Chinese Lotus Root Soup using rice cooker

Lotus Root Soup (Pork Ribs, Peanuts) using rice cooker

Chinese Lotus Root Soup (排骨莲藕汤)

Pork and lotus root soup (莲藕汤) is a healthy soup which helps to improve our immune system. The main ingredient lotus root is rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, copper, iron, potassium, thiamin, manganese and has very low in saturated fat. This nutritious soup is simple yet is rich in flavourful with the addition of dried scallops, dried dates and dried squid.

Serves: 4-5 Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 2-3 hours using rice cooker

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium size lotus root or 300g of frozen slices
• 1-2 carrots - peeled and cut into chunks
• 300g pork ribs
• 100g peanuts - soaked in hot water for 10 mins
• 8 red dates
• 3 dried scallops
• 1/2 dried squid - cut into wide strips  
• Boiling water (preferred) or room temperature water
• A pinch of salt for tasting (put in a few mins before cooking time is up)

INSTRUCTIONS

• Boil water if you do not have enough water to cook soup.
• Soak peanuts in hot water for 10 mins to soften the peanuts. Discard the soaking water.
• Wash, peel and cut the lotus root (if in a whole) and carrots.
• Cut the squid using scissors into wide strips.
• Quick rinse of the red dates and dried scallops.
• Pour everything (except pork ribs, water and salt) into your rice cooker pot.
• Blanch the meat by pouring hot water into the bowl of meat and use tongs to rinse the meat.
• Put the blanched pork ribs inside the pot.
• Pour hot water into the pot until it “just” covers the ingredients
• Start the rice cooker by pressing the necessary soup settings.
• Enjoy your flavourful healthy soup!

Deariebear Mommie Tips

• You can pour hot water into the frozen lotus root slices to give them a quick rinse if you wish to wash them but I believe this optional as they should be cleaned before packaged and froze.
• Do not blanch the meat for too long especially small pork ribs as it will lose its flavour. Please do not wash the any meat with tap water to prevent contamination.
• Keep any left-over soup for the next day and cook with noodles. 

Full video on how to cook soup using rice cooker

 

Reviews of Philips HD3087/62

Features that I particular love:

Keep food warm for 24 hours after cooked

6.0mm 5-layer pot (the usual pot is 2.0mm). Give you the big pot taste

Longer cooking time for more flavourful soup

Durability. Used for 5 years and is still going strong

I Love this pot so much that I actually bought 2 of them :) Been using it to cook soup, rice and steam food. 

I tried cooking soup like the night before like 10pm and the soup will be ready for me to pack to work in the morning or last till we come back home for dinner since it is able to keep warm for 24 hrs. You can also prepare the ingredients the night before and cook it in the morning too. This shows the the durability of the 6.0mm pot. Thick enough to withstand the heat and duration.

Some may say that it is wasting electricity but convenience and time-saving is most important to me while still serving my family warm healthy meals. 

Imagine you do not need to watch over the fire for your soup. Most importantly, you are able to serve hot flavourful soup to your children when you reach home after work.

This Philips HD3087 is considered an old version but it has been the most durable and useful one. Currently it is not commonly sold online. Previously, I also bought them in Big Box 2 years ago (yes. I bought another 2 new ones and used them in Mumbai).

The only cons that I can think about it is;

The pot is heavier than a normal rice pit because of its thickness. Other than that, it is great!

You can consider the latest Philips HD2137 which is also a multi-purpose cooker which can do pressure cooking too. I used that when I need a larger pot of soup of 6 litres as compared to this current pot of 5 litres. It can be used to stew meat, make yogurt and bake. It is currently having a promotional discount at Qoo10. 

Happy soup cooking :)

Night safari 2020

This is our first experience at Night Safari Singapore. We visited night safari on the 29th August 2020, Friday before promotion ends.

Due to convid-19, we need to book tickets online and select the time slot to enter the safari and we managed to get the earliest slot at 7pm. Please book way in advance if you are planning to visit any tourist attraction in Singapore because the attractions are restricting the number of entries and visiting slots are competitive especially the night safari is only opened from Thursday to Sunday. 1st lesson: Book a few weeks in advance.

