Why did your tarts fail?

 

Every little things count in baking. 

1) Baking Oven

Yes, I followed exactly what the recipe said but the temperature from a microwave oven with convection is different from the antique oven passed on by my mother. I wondered why but it's the truth.

2) Moulds
There are so many different moulds in the market. The one I mentioned in my previous blog uses a BIG mould. If you have small ones, then, you are able to produce 6 tarts instead of 4.

3) Measurement
Buy good measuring spoons for solid / liquid and mugs for liquid. You need to LEVEL the ingredients (scrap off the heap-up amount) unless mentioned otherwise.

4) Sugar
Use castor sugar for baking stuffs. Coarse sugar cannot be melt easily and will remain in solid form even after baking causing one part of tart to be sweeter than the other.

5) Eggs
Keep eggs in the refrigerator so that they can stay fresh

6) Flour
Different types of flour will make your tarts to have different texture. Organic flour will have a stronger texture compared to normal plain flour.

7) Monitoring
Whatever the recipes say, monitor your product. When you see the filling has already turn slightly brown, check whether it is cooked. If it is, stop baking it even before the time is up. Don't wait just because the recipe says so. Mine were burnt because I left them to the oven and gone to feed my son.

To check on the filling whether it is cooked, do the Toothpick test. Poke a toothpick through the filling and if the toothpick can stand by itself, then it is cooked.

At the moment I could only think of the above. If you do know of any others, kindly let me know so that I can share them.

So, let's get going. If I can have successful tarts in my second attempt, so you can do even better with the tips!

Egg tarts

This is my second attempt at baking tarts. To beginners, they are not as difficult as they seem. So, you gotta try baking them to get the kick of it! Photos show process (top left; clockwise)

Ingredients for 4 pieces:

For PASTRY
8 tablespoon of plain flour
1 tablespoon of castor sugar
2 tablespoon of butter
1 tablespoon of water

For FILLING
4 tablespoon of milk
1 egg
1 tablespoon of castor sugar

1) Mix the ingredients for PASTRY in a large bowl with a mixer or whisk.
2) Roll it into a big dough. Then, separate the dough into 4 balls.
3) Press the balls into the moulds.
4) Put to oven to bake for 5 minutes at 180 degree Celsius.
5) At the meantime, mix the ingredients for FILLING.
6) Use a ladle to fill into the pastry.
7) Bake for 10 minutes at 150 degree Celsius.
8) Take out and cool for 5 minutes before removing from the moulds.

Lo Hon Ko (or better known as Luo Han Guo in Mandarin)

Tips on choosing a good Lo Hon Ko:
Get one of the fruit and check whether it can bounce. A good Lo Hon Ko will bounce like a ball.

Wash it. Crack open it. Halved the fruit. Boil for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hour.

Lo Hon Ko is known to cure sore throat, cough and cold.

If you want the drink to be sweeter, add in a Matt Chou (Honey date). Otherwise, Lo Hon Ko itself is sweet enough.

Raisin Scones

This is extremely easy. Beginners will get motivated after the first baking and will want to do it again and again. Pictures (clockwise) show process.

Ingredients for 8 pieces:

A
8 tablespoon of flour
3 tablespoon of butter
3 tablespoon of milk or 1 egg
2 tablespoon of castor sugar

B
1 tablespoon of raisins (chopped)
2 slices of orange peel (chopped into very tiny pieces)

1) Mix ingredients A with a mixer. A good dough is smooth and soft with the faintest sticky feel.

2) Add in ingredient B and mix well.

3) Scoop out the dough into a pan.

4) Bake in the oven at 170 Celsius for 20 minutes.

5) Take out and cool them before eating.

Happy trying!

Pumpkin porridge for your baby

Try pumpkin for your baby - it is known for its beta-carotene and high in nutrients.

1 tablespoon of rice (mine include brown, red and black rice)
1 Hou See (oyster)
1 dried scallop
1/2 bowl of water
1 piece of pumpkin chopped into very tiny pieces

Double boil in a slow cooker under HIGH heat for 3 hours and the porridge will be ready; not too dry nor too watery, just right for a baby. If you are forgetful just like me, use a timer.

