Kelp and Nori Soup 海带紫菜汤

Kelp and nori soup.

Kelp is also known as kombu, or 海带.
Nori is the type of seaweed used to wrap sushi. The type I used today is the snack pack nori.

I was curious about this soup found in a recipe book I have. And it's a great way to use up nori snacks that have turned limp in our humid weather.

Seaweed Tofu Rolls 紫菜卷豆腐

It was in 2001 that I came up with this dish.

It was inspired by my first taste of Agedashi Tofu. And for many years I have cooked it many times, this way.

I've taken the pics of this dish many times throughout the years, starting from the first few months of blogging, and each time I cooked this again.. LOL. I just never shared this recipe for almost 7 years, not that I was reluctant too, but just never got around to do it.

Coral Seaweed Kerabu - MFF Sabah #6

The Semporna Islands off Tawau are flourishing with seaweed farms.
The cultivated seaweed is sold either in fresh or dried form with only the dried form out of state.

Coral seaweed is also fondly called Sea Bird's Nest as they are also rich in collagen, the protein responsible for beautiful taut skin. The seaweed has no taste on its own, but readily takes on any flavour it is being infused with.

Miyeok Guk, Korean Seaweed Soup - Confinement Month # 9

My brother went to Korea lately and bought a large pack of Korean seaweed for his wife and I.  My SIL just had a baby, Arianna 5 weeks before Reuben came by. Yes, he is Reuben for life now. It's black and white in his birth certificate. My dear brother then bought the beef stock powder from Jaya Grocer, googled up a recipe, passed to my mom and taught my mom how to prepare it for my SIL who was in confinement at that time.

Kelp Soup with Beans and Oysters

Adapted from Soups for Expelling Dampness and Heat by Chiu Sang

Indications:
High cholesterol level, high triglyceride level, fatty liver

Functions:
Promotes urination, expels phlegm, softens tumours, eases meridian congestion, cleanses the blood vessels, reduces blood fat

20gm dried kelp (kombu, I used Taiwanese)
30gm black beans
40gm soy beans
250gm lean pork, cubed
20gm dried oysters, rinsed (about 5 pieces)
2.5L water
Some spring onion for sprinkling

1. Soak both beans for 2 hours. Discard soaking water, and drain beans.
2. Soak dried kelp for 20 minutes only. Discard soaking water. Cut into smaller pieces or long strip and tied into bows.
3. Bring water to a boil. Put in everything.
4. Boil on high heat for 10 minutes, then lower down to low heat for another 2 hours.
5. Season with salt and pepper.

Seaweed Beancurd Rolls with Ginger Sauce

This recipe caught my eye because I had extra seaweed from my Sushi dinner. I can’t finish the whole pack.

My first time doing real vegetarian stuff. Actually this is called mock fish. But I prefer to call this in its real state. For the first time, something in a local Chinese publication worked for me!!! Right up to the sauce.

Although the original recipe called for black vinegar and I don’t have that, I used Worcestershire which is sour as well. And it did just fine. I added the cornstarch solution at the end because I find the sauce too liquidy. The sauce is really good. Fragrantly ginger, but without the heat on your tongue. Light hint of sourness…just nice. Mother in law said she’ll use the sauce for real fish 

Actually, I only did half of the recipe in the book because the original called for 6 Tbsp of ginger juice. That’s really a lot. So I tried halving everything and see how much gravy I’ve got, and it was just nice. Well, I only doused 60% of the rolls in sauce, cos I left out the ends and some loosely wrapped ones to munch on cos they weren’t that pretty and can’t stand up straight on the plate. So, I f u want to sauce up all the rolls, use the full recipe.

What u will need

3 pieces of Seaweed sheets
Large beancurd sheet (this is pliable even when dry, not the totally dry type. I bought this at a sundry shop. I saw this at Jusco too. Tesco may have this)
cut into pieces slightly bigger than seaweed sheets. 1 large beancurd sheet can make 6 smaller pieces.
9 pieces of soft bean skin rolls (dou bao, 豆包),
Not to be washed, squeezed to remove excess water and marinated with 1 egg, ½ tsp salt, dash of pepper, 1/2 tsp sugar and 1 tsp milk powder. If vegan, omit the egg and milk powder and replace with 1 tsp cornstarch as binding agent.
Edible Glue,
½ Tbsp tapioca starch mixed with 2 tsp water. Bring 80ml water to a boil. Pour boiling water over starch. Mix and u will have edible glue.

How to roll??

1. Lay 1 piece of cut up beancurd sheet and brush all over with glue.
2. Paste seaweed sheet.
3. Arrange 3 pieces of marinated soft bean skin rolls onto seaweed.
4. Roll up tight and apply more glue on ends before finishing up the rolling.
5. Steam on medium heat for 5 minutes and reduce to low heat for 15 minutes. Leave to cool down before cutting up. (You can do until this step, one day in advance and chill in fridge.)
6. Cut rolls into inch long pieces and trim the ends.
7. Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper.
8. Arrange rolls on plate and prepare sauce. Pour sauce over and serve.

Ginger Sauce (full recipe)
6 Tbsp pure ginger juice
4 Tbsp sugar (Yes, u need this amount to tone down the heat of the ginger, but still leaving the ginger very fragrant)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
2 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil (original recipe was 2 Tbsp, but to me that seems too much. I used only this amount and it was just nice for me, but if you're using blended sesame oils like Ghee Hiang blue label or Deer brand, use the original amount)
1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp cooking oil
Mix together everything except cornstarch solution and cooking oil. Heat pan/wok and put in oil. Pour prepared sauce mixture into wok and bring to a boil. Lightly thicken with cornstarch solution.
Pour sauce over beancurd rolls.