Red Bean Lotus Seed Soup

I was craving for red bean soup but I didn’t want to watch the stove while cooking so I have decided to use my pressure cooker to make this chinese dessert. So I googled and found this recipe online  Christine’s Recipes and did some modifications to it. I didn’t have to wait long to enjoy my red bean soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of red beans
• 1 cup of lotus seeds
• a couple pieces of dried mandarin peel depending on your preference (I use 4 pieces)
• 2 litres of water
• 3-4 pieces of pandan leaves and tie them into a knot
• 1 pieces of rock sugar (about 100gm), adjust to your own taste

 

Directions:

1. Soak the lotus seeds in hot water for a few minutes, once its soften, split it open and remove the green stem in it. The green stem is bitter so you do not want to eat that.
2. Soak the dried mandarin peel until its soft. Use a knife and lightly scrape the inner white part as it can be bitter.
3. Wash, rinse and drain the red beans well.
4. Put all the ingredients into the inner pot of the pressure cooker. Close the lid, make sure to turn steam release handle to ‘sealing’ position. Press the “congee” or “porridge” button on your pressure cooker.
5. Once it is done, the pressure cooker will beep. Let the pressure cooker to natural release the pressure. Once it is done, the float valve will drop to the down position.
6. Open the lid slowly and away from you so the steam will not get into your face.
7. Your red bean lotus seed dessert is ready. Remove the mandarin peel and pandan leaves. Stir and mix before serving. Add more rock sugar or brown sugar if needed.

 

 

Asian Lettuce Chicken Wrap

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts pounded very thin and chopped into small pieces
• 1 can of  water chestnuts, roughly chopped (I like water chestnuts so I use 1 can but you can use whatever amount you like)
• 1 large carrot, diced
• ½ cup shelled edamame
• 1 cup mushrooms, diced
• ½ sweet onion, diced
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup hoisin sauce
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper (I use white pepper)
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce (chili garlic sauce found in the Asian grocery section)
• 1 head butter lettuce or iceberg lettuce

Directions:

1. Heat large frying pan over medium heat, then add olive oil. Add chicken and cooked it until it’s almost cook and then add the rest of the vegetables to frying pan. Saute over medium heat 5-10 minutes until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through.
2. Add all the seasonings to the pan. Stir and sauté about 5 minutes longer. Serve in lettuce leaves and top with additional sriracha sauce and green onions if desired.

For me I like it with multigrain rice.