The thing I like about double boil is that I don't have to worry about the porridge being overcooked. If you would like to have a bowl of it too, get the ingredients ratio right.

Happy feeding!

Dusk or dawn?

What do you see? Dusk or dawn?

The start of darkness or the beginning of light?

For the past few days I was sleepless. My son is sick again and it means he wakes so often, almost every hour and we have to monitor his breathing.

Exhausted, I thought of only one thing, "Where are my friends?"

I believe they might be asking the same questions. We lost friends through time. I am not sure who lost who first but we ended up having new friends.

I was wondering whether it's because I am a full time housewife now that I've lost everyone? Does that mean working will provide me friends?
True friends?

When my back bone was injured and I was too weak to care for my son, a sis in Christ offered to take care of my son and me. She asked me to move to her house for 2 weeks so that she could do her best to care for both of us. But I rejected her offer. It touched me but it never occurred to me to let someone serve me. The offer itself is memorable...

And yes, I know I have a friend who cares. I believe she is God sent angel.


=)

Western vs Traditional medicine

Just when I thought my son has recovered from his flu, he started to cough.

Before his cough becomes serious, I have to do something.

Previously, he was on nebuliser due to his thick phlegm.

Now, I'm trying Hao Chou San, a Chinese medicine known to dissolve phlegm and cure cough.

The rest I can do is - pray and have faith.

A helpful child

I can't stop myself from sharing these cute photos of my son... This is how he helps with a busy day - plucking vege for me. Well, actually, he is messing up with the vege I was going to pluck. But as long as he enjoys it, and I think it's a good training that he would help out with the house chores when he grows up. Good baby, isn't he?

Tauhoo with baby French beans and minced pork

Picture shows ingredients and process (left to right; top to bottom)

You can either choose soft tauhoo or Japanese tauhoo. For soft tauhoo as shown in the photo, you need to steam it. For Japanese tauhoo, you'll have to stir-fry it with the rest of the ingredients. Add in last, just before you add the water and sauce.

Ingredients:
4 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 handful of baby French beans (cut into very tiny cubes)
1 tauhoo
RM3 minced pork
1/2 bowl of water
3 tablespoon of organic black bean sauce

Procedures:
1) Stir-fry garlic till fragrant

2) Add in pork and stir-fry till almost done.

3) Add in French beans and stir-fry till French beans turn to dark green.

4) Add in 1/2 bowl of water and let it boil for 5 seconds.

5) Add in organic black bean sauce. Stir and mix well with the rest. Let boil for 5 seconds. Turn off the heat and dish up.

If you don't have the organic black bean sauce, you can opt for dark soy sauce and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to it. Remember to mix well. Otherwise you'll have lumps of sugar and salt.

Happy cooking!

Making bread with breadmaker

I was so excited when I saw a breadmaker in Tesco yesterday. Well, don't think I'm so "sua ku" (mountain girl) who knows not about breadmaker. It's the price that excite me. It's only RM189!

My friend bought one which cost RM800 and another one bought for RM400. So, something below RM200 is considered cheap.

Nevertheless, I stood there for whole 10 minutes, contemplating whether to purchase it. To be frank, I'm one of those 'kiam siap' person who would not spend on material things.

Long story cut short, I told my husband and he bought it for me. So, I have a brand new breadmaker.

I've never used a breadmaker to bake bread before. Hmm...

According to the breadmaker manual, it is best to put the liquid ingredient first. Then, add in salt. Yeast should be added last. Then, all I have to do was to press the buttons and the machine started to knead the ingredients into a dough. After almost 3 hours, the bread is ready.

For those without a breadmaker, I'll give a detailed procedure on how to bake a bread in the coming post. I'm not a 'si fu' in baking bread but just wanted to share to the last bits of what I know. For those with a breadmaker, happy baking!

Jack Beans to treat eye discharge

This one is introduced to me by my mom. She says that Jack Bean has the function of healing people with extra eye discharge and also remove the "wet heat" in the body.

Hmm...how should I describe the "wet heat" mentioned by Mom?

Chinese believe that if our body has "wet heat", one will have a lot of eye discharge and loose stool.

