The hubs hasn't been in town for 3/4s of February so, yes, I've been running solo. It's tough. Real tough, but the show must go on. Emotional, my tank is empty, coz well, he calls home but mainly to talk to the kids. And when we finally have me-time to spare, our time difference makes it hard to chit chat. Not that he is much of a chatter with me anyway. So instead of wallowing in self-pity, I chose a better option. To host parties whilst he is away! Ok, honestly, i would rather him be around so that at least there is someone to help me with the dishes and rubbish. And, the scheduling of a party is usually done way before hand and so coincidentally, his trips always clashes at the last minute! So here I am, already extended the invite to friends, but there the hubby announces that he has to pack his luggage and fly (again). What do I do? Party on!
The latest party was a meaningful one. It is a celebration of 3 birthdays! A little 2 yo and two other older ones. One of whom is ME! It's great coz it wasn't planned for but happened that the dates were close hence I suggested a cake to go along. All kids love cakes right? And me, I just love celebrations! Since young till I was 21, mom had always bought me a cake from Bengawan Solo on my birthday. However ever since she knew I was in a relationship, she stopped. After I got married, she sends me text wishes, but that was it. No more double eggs with mee sua. No more Bengawan Pandan cakes. She probably thought my other half would celebrate for me. Well, she didn't get it wrong. He did. For the first couple of years at least. After a while, the novelty worn off and I don't even get a timely wish let alone a cake or a present. I had to plan my own party. Pathetic much?
So here's the party we had over the weekend and I am specially penning this down coz many have asked me for the recipe for my collagen broth. So here goes:
- 300g of pork ribs
- 300 g (approximately 2) big pork bones (I did not use big bones this round due to the capacity of my pot. You can actually replace pork ribs with pork bones or vice versa)
- 1 chicken carcass
- a bunch of chicken feet
- 2.5-3litres of water
If you have a bigger pot, you can add more, but my pot was small hence I had to do two batches. Yes, over 10 hours of boiling! *horrors
I basically blanched all the ingredients to get rid of the scum and simmered it for 5 hours on low heat. Yes, you heard right! 5 hours! I literally stayed up till 3am to simmer this! #toofree. Next, I turn the heat slightly higher for 2 hour or so. It's basically to make the stock more milky and have that sticky effect. It was way past my bedtime hence I kindof skipped this step. However, everything in the pot has already disintegrated and I was sure it was collagen infused.
As I boiled, I constantly scooped away the scum that surfaced. You will get a clear stock that way. Once it has been boiled, discard all the bones and let the clear stock cool before freezing them. I freeze the in small containers so that I am able to use them when cooking noodles or porridge or soups. Remember not to add salt before freezing.
On party day, in order to make the soup sweeter and more flavourful, I added the following: corn, turnip (my secret weapon -- now you know!) and carrots. I added in the frozen stock together with these ingredients and boiled for approximately 2hours on slow fire.
The result -- DIY 美人锅 (Beauty in a pot)
