Clean Lunch :: Watercress & Pork Rib Soup + Cha Soba

What passes for lunch at home on some days when I feel like switching on the hobs to boil stuff, would be soup and noodles. Those are my default 'instant' food that's easy to prep, cook and clean up after. That day, the man scored himself a clean lunch at home after gym when the timings matched. 

I had stopped by the supermarket in the morning. It was frustrating because for some weird-ass reasons, the supermarket's shallots, garlic and eggs were all rotten. Okay, the garlic and shallots were wet and some sprouted. At least I had some of those left from the previous batch that were still fine. I'd get those again from somewhere else tomorrow. The kampong eggs from Chew's broke and luckily they did, because that liquid held the stench of rotten eggs. UGH. I HATE THAT. I briefly considered getting a refund from the supermarket, but never mind. I'd do that another time for another batch of spoilt items. Thankfully, everything else was fine. 

Anyway, after sorting out rotten nonsense, I had enough time to cook. Did a quick double-boil of a bowl of pork rib and watercress soup for the man. He loves watercress, and I haven't cooked any soup for him since he returned from London. Hahahah. I wasn't intending to prep him lunch. It was meant to be a 'keep in the fridge' sort of thing. Since the man texted after gym, I asked him if he would want easy lunch at home. He indicated that he had no cravings and he wouldn't mind the offered light lunch at home. Alrighty. He was fielding a truckload of work calls, and I'm sure that some homecooked love would help with the mental fatigue. 

I didn't think that the watercress in the double-boiled soup was edible. It was meant to flavor the soup, not for the man to eat, although he always eats the contents in soups. Decided to add on some proper greens for him. Boiled up a separate pot of dashi. It would be helpful to blanch the cha-soba in dashi, and also additional greens and shiitake mushrooms. They would complement the original small bowl of soup. A spoonful of XO sauce would go great with the bits of pork. #ImpieCooks2021