Archive for May, 2008

Happiness & 25 Ways To Find It

May 31, 2008 · Filed under For Good Health · Tagged , , , ,

yellow-flowers.JPG

Good Day to all here, Very Happy

Sometimes, we feel depressed or angry with things in life and wonder how are we ever going to get out of our doldrums. Then we look for something to grasp onto to give us that little bit of strength to move forward a bit at a time in life. I came across this wonderful article a while back and posted it here last year and I am reposting it again now to give us a little cheer in case we need it some time later.

This was excerpted from Reader’s Digest, September 2002 :-

25 ways to be happy

“Life is full of ups and downs. In order to experience happiness you must experience other emotions, including sadness and anger, to some degree nearly every day. The ideal you should work towards is to be accepting of what you have and who you are, to enjoy life whenever possible and to feel happy most of the time.

I say most of the time because nobody is going to be happy every moment. Life is just not like that. Happiness needs to be earned, worked at and appreciated.

For those of you with no real reason to be unhappy – those whose life is basically trouble-free – here are some thoughts to help you remember that life is good.

1
Change your thinking. Live everyday as if it is your last. People who have survived a terminal illness or accident, witnessed a tragedy or lost a loved one are said to have a different perspective on life. Many will say that they no longer leave anything until later. They travel, learn a new skill, contact a friend now. They know – and we should all remember – that there might not be a later.

2
Keep a journal. Write an ongoing list of the good things that happen to you every day. What was that lovely thing your daughter said to you the other day? You will not remember unless you write it down. Problems can be solved and bad things cleared from your thoughts by writing them down, too. Try it – it works!

3
Get some perspective on things. Think about how you would like to be remembered and what you might tell your grandchildren about your life. Is it really that important that the linen is changed weekly and the floors are kept spotlessly clean? That work meeting last year that meant you missed your child’s school concert – does it matter now?

4
Don’t let the small stuff bug you. Wasting your energy by getting upset about life’s many minor irritations is not worth it. Smile and wave to the driver who won’t let you merge into his lane. He’s rude and aggressive, and it’s his problem. You’ve missed the train? Fretting is pointless – the train is gone. Enjoy the coffee while you wait for the next one.

5
Do any unpleasant or difficult chores that need doing. Do them now. Procrastination drains your energy and burdens your mind. If you are thinking and worrying about something that needs to be done, you might as well be doing it.

6
Change your routine. Life can begin to stem like a bit of a chore if we do the same thing day after day, week after week. We need to create interest in our lives, and to do new things. If you normally sleep in on a Sunday, the “sleep in” is no longer a treat. Why not get up early and have breakfast in the park? You’ll beat the crowds and be heading home as they arrive. The day will seem much longer. (Or, for those who never sleep in, arrange it somehow – what a luxury it is!)

7
Don’t try to keep up with others. So, your neighbors have a larger home, the latest stereo system, a new car – who cares? Look again. He works on the weekends, and they never seem to see friends. Who’s better off, really?

8
Have a big clean out and divest yourself of useless “stuff.” Clothes unworn for a year, the dinner service that you’ve always hated, kitchen utensils that are always in the way but never used, unused linen (you still have cot linen on the shelf and the “baby” is six!), toys, books, furniture – give it all to a charity and you will have helped the poor. The bonus is that your shelves and cupboards are clutter-free now. Housework is easier, your vision is clearer and the feng shui of your home is improved.

9
Learn to say no. You don’t have to do it. Your life is already too busy and you are running from one thing to another. Give yourself some space to think and time to do something for yourself.

10
Remember to love your partner for who he or she is. Have they really changed so much? Or (think about it!) might he/she actually be the same person that you fell in love with? The relationship might need some work – everything needs some repair work or maintenance after a few years of running – but the parts should still be in working order.

11
Don’t let familiarity breed contempt. Your partner and family deserve at least the same consideration you give your friends. And you deserve the same from them.

