Recipe: Siong Tong Lala 上湯啦啦 (Clams in Superior Soup)

 Siong tong lala 上湯啦啦 can commonly be found in Chinese dai chow (homestyle cooking) restaurants. We will not hesitate in ordering this if it's available on the menu - my son especially, loves this dish! That's how he got his nickname "Lala King".... he could easily devour a whole plate of lala, if you let him.

Siong tong la la usually comprises la la clams cooked in a superior stock with Chinese rice wine, dong quai (Angelica sinensis), cili padi, and goji berries. When we make it at home, we usually use Japanese asari clams which are really similar and more accessible (you can usually find this in frozen sections of the supermarket). I find them cleaner and less gritty too. You will first need to soak them in salted water and rinse several times to remove any excess grit.. it's no fun biting into grit when you're enjoying your dinner.

To make the stock, I use chicken stock, simmered with garlic, ginger and a generous dash of ginger wine. I love the herbal taste of the siong tong la la in restaurants, so adding dong quai is a must. Don't forget the cili padi too, for a nice, subtle heat. Once the stock is ready, it's just a matter of minutes for the clams to be cooked.  The good thing about making this at home is that we can supersize the portion and it will still cost significantly less than ordering it in the restaurants. So good!

Watch the step-by-step YouTube video here: 

You can buy dang gui here: https://shope.ee/9K4Hg50hjU

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Siong tong la la (Clams in superior soup)
Recipe by Baby Sumo

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

500g asari or lala clams

2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4cm ginger, julienned

1 tbsp cooking oil

2 slices dang gui / dong quai (Angelica sinensis)

2-3 red cili padi, chopped

500ml chicken stock

2 tbsp ginger wine

1 tbsp goji berries

Spring onions, to garnish

1. Soak clams in a bowl of salted tap water for 10 minutes, then rinse. Repeat at least 3 times, to remove any sand and grit. Drain and set aside.

2. In a wok, heat cooking oil over medium high heat.  Then, add ginger and garlic and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, until lightly golden and fragrant. Add the chicken stock, cili padi, goji berries, Shaoxing wine and dong quai, and simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Taste, and season with salt if necessary. If you're happy with the taste, then add the clams, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir once, then cook for a further 1-2 minutes.

4. Serve immediately with rice. 

Note:

1. If using frozen asari clams, defrost at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, before doing Step 1. 1kg of frozen clams will yield 500g clams after defrosting.

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Recipe: Vietnamese Salad with Chicken & Prawn

Whenever we mentioned salads in the past, BabySumoKids will go "but we don't like salads". I guess that's because some salads we've had in restaurants are a little sad (just some random leaves with dressing all over it).

All that changed when they tried this Vietnamese salad with chicken and salad and now they think salads are wonderful. Now, they even put in requests for me to make this salad for them.

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This salad comes with sliced cabbage leaves, julienned cucumber, shredded chicken breast, blanched prawns, Vietnamese mint and regular mint, shredded omelette, vermicelli noodles and toasted cashew nuts, dressed in a Vietnamese inspired dressing - sweet, tangy and spicy flavours, all in one. You can enjoy this salad warm or cold. Vibrant and delicious, definitely a keeper!

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vietnamese chicken salad vietnamese chicken salad vietnamese chicken salad vietnamese chicken salad

Vietnamese Salad with Chicken and Prawn

Recipe by Baby Sumo, adapted from Vietnamese Bible

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients
100g vermicelli

3-4 Chinese cabbage leaves, sliced

1 cucumber, julienned or spiralized

150g chicken breast

12 prawns, peeled and deveined

A handful Vietnamese mint (daun kesum), chopped

6-8 mint leaves, chopped

3 eggs

1 tsp light soy sauce

1 tbsp cooking oil

A small handful cashew nuts (or crushed peanuts)

For the chicken:

1. Fill a saucepan 2/3 full with water and bring to the boil. Once boiling, add the chicken and reduce to medium heat. Simmer for 10 minutes, then turn off heat and leave chicken in covered pot for a further 15 minutes.

2. Remove chicken from pot and set aside to cool. Once cool, you can shred the chicken. Reserve the chicken stock for other uses.

For the omelette:

1. In a bowl, crack eggs, season with light soy sauce and lightly beat with a fork. In a large frying pan, heat cooking oil over medium high heat. Once the pan is hot, add half the eggs and swirl to form a thin omelette. Cook until egg is 80% set, then use a spatula to flip over and continue cooking for 20-30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining egg.

2. Allow omelette to cool for 5-10 minutes. Then roll up and thinly slice the omelette.

For the vermicelli, Chinese cabbage and prawns:

1. In a large pot of lightly salted water, cook vermicelli for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon into a bowl of cold water. The vermicelli will change from translucent to opaque after a few minutes. Before using, drain well. 

2. In the same pot of water, blanch the Chinese cabbage for 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

3. In the same pot of water, add the prawns and blanch for 40-50 seconds, until the prawns are cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

To assemble:

1. In a large salad bowl, start by placing vermicelli. Then top with shredded chicken, Chinese cabbage, shredded omelette, Vietnamese mint, mint, and finished with the prawns in the centre. Garnish with toasted cashewnuts and pour over the dressing. (I usually leave out the chillies when pouring in the dressing in case it's too spicy for the kids)

2. Toss the salad along with the dressing and enjoy!

For the salad dressing
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 red cili padi, deseeded and chopped
3 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar

1. Mix the ingredients together in a small bowl, until sugar is dissolved. Taste, and adjust to your liking, with more lime juice, fish sauce or caster sugar.

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