Soup and Rice

We're finally making some headway in cleaning out the cupboards. I have completely emptied our small freezer and depleted the canned goods we had on hand by about half. We are trying to leave here on July 1, so that gives us 2 months and a week to use everything up. For now, the plan is to go to MI until July 9, then head out on the 10th for the 50 million mile drive to New Mexico. We may make a pit stop in St Louis because there is a shipping port there and we're hoping that the government will ship my car that is in storage in New Jersey to there. That way we could pick it up on the way down and be done with it.

I think K1 called the other day, but it was about 15 minutes after I left for work in the morning so I didn't get the call and he didn't leave a message.

Anyhow, today I brought the 500 Chinese Recipes book out again and made two things.

First up, Egg Flower Soup.

You will need:
5 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I used chicken)
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs
1 spring onion, sliced
1 tbsp coriander (I did not use this)



Put the stock into a pan with the ginger, soy sauce, oil and five-spice powder. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Blend the cornstarch with 4-5 tbsp water. Stir into the stock; cook until slightly thickened. In a bowl, beat the eggs with 2 tbsp cold water until the mixture becomes frothy. Drizzle the egg into the soup, stirring vigorously with chopsticks. Serve at once, sprinkled with sliced spring onions.

Next up was fried rice with pork.

You will need:
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp chopped garlic
4 oz tender pork, cut into small cubes (I used leftover, already cooked pork)
2 eggs, beaten
5 cups cooked rice
2 tbsp fish sauce (I used only 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp superfine sugar



Heat the oil in a pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for about 2 minutes until softened. Add the pork to the pan and stir-fry until the pork is fully cooked. Tip in the beaten eggs and stir-fry over the heat until scrambled into small lumps. Add the rice and continue to stir and toss, to coat it with the oil and prevent it from sticking. Add the fish sauce, soy sauce and sugar and mix well. Continue to fry until the rice is hot. Serve with sliced green onions, fresh sliced red chillies (I did not add these) and 1 lime, cut into wedges (I didn't add this either).

I didn't hold out much hope for the soup, but it ended up not being half bad. It looked awful. I think if I make it again, I would cut down on the five spice powder just a bit. The rice was okay too, but must have been a bit bland for J as he added extra soy.