Ingredients:
RM2 of Jack Beans
1 handful of Hong Chou (Red date)
1/2 handful of Kei Chee (Wolfberry)

Put to boil for 2 hours and it's ready!

Lou Wong Kwa Soup (Old Cucumber Soup)

This is one of the easiest soups you want to try out!

Buy one Lou Wong Kwa (Old cucumber) from the market. One thing I like about wet market is that, the aunties or uncles are so willing to serve you. I have one very honest vege seller and she will really choose the best out of her stall for me.

Ingredients:
1 Lou Wong Kwa (old cucumber)
1 handful of Hong Cou (red dates)
1 pork ribs (chopped into small pieces)
1 Matt Chou (Honey date)

Pictures show the process (left to right) from the first row

1) Put some salt on the old cucumber and rub it. This is to clean the old cucumber outer part thoroughly since we boil the soup with the skin too.

2) Cut the tips of the old cucumber. Rub the tips to the old cucumber. You will see thick white liquid coming out from the ends. Wash them away.

3) Cut the old cucumber into half. Scrap away the seeds.
Then, cut it into small pieces.

4) Flatten the Hong Chou and remove the cores.

5) Blanch the pork ribs and pour away the water. Keep aside.

6) Put in all the ingredients except for the pork ribs to boil under HIGH heat for 15 minutes.

7) Simmer the soup under LOW heat for 1 to 2 hours.

8) Add in the pork ribs 30 minutes before dishing out. Remember to turn to HIGH heat again when you add in the pork ribs. You need HIGH heat to cook the pork ribs thoroughly. The heat also prevents the blood from the pork ribs to flow out from the bones.

This soup is good especially when one feels heaty.

Have a try!

Baking and Cooking

I am quite concern with what my son or the family takes.

There are just too many processed food out there which might kill you if you eat them often enough.

Take baking for example. I don't understand why recipes have to include baking soda, baking powder, shortening, bread softener, etc. etc.? Think of our forefathers when all these things don't exist yet, they could still bake. So, we gotta go back to basic and find a better solution to baking rather than taking the easy way out.

My friend, Hooi Thiam, really goes a distance for whatever she bakes or cooks. She has many books on baking yet she still experiment till she got the right ingredients for her cakes and cookies.

Why?

For the sake of her whole family's health.

That's what I learned from her and am doing too...

What Hooi Thiam noticed was that, breads and cookies selling in the market used 'vegetable oil' or in another word, marjerine. If one really goes into this, marjerine contains trans fat which harms the body.

But why people use marjerine to bake? Firstly, it is cheaper than butter. Secondly, society has the misconception that vegetable oil has lesser fat and thus, a smaller chance to get plump. Google the difference between marjerine and butter and you'll gonna be surprised!

Next, let's talk about eggs. Eggs have to be kept in the fridge. Otherwise they will not stay fresh. You will know it when you break the egg into a bowl. If the yolk stay put, very beautifully in a round shape, then that egg is extremely fresh.

I don't really use sauces much. Come check my kitchen and you'll find that I don't even have osyter sauce! Wow! Man do I like osyter sauce...But for the sake of health, I denied my own desire to buy one. Frankly, if food can taste good without that, why bother to have it?

I'm quite paranoid with all these processed food. Whenever I buy something, I always look at the ingredients. When I find that there are so many artificial ingredients, I gulped and think of how much of work I've been putting my liver to. Liver is one of our main organs which washes out our toxins and should be taken care of. So, why burden your liver when you can let it rest?

The next time you wanted something 'complicated', imagine yourself putting lots and lots of rubbish into your stomach. You will eventually walk away without them...

I don't suggest that you can't pamper yourself at times for processed food. A single piece of potato chips and a few pieces of cookies would not harm much right?

Anyway, if our forefathers can cook delicious meals just with simple ingredients: salt and sugar, so do we. Let's eat healthily and happily.

Wong Chao Kai (Stir-fry chicken with preserved rice wine)

This is one of my favourite food. It is one of those 'special' food that you only get to eat during confinement period.

But since I have a few left over preserved rice wine, I do cook this as my main course for dinner at times. You bet, my husband likes it too...