12
Tell your partner, family and friends that you love them. Tell them what you love about them. Tell them when they do things well. A little praise never hurts and before you know it you might be told that you’ve done things well too. You never know . . .

13
Are you always a shoulder to lean on for troubled friends? It may be hard, but if their problems are beginning to affect you, then you need to try not to be quite so available all the time. They need to address their problems and get on with their lives.

14
Phone, e-mail, even write to some old friends. You’ve lost touch, but it needn’t be for ever. And how long is it since you spoke to Great Auntie Jean? She’d love to hear from you.

15
Enhance your mood with greenery. Cut some fresh flowers from your garden – or get up early, head to the markets and fill your home with loads of cheap flowers, fruit and vegetables. Everyone had pot plants in the 1970s -bring them back -These fill the house with life and vitality.

16
Go to the beach. The long views, the wind, the waves, bare feet in the sand, sun on the back -there is nothing so good for the soul. (My friend Kendra is renewed and invigorated in the same way by a walk on a hill. To each his own.)

17
Create something. Paint, sculpt, sew, bake, garden – anything!


18
Breathe fresh air. Go outside or open the windows. Breathe deeply to the bottom of your lungs and feel the stale air leave you.

19
Go for a walk. This gentle exercise will renew and invigorate you physically and mentally on your first outing. Take it up regularly and you’ll feel better every day.

20
Rent a funny video and have a good laugh. Old television comedies always do it for me. When we laugh, feel good endorphins are released. That’s why they say laughter is the best medicine.

21
Move your furniture and ornament around, change rooms, paint walls. It’s true, a change is as good as a holiday.

22
Give yourself something to look forward to. Book a holiday, a night out, a massage.

23
Invite friends over for dinner. Get everyone to dress up, and decorate the room and the table. Greet everyone with cocktails or Champagne, and have music playing. Spend time thinking about and planning the menu, enjoy the shopping and cooking. People can’t help but respond positively when you’ve gone to a lot of effort for them. The night will be good fun. And don’t get stressed over cleaning the house beforehand – no one will even notice.

24
Smile. Smiling is contagious – try it and see.

25
Make someone else’s day happier. It may sound a bit corny, but why not? Start by suppressing the urge to blast your horn at the slow driver ahead. Or you could make a positive move by volunteering your time for a charity.”

May you be well, happy and peaceful always! :D

Many blessings, Love and Light to all,

choesf :D

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Paella In A Chinese Wok (Delicious Spanish One Pot Rice Meal)

May 31, 2008 · Filed under Western Food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , , , ,

Paella cooking in a Chinese Wok :D

Happy Saturday, dear friends :D

Whenever I don’t know what to cook for dinner or I don’t really want to spend too much time cooking, I would come up with simple, “one-pot” or “one-dish” meals – like Chinese Claypot Chicken Rice, Spaghetti, Fried Noodles, etc – just one dish with all the carbohydrates, meat and vegetables in it! Easy! :lol:

A few days back, I was watching a cooking show that featured delicious cuisine from Spain and I was inspired to cook Paella, a Spanish rice dish, for dinner. Paella is a typical Valencian rice dish from Spain and the name Paella is the Valencian name for “frying pan.” But as you can see from the title of this post, mine is actually a Spanish rice dish cooked in a Chinese wok – just for the fun of it! :lol:

I had a quick look in my refrigerator to see what ingredients I have and I was all set to go in cooking this exotic rice dish for my family. The 3 key ingredients in Paella is rice, saffron and olive oil…. but if you don’t have saffron, you can substitute it with some sweet paprika and 1/2 a teaspoon of turmeric powder for the yellow colour.