When we entered the premises at about 7.08pm, we immediately went to queue up for the “Creatures of the Night” 7.30pm show but was surprised to find out that it was already full. Apparently, they restricted the entries to 50 per show. 2nd lesson: Go earlier and quickly queue up for the show. So we decided to take a tram to tour around.

Since it was about 7.20pm that we aboard the tram, we could see the animals pretty clear though it got dark pretty soon as the tram travelled. OMG!!! I could see these animals really close except for the lions and tiger (tiger was in an enclosure). The deers and the tapirs were so super near that they could easily come into our tram and sit with us :p. One tapir was so close to me that I thought it was going to sniff me. Oh yes, I am taking my words back which I’ve said to my boy that we were going to the same Zoo but at night. This was totally different. The Night Safari showcases nocturnal animals.

After the ride At 7.49pm, we immediately try to queue for the show (this was the only show available, the rest were not available else it will be more fun) but was astonished that the 8.30pm was full too. We asked the crew what time should we queue for the 9.30pm show and he said “NOW”. We were like “HUH!” But he was very nice to put us on waiting list for the 8.30pm show. So I brought the kids to the “food court” just beside the show queuing area while hubby was queuing up. The table which we were seated was just beside the queuing area so I can easily pass food to him if we ordered food but LUCKILY the crew told us we were able to come in because someone gave up waiting. Lesson 3: Be thick skinned and ask whether can put you on waiting list. If not, have someone to sit at the queuing bench while the rest can go to the “food court” but choose the table near the queuing bench so can pass food around. 

Yes. We got into the 8.30pm “Creatures of the Nights”. It was a little cozy performance area and the host was really good though I find the show’s duration a little bit too short. We saw  many cute animals up close (seated at the first row) which I never saw them before in the day Zoo like the white raccoon, the little white fox, the fishing cat, etc.. Lesson 4: Sit at the first row to experience these cute animals up close.

Then “makan time!”. We went to the “food court” and ordered the Satays, cheesy fries and the beef noodles. Yes, the place seem like a open-air food court with better ambience but comes with a price. A plate of 6 pcs of satay is about $6.50, beef soup noodle Around $12. Lesson 5: Eat full at home first if you don’t wish to eat there as it is the only place to buy and eat.

At about 10pm, we decided to just take another ride to see the difference. Disappointingly, most of the animals seem to be resting. But we Truly enjoyed the cool night breeze on the tram but my boy was already asleep on my lap with my girl nearly dozing off. Lesson 6: Take the tram or visit the animals or take the walking trails earlier to catch animals while the animals are still active. They were still awake at 10pm but definitely more active if you visit them earlier. 

It was a pity that we didn’t walk any trails because both kids were tired and way past their bedtime. However, this was truly a great and eye-opener for us as this was our first safari experience.

Summary of the tips:

• 1st lesson: Book a few weeks in advance.
• 2nd lesson: Go earlier and quickly queue up for the show
• Lesson 3: Be thick skinned and ask whether can put you on waiting list. If not, have someone to sit at the queuing bench while the rest can go to the “food court” but choose the table near the queuing bench so can pass food around. 
• Lesson 4: Sit at the first row to experience these cute animals up close.
• Lesson 5: Eat full at home first if you don’t wish to eat there as it is the only place to buy and eat.
• Lesson 6: Take the tram or visit the animals or take the walking trails earlier to catch animals while the animals are still active. They were still awake at 10pm but definitely more active if you visit them earlier. 

Have fun!

Storytelling: Sunshine and Snow

Recently, my girl finds recording herself reading is cool and fun. So she said “Mama, please record my reading and post it up so my friends and teachers can see.”

Title: Sunshine and Snow

So this is her first storytelling and the title is “Sunshine and Snow”. It shares about how the twin sisters had disagreements about how their birthday party should be. It is a meaningful story to share with your children about siblings’ squabbles and its consequences. This story is one of the many stories in this book called “The magical stories”. 

You can purchase this book from Amazon.

Please view this video on the full storytelling. 

Note: We have no intention to breach any copyright infringement. This is to share love of storytelling among kids. Reading aloud helps kids on their articulation and confidence. Hopefully it will aspire kids or children to read aloud.