on a bamboo lever Which creates a more springy and chewy bite than you'd get from a machine. For most of us, it's a lot easier to just buy fresh wonton noodles Which most Asian grocery stores carry. If you don't live near an Asian grocery store I've included a few links to buy dried wonton noodles online And my parents share how to adjust the cooking method for dried noodles. Can we use dry noodles to cook wonton noodles? Yeah, you can. Are they cooked the same way? Do you still remember I mentioned it in the Soy Sauce Chow Mein video? It's the same cooking method, loosen the noodles and cook them. Then, shock the noodles in cold water after the noodles are cooked. Like how I did just now. The noodles will loosen on their own after a bit You can't use high heat when cooking dried noodles? The water has to be boiling. Moderate temperature. Why? Because dried noodles are not as wet as fresh noodles. It'll take more time for the noodles to absorb water. Dried noodles take alonger time to cook. I think dried noodles need 1.5x the time. The noodles loosen only after it's cooked. Once the noodles loosen, then we cook it to soften the noodles. Back in China, we rarely had fresh noodles to eat - mostly dried. We used dried noodle to make noodle soup, lo mein. We rarely had stir fried noodle, most of the time just lo mein, right? Okay, let's cook the other half of the noodles Since we're preparing for so many people, right? You could cook less for fewer people. Just this is enough for 2 people, right？ It'll be done when the water starts to boil. Okay, shock them in cold water. It's called "gwo láahng hòh". Which helps make the noodle more chewy. Next, we'll soak them in the hot water again. Then, it's done. Drizzle some olive oil over the noodles to make them smoother, tastier. Mix them well. How much olive oil do you add? Around 1 tsp olive oil, it doesn't really matter. Okay, the noodles are cooked. Let's make the soup now. We'll use 4 cups of water and a can of chicken broth. Cover the pot. Add the vegetables after the water boils. Okay, the water is boiling. We'll add a little oil to the pot before adding the vegetables So the vegetables stay green and won't turn yellow. Around 1 Tbsp oil. What kind of oil are you using? It's olive oil. Also add 1 tsp salt. Whoa! It's like that after you add the salt. Add the vegetables to the pot when the water boils. Stephen from Patreon asked What additional dressings can you add to the wonton noodle soup? Spices? Oil? Chili sauce and vinegar. The noodles are alkaline, so vinegar can neutralize the alkalinity And make it easier for digestion. Cover the pot. With our stove still set on high heat We'll let the bok choy cook for about 1-2 minutes. Until the pot returns to a boil. It's boiling now, let's have a look. Wow! See, the vegetables look beautiful, right? This is fish sauce, the same as this. Adding fish sauce to the soup will give it more umami flavor. Add 1 Tbsp fish sauce. Let's taste the soup first. You try it too. Taste good? Uh-huh. It tastes good. Because it has chicken broth and fish sauce in it, so it's delicious. Also add a little sesame oil to the soup. Add 1 tsp sesame oil, just a little is enough. The soup will be more fragrant. Add a little bit of white pepper too. Okay, we'll add 1/2 cup of hot water to the pot. Many people wanted to know Dominic and 3 other people I can't say except for @eeenricaaa Want to know the secret to restaurant-like broth. Traditional wonton soup has many ingredients, like dried flounder. For home cooking, you must add bok choy, chicken broth, fish sauce… Yeah, somebody said anchovies. Do you use anchovies ever? Yeah, you can but we don't. Restaurants usually use bones to make soup, often chicken bones. Traditional soup, right? Like when you go to a Vietnamese restaurant, like a… Pho! Vietnamese pho. Wow! That soup is traditional, just like Chinese. A lot of good stuff - cow bones, pork bones, fish, chicken, and seafood. That's really nutritious. We don't have time to do that kind of soup. Hmm, nice! We'll add more noodles to the bowl. We can always add more noodles to the bowl if it's not enough. Okay, we'll place the vegetables on top of the noodles first. Lay them on top. Add the shrimp into the pot. Shrimp cooks fast, it'll take just a moment. Place the vegetables on top. The shrimp only need about a minute to cook. You can tell they're ready when they turn orange. Scoop out the shrimp first. This dish is called wonton noodle soup so I'll add some wontons. If you're wondering how to make wontons Then please look at our video last week about making wontons. Now, we'll reheat the cooked wontons. These wontons are already cooked, but if you're starting with raw wontons You'll boil them for about 3-5 minutes until they start floating. We have some additional pro tips for cooking in our wonton video So be sure to check the video out if you haven't seen it already. Okay, it's done. The wontons and noodles are all set. Now, we'll pour the soup to the bowl. Add the green onions as garnish. Wonton Noodle Soup is ready to serve! Hong Doy, time to eat! -Wow! -Oh, yeah! That's a good one! I am my father's son! Cheers! Wonton Noodle Soup! Time to eat!