Picture (clockwise) shows the process of cooking

Serves 2-3

1/2 Kampung Chicken (village chicken or Choy Yin Kai) - ask the seller to remove the skin and bones and cut into small pieces for you

1 small piece of ginger (scrap off the skin with a knife) and cut into thin slices

1 and 1/2 bowl of Wong Chao (preserved rice wine)

Add a pinch of salt and sugar to the chicken. If you like the aroma of sesame oil, add 1 teaspoon of it and mix well with the chicken.

Steps
1) Stir-fry ginger till fragrant

2) Add in the chicken and stir-fry till almost done.

3) Add in the rice wine. Wait till it boils for a minute before turning off the heat.

This dish tastes so good I can finish a bowl of rice just with the soup alone! So, you gotta try it yourself.

One thing to note is that this dish might be a little heaty. So, you might want to drink a glass of 100 Plus or coconut juice after eating this.

Steamed Egg

My son like Sushi King's steamed egg with mushrooms and crab meat. So, I asked my mom how to make a good steamed egg. But my mom was not sure. So, I had to do some experiments to get the right steamed egg for my son.

This is extremely simple.

Break an egg into a bowl. Add pinch of salt and sugar to it.

Beat till the yoke break up.

Add 30 ml of water to it. Mix well.

Put to steam above boiling water for 10 minutes.

Mix well with white rice. For a stronger taste, add a round of soy sauce to it.

Time to eat!

Every cloud has a silver lining

This is how KL view looks like at night, dawn and afternoon from the balcony of my house.

The same thing might look so different as time changes.

The time could only be an hour, a minute or even a second.

At one time, life could be so dark, hopeless and wretched but if one keep going, there is always a turn in life.

Every little act of kindness, words of encouragement or a simple smile will go a long way...

Pao Sam Sou to reduce heat

New mothers really need this...

WHY?

Because we don't get enough of sleep and most of the nights, we have to wake up to feed the baby. This will cause the body to be 'heaty' and soon the three 'best friends' of sickness will join in - sore throat, flu and cough.
And being a mother, I definitely don't want to get any of those and then pass on to my son. So, taking care of my own health is as important as taking care of my son's.

Hence, if you could, get a pack of Pao Sam Sou (around RM5) from a Chinese medicine shop.

Put 4 bowls of water to it and boil for around 30 minutes.

Wait till the liquid cool off entirely before drinking. Drink it throughout the day and you will feel better.

I've tried taking honey at the same time and it helps tremendously.

Wish you well too...

Take a break

                                           
Portugese tart...hmmm....yummy!

No, I didn't bake it. I bought it from a nearby bakery shop. I am taking in what my mom says, "It's so much easier to buy one or two pieces of it to satisfy the taste buds than spending the whole day baking them."

I can't remember when was the last time I ate one of these but I've to say that it tastes good! So good you wanted to have more...

If you want more, than you better bake them! Ha...

I'm taking a break at the moment, too exhausted from the daily chores plus one new thing to do. I'm compiling some info, calling up bank after bank. Probably I will upload the info I've compiled later on. Who knows, you might need them!

Adios~ going to enjoy my tart!

Yam Cake

My friend, Hooi Thiam, likes to make Yam Cake for her family for breakfast. She thinks that it is much healthier than eating processed cereals.

Thanks to Hooi Thiam for this recipe.

Well, if you want to make this, then, you've gotta be very hardworking. It takes a lot of work to prepare this dish. Unless you have someone who appreciates the food, you might as well forget about making it.

My mom always says, buy a few pieces of it to satisfy the taste buds is so much easier than cooking it by yourself.

A good yam cake depends very much on the yam itself. And so, each time the taste of a yam cake that you bake might differ slightly due to the texture of the yam.

I have this honest vege seller, Rabbit Teeth Aunty. She will choose the best yam in her store for me. A good yam is 'powdery'. The knife will have white liquid on it as shown in picture no. 3.

Pictures showing process (top left to right)

The main ingredients are:
1) 1/2 yam
2) one large onion
3) 3 tablespoons dried shrimps
4) 250 gram of blended rice flour (1/2 packet)
5) 1 teaspoon salt
6) 1 teaspoon sugar
7) 125ml + 750ml of water (put separately)

My friend says that you can add in other ingredients such as sweet potatoes, lap cheong (preserved wax meat) or even minced pork. Trust me, I tried that and it's so delicious!