I am happy to say that my hubby and children loved this rice dish very much – it was very flavourful and delicious, and therefore, I hope you will give this recipe a try. It is really easy to prepare and I have simplified the recipe below for you with some pictures :wink: –

Recipe for Paella (serves 8 persons)

Ingredients -

Cut into desired sizes – tomatoes, yellow and red sweet bell peppers/capsicums, french beans

2 sliced large onions, 2 tbsps saffron (if don’t have this, replace with 1 tbsp paprika and 1/2 tsp turmeric powder), 1 tbsp paprika, and 6 cloves of garlic, chopped

Some prawns – washed and seasoned with 1 tsp salt and some pepper

Some cubed salmon – seasoned with 1 tsp salt and some pepper

1/2 a chicken – cut into bite sizes, seasoned with 1 tbsp salt and some pepper


5 1/2 cups rice

2 chicken stock cubes

3 tbsps salt

2 tbsps sugar

lots of freshly cracked black pepper

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

(* optional on standby, required during cooking – an additional 1/2 cup or more water or stock)

Method -

1) After preparing the seafood, meat and vegetables like above – wash the rice and then measure the required water that is needed to cook the amount of rice.

2) Separate the rice and the water. Set both aside. (It is even more delicious if you have fresh chicken or fish stock and you substitute the amount of water with the stock. I was cooking with what I have at that time)

3) In a wok, heat up the cup of olive oil.

4) Tip in the chopped garlic. After stirring until they are aromatic and slightly golden in colour, add in the sliced onions.

5) After 2 minutes, put in the chicken pieces and stir for about 3 minutes, to seal in the juices.

6) Pour in the water (or stock) that you have measured earlier to cook the rice, and put in the saffron, paprika, tomatoes and bell peppers.

7) Bring to a boil and let it simmer for about 3 minutes to let all the flavours infuse.

8 ) Add the rest of the ingredients – rice, salmon, prawns, chicken stock cubes, salt, sugar and pepper.

9) When they come to a boil, check the taste to see if additional salt is required. The liquid should taste more salty than usual as by the time the rice is cook, the rice will balance out the saltiness and be just right.

10) Lower the heat to medium low to start cooking the rice. Be sure to stir thoroughly to prevent the rice from sticking at the bottom.

11) Cover the wok tightly (I put a weight on the cover) for about 2 minutes and then remove the cover to stir the rice again – we want to make sure the the rice at the bottom gets to the top and vice-versa, to ensure the rice cook evenly with the liquid. Put back the cover for another 2 minutes.

12) Put in the french beans now – this is so they don’t get overcooked and they are still crunchy to the bite when the Paella is eaten.

13) If you think the liquid is drying up too fast and the rice may not get fully cooked, add in a bit at a time the water or stock on standby. Stir to mix thoroughly the ingredients.

14) Repeat step (11) until almost all the liquid is absorbed by the rice. From the picture above, it will be about 4 more minutes before the next step ….

15) Now, turn off the fire and leave the wok covered tightly to let the rice finished cooking, say about 15 minutes more. (I used this time to clean up the kitchen and have a shower).

16) Serve hot with a good shake of Parmesan cheese and black pepper on the rice.

Voila! We now have a famous Spanish rice dish to serve our family! Bon Appetit! :D

My dinner – a plate of Paella with some sliced Japanese cucumbers on the side :D

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Homemade Bread & Tuna-Egg Sandwiches and Campbell Soup

May 27, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , ,

Good evening, dear friends :D

With the spiralling cost of petrol/gas, prices of most foodstuff have gone up, too. RM100 will not buy me as much groceries as it would have last year. :roll: As such, these days, it is more economical and healthier to just have a few simple meals at home. Also, most food stalls here are now resorting to using more MSG (monosodium glutamate) to enhance their flavour since their costs have gone up, and I don’t like the side effects that MSG has.

