Three Ingredients Only - Mikan Jam

Have you seen those smaller sized oranges in Japanese market lately? These cute bright color fruit are called mikan, often named as "Japanese mandarin" or "satsuma orange" in American market. 

The texture is more delicate compared to the larger counterparts. That said, mikan's membranes are softer and don't really need to be specifically picked out at all. Taste-wise, it varies slightly among all the mikan varieties, but I often find it on a sweeter side with a wee bit acidity compared to large oranges. 

Enjoying mikan straight up is the best way to savor it. However, sometimes making citrus into jam can lead you to a different realm. Don't believe it? Just wait till you try this mikan jam paired up with scone and clotted cream.

Three ingredients only mikan jam - 

Ingredients?

• 5 mikan
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

How?

The small amount recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, which half the lemon should do.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil then add in whole mikan. Cook for about one minute.

Remove the mikan and soak them in cold water. Wait till the mikan cools down and able to handle by hand.

Remove mikan from water and pat dry. Peel the mikan first then slice crosswise, pick out the seeds if any, but usually mikan has none or very few seeds. 

Transfer prepped mikan to a medium-sized pot. Also add sugar and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Turn to medium heat and see if it'll bring to a boil. Otherwise up the heat a little bit more to bring it to a boil.

Scoop out any foam on top then turn to medium or lower heat again, at least not boiling anymore. Continue to cook for about 20 minutes. Remember to stir the mixture once a while during the process.

The mixture should start thickening, and will firm up a bit more once stored in the fridge. When it reaches desired consistency, scoop the jam to a container and store in the fridge. 

The amount of jam here is rather small, since we only used 5 mikan for this recipe. Generally speaking, the jam should be gone fairly soon, so there's no need to worry about sterilizing the jar or do the water bath canning. My sincere advice? Just hurry and grab some scones to eat along with.    

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - Sopa de Estrellitas

Twinkle twinkle little star, this long forgotten childhood lullaby started to surface as I was prepping for a Mexican soup recipe called sopa de estrellitas. 

Sopa means soup, estrellita means star. Take a guess? The estrellitas part refer to the small star-shaped pasta. With tomato sauce as the main flavoring agent, chicken stock/beef stock/or sometimes water as the base. There are also cubed veggies and cute little stars involved, it's a very comforting yet nutritious recipe that kids would love too.

Sopa de estrellitas -

Ingredients (about 8 portions)?

• 250 grams estrellita/stelline pasta
• 500 grams tomato sauce
• 8 cups chicken stock
• 2 celery stalk
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 small bundle cilantro
• 1/2 medium small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
• Some salt
• Some black pepper

How?

Try to find star-shaped pasta, estrellita or stelline, but if you can't see them anywhere, I supposed you can substitute with rice-shaped pasta such as orzo. Just it won't be little stars anymore, and the texture will be slightly different. 

Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Peel and cube the onion. Cube the celery stalks. Chop the tomato. No need to peel the zucchini, just cube it. Chop the cilantro.

Bring out a big pot, non-stick preferred. Drizzle about 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil and add in the pasta. Turn to medium or medium low heat. Mix the pasta once a while and cook till slightly browned.

Add in the onion and up the heat a little bit, at least medium to medium high heat. Give it a quick stir-fry. Transfer the garlic and celery over. Again, give it a quick stir-fry. Lastly, add in chopped tomato and mix till blended. Cook for another 30 seconds or so.

Pour in the tomato sauce and stir to mix, let it cook for about 30 seconds to one minute.

Pour in chicken stock and turn up the heat. Bring the entire mixture to a boil then lower the heat to keep it at a light bubbling. Continue to cook for 10 minutes.

Add in cubed zucchini and most of the chopped cilantro. Cook for about 2 minutes. Taste and season with some salt and black pepper. I used 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper here.

Continue to cook till pasta reaches desired texture, shouldn't take long here. Once ready, scoop to serving bowls and sprinkle some more black pepper over, also garnish with some of the remaining chopped cilantro. 

The soup was already sourish from the tomatoes, so there's no need to serve with extra lime wedges on the side. 

It's a very hearty recipe and I supposed each Mexican family has their own way to make it. I know some use beef broth instead, but I like the chicken stock, which is flavorful enough and yet not too heavy for the veggies per my taste.

Other soup recipes:

• Gazpacho with a dollop of sour cream
• Taiwanese oyster soup with pickled mustard greens and magao pepper 馬告酸菜蚵仔湯
• Chinese herbal soup with pork ribs 藥燉豬小排
• Dairy free chicken and black rice soup
• Miso soup using homemade fish and kombu stock 味噌汁