1) Cut the yam into cubes
2) Chop the dried shrimps coarsely
3) Slice the onion
4) Add the salt and sugar to the flour and mix well with 750ml of water. Strain the mixture.
5) Fry the onion till fragrant. Add in dried shrimps.
6) Add in yam. Then, add in 125ml of water. Keep frying till the yam absorb most of the water.
7) Add in the flour mixture in 3 stages. Pour in the mixture and fry till sticky. Don't panic here. It is meant to be dry and sticky. Add in more flour mixture and keep stirring.
8) Turn off the heat and scoop out the mixture into a big bowl.
9) Put to steam above boiling water for 30 minutes.
10) The cooked yam cake needs about 1 and a half hour to totally dry up. So don't get panic when you see the finished product which is quite wet the moment it comes out of the pot.

You can keep the unfinished yam cake in refrigerator and steam it again the next day before eating. The yam cake can be kept for 3 to 4 days before it turns mouldy.
My friend goes a distance for her yam cake - she blended her own rice to be made flour! So, her yam cake can only last for 1 to 2 days. The logic is that - the blended rice flour we bought from the market contained preservatives to keep it fresh. At the moment, I opted the easier way out, the ready blended rice flour! What about you?

Do enjoy the process!

Steamed Dong Guai with Chicken

Dong Guai (in Cantonese) is good for females, especially after menses or during confinement period. I remember having Dong Guai soup almost everyday during my confinement period.

Dong Guai is said to replenish and nourish blood. It is also quite heaty. So, one has to drink more water if one takes Dong Guai soup.

Mom says that Dong Guai must be stewed so that the taste can get throughly into the liquid. But if one have got not enough of time, one can opt to steam Dong Guai with Chicken and Kei Chee (Wolfberry).

Buy chicken drumsticks, preferably 'kampung chicken' (village chicken). 'Kampung chicken' is said to be healthier and the meat leaner. The chickens in the village are allowed to run around and exercise unlike those chickens rared in the city which are confined in the cage.

You can ask the chicken seller to remove the skin and bones if you don't like them. But I prefer to eat them just like that.

Put a few slices of Dong Guai and 1 tablespoon of Kei Chee (Wolfberry).

Put 1/2 cup of water to the ingredients. Then, put to steam with the rice or under boiling water for 30 minutes.

Dong Guai tastes a little bitter while Kei Chee tastes sweet. The combination brings out a delicious meal!

Commonly used ingredients for soup

Let us take a closer look at the four ingredients commonly used in soups.

Top left photo shows Wyai San (Chinese Yam). It is chalky.

Benefits:
1) Nourish the lung
2) Nourish the kidney
3) Strengthen the spleen
4) Stop diarrhea
5) Improve vitality

Top right photo shows Kei Chee (Wolfberry)

Benefits:
1) Improve eyesight
2) Strenghten immune system
3) Nourish liver
4) Nourish kidney
5) Activates blood circulation

Bottom right photo shows Yuk Chuk (Solomonseal Rhizome)

Benefits:
1) Nourish yin
2) Moistens internal dryness
3) Quench thirst
4) Heals cough
5) Clear internal heat

Bottom left photo shows Hong Chou (Red dates)

Benefits:
1) Nourish blood

Walnut & Corn soup

My uncle bought a pack of walnuts from Australia for us. I am not a fan of walnut but my mom was. She used to eat walnuts like snacks! But ever since she knew her blood is against nuts, she keeps to strict diet.

So, I have to do something with the walnuts...

Today, I boil walnut with corn soup. To be honest, I find the taste weird. Probably I am not used to the taste of walnuts. Nevertheless, it is worth a try since walnuts are good for the brain and I definitely need that!

Ingredients
1 handful of walnuts
2 corns
1/2 handful of Kei Chee (Wolfberry)
1/2 handful of Hong Chou (Red date)
1/2 handful of Yuk Chuk (Solomonseal Rhizome)
4 to 5 sticks of Wyai San (Chinese Yam)

1) Flatten Hong Chou (Red date) and peel off the cores.

