Saturday 30 November 2013

My Simple Chicken and Spinach Soup


I went shopping this morning in hopes of starting my Chinese New Year shopping early. Every year for the past 4 years, I have been telling myself not to wait until the last minute. Shopping at the eleventh hour is no fun. There are hundreds if not thousands of other shoppers doing the same thing and I get very disorientated when it gets too crowded. I hate crowds.



It was a relatively peaceful day in spite of the school holidays. I walked around 1-Utama and stopped at a clothes store. You know one of those that cater to the young and cool crowd, specifically underfed young girls. I looked at the sizes. XL was obviously not in their vocabulary but surprisingly XS is and even XSS (I hate you!). Can you imagine being extra small or extra extra small? Out of morbid curiosity I took out a pair of pants. The L size could jolly well be an S as far as I was concerned. That pant leg would never make it up my calf. Is this depressing or what? And that's not all. A promoter at Aeon, who's most probably on the wrong side of 38 called me Auntie. Hallo! Who is auntie? Of course I declined to try her product...tsk...tsk...tsk.....


I snuck in chicken feet for the collagen. I need all the help I can get.

It's so hard to lose weight. And heck, this morning I had two chungs (rice dumplings) which my partner brought back from Penang. Everything from Penang is good and I cannot resist. So for lunch today, I had chicken and spinach soup. Protein and vegetables, a very low carb meal. If only I can keep up with sort of diet, I would be in better shape in time for Chinese New Year. Oh yes, next month December is a time for resolutions, no?










Chicken and Spinach Soup
Recipe source : You don't really need a recipe

Ingredients :
- 2 chicken legs
- 6 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 inch ginger, lightly smashed
- 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
- spinach (baby bayam) as much as you like
- 1 liter water
- 2 Maggi chicken stock cubes

Method :
1. Put all ingredients except spinach into a pot.
2. Bring to a boil and lower heat. Simmer for 45 minutes to an hour.
3. Add spinach and simmer until spinach is tender.


29 comments:

  1. Nice!!! Eyewwwwww!!!! Tha claw!!! :D

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    1. Hah! Hah! I should have removed the claws :)

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  2. Indeed you are right.....you dont really need a recipe ingredient to boil soup like this. And yes, I love chicken feet for its collagen.

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    1. Mel, another nice thing with chicken feet is chicken feet kerabu!

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  3. so so so......do you have to eat the chicken feet for collagen or boiling them is good enough....(imagine some poor chook with no feet in heaven...talk about walking barefoot!)....and tell me....are the nails for extra calcium??? :p

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    1. Hehehe, if you take the legs you might as well take the feet. What's good to the feet without the legs ? How to walk in heaven without legs but with dangling feet?

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    2. I think we should boil the chicken feet longer to extract the collagen. The soup will become gelatinous and obviously I haven't boiled them long enough. And the nails, hah! hah! I am very lacking in finesse, should have trimmed them :D

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  4. This looks like my kind of comfort food

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  5. Phong Hong,Spinach is my favourite veggie, this soup simply looks yummy and healthy! :)

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    1. Esther, I love spinach too. I love to just stir fry it with garlic and salt.

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  6. Replies
    1. Oh yes, Kelly! Caveman food is supposed to be good for us :)

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  7. Hi Phong Hong, me too, already started shopping for my CNY needs [not food ingredients]. I usually don't have time for last minute shopping. Towards CNY, my time is all for family duties. Anything home cooked is still the best.

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    1. Kimmy, I want to take the stress off CNY shopping. Usually the shopping complex would be so crowded and I cannot tahan!

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  8. Hi Phong Hong,
    I can relate when it comes to shop for clothes. XL or XXL? I think sizes for clothes are getting smaller each year! Not that we may be "expanding" each year, no, no, nope! Defninitely not!! Hahaha! :) I hate shopping for clothes and shoes, I really do! I buy because I need to, not because I want to! LOL! Sounds weird??
    Nice soup!

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    1. Joyce, you sound like me! I am not into clothes or shoes shopping either and only do it for CNY or when I discover my blouse or pants is torn or worn out. I can survive on one pair of shoes for ages. Same thing for handbags :)

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  9. Phong hong this is my favourite soup I put lots of chicken feet I like to eat that of lunch hope to lose weight but nothing happen .Nowadays I hate myself of with this kind of body.Each time I shop I see beautiful clothes which your mum and I love to wear when we were young lau nyiour only can see but can't wear beautiful clothes for summer only can wear lau ah mah's clothes.Ha!Ha!

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    1. EE, hah! hah! I am now like that lah!

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  10. When I saw S and XS, so benci !! hehehe..what a simple yet healthy soup you have here..

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  11. Hi Phong Hong, your comfort soup look very appetizing. I like the chicken feet too. Care to share some with me?

    Have a nice Sunday.

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    1. Amelia, sure can share with you. Our beauty soup!

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  12. I used to love eating chicken feet a lot! My mum used to put in soup and boil it, and she always tells me eating the chicken feet will give me beautiful skin. Haha!

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    1. Yen, it is a rich source of collagen. I should eat it more often!

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  13. Hi Phong Hong, when I was a little kid...(a hundred yrs ago he, he)...my mother would by the feet on purposely for the chicken soup, in addition to the legs, and us siblings would fight over the feet...but I do not remember seeing the claws; even in our supermarkets, the claws are clipped off!

    Your chicken soup is so clear, which is the way the broth should be...love the addition of the ginger, and all the garlic pieces, and of course the fresh spinach...and carrots are always a must! Now, could you pass that delicious bowl of soup?...I'm such a soup 'lover'! xo

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    1. Elisabeth, hah! hah! you made me laugh! The chicken feet came with an organic chicken I bought. Usually the feet are taken away and I didn't want to waste it. My aunt taught me to use very low fire to achieve clear soup. I love soups too and they are so easy to prepare and so tasty!

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  14. This soup looks so healthy and delicious! My kids love chicken soup and are bound to enjoy this.

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    1. Mich, this soup is really so simple to put together and very nutritious. Perfect for those days when you need something quick but good!

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