Posted by babydot74 

Hah! My mom gave me a Taiwanese cookbook so soon I will venture into experimental Taiwanese food cooking.  Won't Meanie be elated...or not?    We will see.  Upon browsing, I found a recipe I already know.  I consider it as a comfort food and great for winter.  It's daikon soup with pork bones.  [chhai-thau-thng]  I promise pictures soon, really soon!  I've always made it for myself but I never thought to take pics of my own cooking.

Taiwanese Daikon Soup

1          daikon (white radish) a medium sized one, not those humongo ones
1/2 lb   pork ribs (I also use pork neck, old pork chop bones also work)
5 cups  water (I usually fill the pot to the top or I eyeball it)
Fish balls, fish cake, whatever add-ins you feel like
Salt to taste
Dashi (see below)
Chinese cilantro
Sesame oil/white pepper (optional) [I enjoy it without these but feel free to throw that in at the end]

[Cookbook version]  Peel daikon and slick in half lengthwise.  Cut into 1 inch pieces.  Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add pork ribs and cook for 1/2 minute.  Drain water from pot and rinse pork ribs (Note:  This keeps the soup clear by removing the scum which seeps out of the pork bones)  Put pork ribs back in pot and add water.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a medium low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Add daikon
and cook for another five minutes or until daikon and pork ribs are tender.  Add salt and serve.

[Babydot's version] 

I have one of these things: 

Thermos Shuttle Chef: 
It's like an electricity-free crock pot and cooks with its own heat.

Basically repeat the above recipe but I let it stew overnight in the Shuttle Chef so the soup is much more flavorful.  Once it's ready, I throw in fish balls, dashi and cilantro for a little flavor.  You can also throw in the mung bean noodles too if you want to make a meal out of it.

Here's a pic of my soup in the ThermosChef.  You can see the pieces of daikon, pork meat and fish balls.  Yum yum!

The ending product should be a nice almost clear soup.  I'll have to take a picture one of these days.  I made the tofu salad for dinner tonight but like a dumbass, I forgot to take a picture of it.  I will probably make it in the near future so I'll remember to take a picture then!!