2) Rinse all the ingredients before putting to boil

3) Boil under HIGH heat for 15 mins before turning to LOW heat and let it simmer for another 1 to 2 hours.

4) If you have chicken bones or pork ribs, add in after 1 hour and let it boil under HIGH heat for 15 to 20 minutes before turning off the gas.

The concept of soup boiling is rather easy. It is the preparation of the ingredients which one might find difficult. But you can always purchase more at one go and keep them in the refrigerator.

The first photo (top left) shows the main four ingredients commonly used for Chinese soups. Buy those in packets. You will find most of the recipes for soups are using those.

Wholesome Breakfast

After I went through a detox program, my friend suggested that I take multi-grain porridge as breakfast rather than bread. She explained that multi-grain contained a lot more nutrients than bread. She has a friend who took only bread continuously for breakfast for a prolong time and was diagnosed with depression.

So, this friend of mine opines that food and depression are interrelated. And to take bread, which contains only empty carbo does not help my fatigue problem at all. Instead, if I take multi-grain, probably my fatigue can be kept at bay.

To me, there is no harm making a change as long as it is a good one.

Cooking multi-grain porridge is so easy.

For 1 cup of rice, add in 6 bowls of water. Cook it in the slow cooker.

Set your timer to start cooking at 3am and stop at 7am. If you need to go to work early, then, set the cooking time to be earlier. The porridge needs 3 to 4 hours to be ready under HIGH heat.

So, by the time my husband takes his breakfast at 8.15am, the porridge is still warm yet not boiling hot. It is just nice and delicious.

Surprisingly, my baby likes this too!

You can add a little of Marmite to the porridge for a start.

To be honest, I don't really like the look of the porridge at the first sight. In addition to that, I felt the porridge is tasteless...So, I added a little of Marmite to it. But now I am used to the taste and even like it better without Marmite!

Steamed Egg with minced pork

This dish is extremely easy to cook. I remember having this at least once a week throughout my Secondary school years.

Ingredients
RM4 minced pork (request for lean meat if you don't like fats)
1 egg
half bowl of water
pinch of salt
pinch of sugar
one round of soy sauce

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

1) Put a pot of water to boil.

2) Add salt, sugar and soy sauce to the minced pork. Mix well.

3) Beat 1 egg. Then, mix well with the minced pork.

4) Add half bowl of water to the minced pork. Mix well.

5) Put to steam under boiling water for 30 minutes.

There might be some water on top of the cooked dish. You may use a chopstick and poke a few holes into the pork cake.

If you are cooking rice at the same time, put the dish to steam on the rice cooker like the picture shown in "Food for the day" post. Then, you can have steamed egg with pork and rice.

Let us use water wisely

Water reaches us conveniently in the comfort of our homes. But how many of us, the residents of Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, realise that we might be facing a threat of water supply shortage by 2014?

It is reported that the Federal Government foresees water supply shortage by 2014. If so, the government should take imperative move to ensure that the project of Treatment Plant goes smoothly. Otherwise, the residents of the abovementioned three states will be the victims of politics.

Besides government, it is also our responsibility as consumer to ensure that the water supply is sufficient.

Each individual plays an important role in conserving water and it should start from home as the saying goes, ‘Charity starts from home.’

For example, the water I used to bath my baby will be used to flush the toilet, wash the bathroom or mop the floor. Other than this, I also use the water I used to soak the vegetables to rinse the dishes after our meals. There are so many ways to conserve water. Besides being a responsible individual, one will also feel contented seeing a decrease in water bills.

The crux of the matter is to educate the public. We should go hand in hand in conserving water and making sure that we have sufficient water to go on comfortably. Pipes leakage should be reported immediately. Children should be taught in school and at home on how to use water wisely.

It is also crucial to educate the public on proper waste disposal. Rivers should be preserved because it is a source of water supply too.

A little effort from each individual will make a big difference. The next time when you ignore  a leaking pipe or water wastage, think of a child dying every 20 seconds due to water-related disease.

