Chinese Peanut and Beancurd Sheets (Foo Chuk) Soup

Delicious Chinese style soup perfect for lifting your spirits and warming you up.

Hi everyone!

It is officially the end of summer and the weather has certainly gotten rainier and slightly colder. I always want soup on gloomy days, I find that it is a real comfort food.

This soup is so easy – really, you can count the ingredients, 5 in total, not including the water. I used raw blanched peanuts here, the ones you can buy from the Oriental shop.

In Malaysia, I used a different variant that is specially for boiling soup. It is much softer but I can’t seem to find it here in the UK so this will have to suffice. You can use beancurd sticks if you prefer, though those are slightly harder and hence you would have to boil them a little longer.

In other news I was listed in an infographic published on Rebates Zone as being one of the Top 50 food blogs in the UK! I must say I feel very proud and happy to be included – Yippee! Here is the infographic.

I get to have this badge of honour!

In further news, I am going back to college. I will be starting my first day at Loughborough College tomorrow and I am so excited. Sure I am twice the age of most of the students but I have not felt so happy and excited in a long time. I don’t ever recall feeling so happy or excited when I enrolled for my A Levels and or University half a lifetime ago. I will be training to be a gym instructor, it will be tough so, wish me luck! Be sure to follow me on Instagram for all the exciting updates of life as a mature student. I am going to prove to myself that at 33, I have still got it.

Now click on for the soup recipe! 

ABC Soup

Healthy chicken based soup made with potatoes, carrots and onions. My kind of “diet” food. 

Hello! When you read this I will be in the midst of my house move. So, how am I posting this ABC soup recipe you ask? Well, that is down to the wonders of scheduling posts.

This soup has a catchy and rather funny name considering that it is not an acronym for the ingredients in it. Neither is it anything like alphabet soup.

If you look at it, it is essentially a good nourishing chicken soup. I have been having this soup for as long as I can remember. I think my mother made this for us every other day way back when.

Lionhead Meatballs

Hello everyone!

How has your week been? I have been besieged with car problems. Well, it was actually a flat car battery. It may seem like a simple enough problem to solve. However, when you add to the mix that the battery is only two months old, was unable to be jump started with the help of many friends and that I do not have an auto recovery/assist service, it quickly gets problematic. After signing up with an auto recovery service provider I had to wait twenty-four hours for the service to be activated before I could request a call out. The problem didn’t end there however, an argument and two visits to the garage later the car battery has finally been replaced at no additional cost. Enough nattering about my car problems, I am glad it is all solved now.

Thai Butternut Squash Soup (vegetarian)

I am very excited to share this fantastic soup recipe with you. I am so excited I want to go straight to the recipe. Seriously, this soup has such a sophisticated taste you will receive many praises.

It’s a great addition to a dinner party menu too – especially if you are hosting an Asian themed one. It’s not difficult to do either. I roasted the butternut squash as I feel that it enhances the taste of the soup just that much more. As for the consistency of the soup, you can leave it chunky but I blended mine as I prefer my soups to have a smoother consistency. I think it looks better too.

Cod Fish Noodle Soup

Hello, happy 1st of July and how was your weekend?

Mine was quite eventful, thank you for asking ;) I had a grand time at the Vamos Festival which was held on Saturday at Newcastle's Highbridge Quarter. It was a real carnival like atmosphere and the smell of various street food permeating the air was oh-so-wonderful. I love how you go to a street carnival where there is a myriad of food stalls and you are trying to pin point which stall a particularly delicious smell is coming from. Then you realise, it's impossible, it is delicious all over. Yum! After the carnival I stupidly stumbled into John Lewis, realised they had a sale on and spent way too much money on unnecessary things.

After all that fun, I wound up having a bit of an annoying cough today. I was really in need of some hot soup to soothe my itchy throat. Nothing spicy or oily to be on the menu.

Since it is a Monday night and I am home alone I was in no mood for time consuming preparations. In fact, I don't think I ever am! Fast, easy and fresh is the way to go I say.

As such, I decided to make a wholesome and throat soothing Cod Fish Noodle Soup. It took me all of 20 minutes to make. Kind of longer than instant noodles from a packet but more nutritious and better for you. When you sauté the ginger, garlic and preserved turnip together, the aromatic fragrance assures you that something good is happening. The hint of sesame oil also adds a nice fragrant punch to the dish.