If Monsoon comes can soup be far behind?

Rain pittered and the some drops pattered on the iron staircase outside the kitchen window. My stomach demanded victual succour while the cranium tempted the eyes into succumbing to a rather tempting slumber.

A cauldron of stock from gleaned from the remains of the last potluck at my place was almost a divine suggestion at this point.

Pork Bone Soup Stock

A quick look at the crisper reminded me of a weekend cleaning fervour. Drat! No vegetables. 
Oh look! A neglected onion, a nub of ginger, and a handful of garlic. My heroes!

Rough chopped, the garlic browned and wafted an aroma that waited to sizzle with the onion slivers in the sauce pan.

Garlic getting browned

The onions join the garlic

Decisions! Decisions! Clear soup or thick? Nah! Neither. Something umami and rich. And it'd better be quick!

Soy sauce and oyster sauce

A quick dash of soya sauce (to reinforce the umami) and a gob oyster sauce later, the mix was getting ready to embrace the broth. 

Ah! The meat... I quickly got out the shredded pork pulled from the stock pot along with the shoulder bones and magically the hungry kittens appeared, howling for their share. 
(You cannot fool the feline nose!)

Shredded Pork from the Soup Bones

Add the shredded pork

Dora Dora Kitten is eyeing the meat!

Boiled Pork Skin bits

While the pork soaked up the goodness of the soy, I remembered the pork skin from the stock. So, I quickly chopped some and threw in the bits to add a bit of a bite and texture. The pork skin bits begged to bind things a bit, so they joined the mix and sputtered a bit.  

Getting ready for the broth...

Noodles! Ah dang! Of course... A wee bit of rummage in the larder revealed some dandy tea powder and buckwheat soba noodles.

Japanese Buckwheat Soba Noodles

Add the noodles

The broth went in little at a time, deglazing the saucepan and then, in went the noodles...

The Pork Broth

A splash of Chinese rice wine

... and then I ladled in lot of broth from the stock pot. Everything cosied up to each other and soon was bubbling contentedly in the sauce pan. So I splashed in a wee bit of Chinese Rice Wine for luck and turned the heat to a gentle simmer for a while.

Ladled into a bowl, bits of rescued cilantro and drop of toasted sesame oil now crowned my midnight saviour.

Slurp! 

Quick Tomato Carrot Stir Fry with Soya Sauce

This is one for the morning when I am loathe to cook and yet I want something that helps the taste-buds as the lunchtime beckons.


I started with a medium sized onion (about and inch and a half in diameter). This quickly got chopped into four and then another slice through the middle. A quick slap with the palm gave me little pieces that would add texture to the dish. A few cloves of Chinese garlic (easy to peel) got gently smashed by the blade and then roughly chopped next.

A couple of smallish tomatoes got chopped next

The carrot take a while to dice but once done I popped it into the microwave for a couple of minutes to soften them while everything else got started.

The garlic went into the hot oil and quickly started getting caramelized...

The onions went in next and got tossed around briefly to coat them with the oil to get the garlicky flavour on them but not too cooked since I wanted them to retain the crunch.

And then the tomatoes joined in while the microwave started beeping to remind me that the carrots were ready...

After adding the carrot I put in a wee bit of dark soy sauce to add some salt and the overpowering taste of soy...

A little shake and a minute later my lunch was all ready to be packed into my trusty Tupperware lunchbox.

Simple Vegetable Stew

I'd intended to make this yesterday in the night, but I reached home, played with the cat and promptly fell asleep.
Not a very interesting thought when  you've got to chop vegetables AND cook in the morning. :(


I learnt how to make this stew from my dad. However, usually the stock is always from the boiled meat (beef or pork). In this instance, I wanted to make it with just vegetables...


I took whole cloves (lavang), cinnamon (dar chini), cardamon (elaichi), tej patta (bay leaves), and pepper. To give a little twist I added some kari patta (curry leaves) and of course crushed some ginger and garlic. Now, for those from the South of India, the curry leaves would be a normal fixture, but I have grown up consuming stews sans this... 

Next, the vegetables got chopped...

While all the spices sputtered in hot oil in the pressure cooker...

I first added the tomatoes and quartered onions since I like a bit of their juices to pick up the fragrance of the spices and take them to the other ingredients. I use very little oil, else I could just add everything in and the oil would take it everywhere.

Next everything else went in and got stirred around...

Then I just added water and pressure cooked everything for two 'whistles' of the pressure cooker while I prepared to leave for office...

I waited impatiently for the cooker to cool enough before I packed my lunch box...

And almost scaled my palate as I rushed through breakfast (of the same stew...)

Try this one... And Bon Appétit!