When the price of our favourite brand of bread has gone up but the size of the load has reduced simultaneously … it was time to bring out my dusty breadmachine and make my own bread again! :lol:

The recipe for my Homemade Wholemeal Bread is posted below. This bread is quite soft and light as I have only added a small proportion of wholemeal flour, seeing as my hubby doesn’t like wholemeal breads. :lol:

Freshly baked load of bread removed from breadmachine tin

Homemade Bread Recipe -

1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
1 large beaten egg
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour
3/4 cup wholemeal bread flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

*** Place all ingredients in the tin of bread machine as per the order above and bake according to manufacturer’s directions

The smell of bread baking wafting through the house is enough to make my kids wait impatiently to bite into slices of buttered, hot bread! Below is a picture of my son’s simple dinner – his plate of stacked sandwiches! :lol:

Some tuna-egg sandwiches to go with a bowl of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom soup


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My Simple Baked Salmon Dinner On A Hot Day

May 20, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized, Western Food, Whole Lunch or Dinner Menus · Tagged , , , , ,

Stewed Potato Wedges, Tomato Salsa/Salad, Buttered Rice, Salmon Steak with Butter Garlic Sauce, and a slice of lemon

Good evening, dear friends :D

For the past few weeks, the weather in KL has become really hot and humid and with this kind of weather, I usually do not like to spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen! Planning my dinner menu then becomes a challenge as I want the food to be enjoyable but I only want to dash into my kitchen, do the necessary chop-chop, cook-cook, clean-clean and then run out of my kitchen and have a refreshing cold shower first, before I serve dinner to my family! :roll: :lol:

This Baked Salmon Dinner was what I cooked for my family two Sundays ago and I am posting the recipes here at the request of my dear friend from the US, Helena. I hope you will find these recipes easy to follow and I can assure you that they take very little time to put together (if you follow the instructions below), but they are healthy food and taste great!

In order to be efficient in the kitchen (i.e. zip in and zip out of the kitchen), we need to plan and strategise in our mind first what needs to be done in what order.

The Tomato Salsa/Salad needs to be prepared first as it takes some time (the longer the better) for the flavours to come together -

Ingredients & Method -

5 tomatoes, washed and diced

1 large onion, peeled and diced

some chopped green onion or coriander leaves/cilantro

Juice from 1/2 a lemon (more if you like this sour)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

some pepper

** just mixed all the ingredients together, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until serving time.

Next, prepare to cook the Buttered Rice -

Ingredients & Method -

Prepare your rice as you would normally cook it. I just added the following -

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

1 medium onion, peeled and diced (optional as sometimes I don’t put this)

1 cube chicken stock bouillion per 3 cups of rice, crumbled

2 pandan or screwpine leaves, for added aroma (optional)

1 tbsp salt

1 tsp sugar

dash of pepper

4 tbsps butter

Note – make sure to give the rice a good stir when it boils to mix the chicken flavour and butter thoroughly

While your rice is cooking, preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celcius or 360 degrees Fahrenheit, and go on to prepare your Salmon Steaks -

I really love the flavour and texture of salmon and it is really easy to cook. When the weather is not hot, I like to pan fry my salmon steaks in some olive oil and butter. But this time, I just baked them and they tasted very good, too!

All I did was just to rub the salmon steaks with some salt and black pepper, drizzle them with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle some sliced onions and bell pepper on top…..and in they go into the oven to be baked until they are just cooked (not too long – insert a fork into the centre or thickest part of the steak to check.) The cooking duration depends on the thickness of the steaks. Mine took about 20 minutes.


While the salmon is cooking in your oven, prepare your Garlic Butter Sauce and Stewed Potatoes Wedges (actually you can roast your potato wedges, too, but at that time, I was in the mood to have them stewed instead :lol: ) -

1) To 4 tbsps of melted butter in a medium heated pan, add in 2 tbsps of chopped garlic and give it a good stir.

2) Stir in 3 tbsps of flour and give it a good stir to make a roux.

3) Then add in a cup of milk, season with salt and pepper and when it comes to a boil, the sauce is ready. Serve this with the salmon steaks.

For the Stewed Potato Wedges, the potatoes were washed and cut into thin wedges (to cut down cooking time). Heat up some olive oil in a pan, tip in the potato wedges, add enough water to just cover the potatoes, season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and simmer covered over a low fire until they are just soft…about 15 minutes.

