Dulong Cakes and Dumpling Soup

Whenever we're stuck at home because of the rain, I would, as much as possible, prepare a soup dish. Nothing beats comfort food when it's cold and dark outside. I purchased about 35 pesos worth of dulong in SM some weeks ago. This is a backlog post, by the way. To make the fish cakes, just mix some flour and egg with the dulong. You'll know the right frying consistency so just trust your gut feel. I also added some chopped spring onions, cracked black pepper and salt. Form into cakes then fry.

This soup was an excellent surprise. I bought a pack of dehydrated dumplings at Hatchin for around 40-60 pesos. Sorry, can't remember the exact price. It had about 6 dumplings. I say dehydrated because they were dry and they were just on the shelf, not in the freezer. It was my first time to try this brand. I've tried this kind of dumplings before in a brand of Japanese instant noodles that I buy. I really liked it and so I thought I'd like this too.

You can put garlic and onions in the soup or you can totally omit them because the dumplings come with a pack of seasoning, just like instant noodles. I think I added garlic and onions here though to cut the fishy taste (and smell) of the shrimps and chicken. I just boiled some water and added the garlic, chicken and shrimps. Allow the meat to cook, removing any foam that comes up on the water. I then added some beans because we had some in the ref. I would've added carrots too if we had any. I also put some naruto kamaboko because we had some too. Lastly, add the dumplings. The dumplings cook fast and you don't want them to get soggy so be alert at this stage. I then added the seasoning and spring onions. If it tastes a bit bland, add some Kikkoman. I also added more sesame seeds.

This soup paired with the dulong cakes was absolute comfort food. Enjoy!