Edited and published in The Star newspaper:
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/3/22/focus/8318191&sec=focus

Stir-fry pork with mushrooms and carrot

 This dish is simple yet delicious.

Serves 2 to 3

Ingredients
1 carrot
2 small onions / 1 big onion
5 mushrooms
RM4 pork (sliced)
Organic black bean sauce
1/2 bowl of water

Soak the mushrooms for 30 minutes or until the mushrooms become soft.

1) Cut the mushrooms, carrot and onions into small slices

2) Heat up a wok. Add some oil.
Count to 10 and pour in the onions. You will hear "pssttt!!" sound...

3) Fry till fragrant. Then, add in mushroom slices. Fry for a while before adding the pork slices. Fry till the pork slices are cooked.

4) Add in carrot. Fry for a while. Then pour in 1/2 bowl of water. Wait till the water boils.

5) Pour in three rounds of organic black beans sauce.

6) Stir-fry till the sauce boils.

Dish up and it's time for dinner!

Note: I am quite particular with sauces. But this black bean sauce was bought from an organic shop and the ingredients say: black bean and sea salt only. There is no colouring, artificial flavouring, preservatives, etc... Hence, I believe it is good. If you think otherwise, kindly advise...

And you can be creative with the dish - if you don't like pork, you can choose chicken! You can add in other types of vege as well - eg. celery, pea, etc.

Like I said, cooking is fun!

Tauhoo with tomato and seaweed

This is one of my mom's favourites.

1 piece of tauhoo
2 tomatoes
1 piece of seaweed

1) Soak the seaweed in the water.
2) Cut the tauhoo and tomatoes into small cubes.
3) Bring to boil one bowl of water
4) Put in the tauhoo and wait till it boils again
5) Add in the seaweed and wait till it boils again
6) Add in tomatoes
7) Add in soy sauce

If you like noodles, cook the noodles before everything else.

Juicing

Juicing is not something new. There are tonnes of books on juicing and how it cures sicknesses.

Now, I am talking about pure fruit and vege juices and not something you order from restaurants, which have been added with water and lots of sugar.

It is said that our body is able to absorb 90% of the nutrients from juices while if we eat them, we can only absorb 30% of the nutrients. Another book I read said that juices go straight into our blood stream, cleansing it and balancing our body pH level. I am not sure how true it is but it's worth a try. After all, there is no harm in taking more fruits and vege.

Juicing is quite simple. Just wash and cut the fruits and vege and put them in the machine.

The juice is ready within minutes and you have to drink them within 15 minutes to prevent it from being oxidised.

And an important thing to remember, while you are drinking a glass of juice, you have to chew the liquid. I know it sounds funny but books on juicing said that when we chew or the motion of chewing produces saliva and at the same time causes the production of enzyme or so. Hence, making the juice we drink to have greater positive effect in our body.

For the beginners, you will find yourself going to the toilet more often to poo. You will feel so much lighter and healthier.

Juicing is easy. The most difficult part I find is washing the machine!

A clean toothbrush is recommended for the purpose of washing the blender.

Oh yea, at the moment I take apple, carrot and celery juice in the morning, empty stomach.

2 apples
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery.

Let's stay healthy!

Simple Steamed Fish

We like fish. Steaming a fish is easy and it is good for the health.

Ask the fishmonger to chop off all the fins and sharp edges. Otherwise, you might hurt yourself when washing the fish.

Though the fishmonger has scaled off the fish, you still need to double check on it. Take a small knife and scrap off the scales that the fishmonger missed. Then, scrap off the blood clot that sticks to the spinal of the fish.

Slit the fish, front and back so that the fish will be cooked easily.

Flatten a few cloves of garlic and minced them. Put on the fish.

Add 1 or 2 tomatoes (remove the seeds).

Put the fish with the garlic and tomatoes to steam under boiling water for 20 minutes.

Add in soy sauce when ready.

Here are what we have for dinner:
1 steamed fish
1 plate of broccoli
1 plate of lettuce
1 big bowl of lotus root soup

And we eat mixed grains - brown, red and black rice.

Preparation and cooking time for the vege and fish is around 1 hour.

Simple yet delicious! And most of all, you don't have to worry about oily kitchen after cooking.