Winter melon soup

 this is what I have resulted to..... no pressure from exam and no classes mean that I would lay in bed all day and too lazy to put on any makeup >.< but I will  need to get up eventually to cook some food for myself...
my parents are not on holiday yet so I need to feed myself...

I only started to cook for myself after I started university...therefore... my mom had little influence on my food/cooking style.. I am proud to say that I taught myself to cook (with the help of internet) so .. the ingredient I usually use are often not available at home.... this calls for some imagination! so I made winter melon soup..

winter melon soup with Chinese bun<3

 and here is how I started!!! keep reading!

Anyways... I found some winter melon in my fridge... the winter melon is actually given to us by a friend because his garden harvested a lot of winter melons... I do not think I have seen any winter melon being sold in western grocery stores... probably because it is a Asian vegetable... winter melon are huge! (you may or may not know...) it can be 0.5 m to 0.8m in length... so he had a lot of trouble getting rid off the huge amount of winter melon due to limited Asian friends... lol.. so my family got a lot !!! yeah!!

I also decided to use some crab sticks.. and dried small shrimps.. (they are a great source of calcium) .. I would use normal shrimp if I had some.. but feel free to switch it up with whatever you like to eat...
All of the above are available in your Asian grocery market... which is everywhere... (more and more I see western people in Chinese grocery stores... and most of the staff there do not speak English very well.. so whenever I can.. I translate for them ^.^ I m so nice)

for seasoning.. I used 2 pinches of salt and a few drops of sesame oil.

cut off however much winter melon you want to eat.. (I m only making portion for one) winter melon is in the same plant family as pumpkin... so get ride of the seed like you would with your pumpkin.. . also get ride of the skin.. and cut it into 0.5 cm thick slices.. (no need to be accurate.. the thinner you slice it.. the faster it cooks ^.^)

 I cut 2 sticks of crab sticks in to 1 inch rolls.

 in a small pot.. I started to boll some water.. I usually eye ball the water.. but it is about 1.5- 2 cups of water

put all the ingredient in the pot once the water boils and add a small hand full of dried shrimp..  and turn the heat to medium and left it boil for about 5 mins..

Like I have mentioned a million times before.. I am from north eastern part of China.. if you are somewhat familiar with China.. you would know that food varies hugely between the different areas .. the big round thing on the cutting board is a Chinese bun! (google it!!!) and us north easterner are known to make awesome buns... in fact it originated from my area! To the rest of China.. it seen difficult to make it from scratch.. so they would buy it from stores.. but for my family.. it's like cooking rice! sooo easy.. my mom is a pro at it! here I have cut some up into slices and I m going to fry it in the pan! it's like buttered toast! Chinese style!

 the non-stick pan is huge... and I again realize how weak I am... I can barely lift it up with one arm... and my bun looks tiny is it.. anyways..

heat up the pan!!! (important) I like to do the water test to check if my pan is ready.. I would drop a few drops of water and if it evaporates, the pan is ready.. .. add 1 tablespoon of oil to the hot pan.. ( do not add to much.. cause the bun is gonna absorb it.... and that will not be healthy!!!) and pan fry both sides for about 1 min until golden brown! and crispy! and that's it!

 when the soup is done.. ( when the winter melon is tender..) add a teaspoon or less of sesame oil and two pinches of salt.. (salt is not good for you.. eating less salt will lower you blood pressure and make you lose weight! how great!) do not worry about under cooking the ingredient.. cause they are all eatable even if they are uncooked.. <3

and here is my breakfast/lunch.. cause it is already noon.. OMG.. how healthy am I.. drinking soup is awesome for winter because it is sooooooo cold.. and it has lots of vege.. no fat.. and the dried shrimp makes it taste soooo good! the bun is also very filling..

 I love my beautiful Japanese bowl.. it's sooooo beautiful! (love)~

 here is my favorite Chinese hot sauce!  while you westerner eat tabasco.. we Chinese eat "Laoganma" definitely try it if you like spicy food! I like to put some on the bun <3

it's all gone!!!! delicious.. <3