Voila! The Baked Salmon Dinner is ready to be served! All in, I think I only spent about 40 minutes in the kitchen preparing and cooking this meal. I hope this post will encourage you to cook up a delicious meal efficiently in as short amount of time as possible for those moments that you don’t want to slave too long over a hot stove in the kitchen, or simply for those days that you want a minimal fuss but yummy dinner! :wink:

Bon Appetit! :D

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Easy Noodle Stirfry/Fried Mee

May 19, 2008 · Filed under Chinese Food · Tagged , ,

Good evening, dear friends :D

It is very easy to cook a noodle dish – as long as you have any type of vegetables, meat, meat leftovers, prawns, fresh or dried noodles (like egg noodles, spaghetti, macaroni, rice vermicelli, flat rice noodles, kway teow…etc), you will be all set to go and your noodle dish will be ready in 30 to 40 minutes! Easy, huh?

My hubby was hungry during tea time yesterday and we didn’t feel like going out to buy some tea snacks, like curry puffs, and I thought of making a simple fried noodle with my leftover Siew Yoke.

Basically, there is no hard and fast rule about the perfect fried noodle and all you need to do is just put together your favourite ingredients. As you can see from the picture above, I have more greens in it than carbohydrates! :lol:

Here is the recipe to this noodles -

Ingredients -

4 dried spinach egg noodles, cooked until soft in boiling water, drained and mixed with 2 tbsps of sesame oil or any fragrant fried shallot or fried garlic oil, and 2 tbsps of soy sauce (the noodles will not stick together and are flavoured evenly by the soy sauce already)

Some Siew Yoke/Roast Pork, sliced (if you are using raw meat, slice it thinly and marinate with some soy sauce and pepper and a dash of sesame oil)

2 sticks celery, sliced diagonally

3 leaves of cabbage, cut small

1/2 a carrot, julienned

some sugar peas

3 pips garlic, chopped

2 tbsps oyster sauce

salt & sugar to taste

dash of pepper

chopped green onions for garnishing

3 tbsps of oil

1/4 cup of hot water


Method -

1) Heat up oil in wok or a non-stick pan until smoking slightly. Add in the garlic and cook until golden.

2) Put in the meat and fry for about 2 minutes, until aromatic. Put in the rest of the vegetables and stirfry for about 3 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of salt. Continue stirring.

3) Add in the noodles and stir for about 3 minutes or so, until the noodles are hot and sizzling.

4) Add in the oyster sauce, stir to mix evenly into noodles.

5) Pour in the 1/4 cup of water. This is to let the flavours all come together and to make you noodles moist at the same time. Stir noodles for another 2 minutes.

6) Taste a bit of your noodles and adjust seasonings according to your preference.

7) Garnish with chopped onions and serve with fresh chopped chili or some chili sauce.

There, it was easy, wasn’t it?

Bon Appetit! :D

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Homemade Yummy Chinese Crispy Roast Pork Belly (Siew Yoke or Siao Bak)

May 17, 2008 · Filed under Chinese Food · Tagged , , , , ,

Good evening, dear friends :D

My family had our first taste of homemade Siew Yoke or Chinese Roast Pork Belly last year when my brother-in-law made some and my eldest son said it was the best Siew Yoke in the world! :lol: The homemade version was definitely much more tasty and juicy that those sold at stalls. So, I got the recipe from my brother-in-law and I roasted my own Siew Yoke for the first time last year but the skin didn’t turn out as good as it should be.

Today, I decided to make my own version of Siew Yoke after having read more recipes on this and I am very happy to say that my Crispy Roast Pork Belly or Siew Yoke today was almost perfect … a good second attempt for me. My family, especially my hubby, were happily tucking away into the pieces of Siew Yoke and seeing their happy faces has made me very pleased with this recipe.

If you or your family love eating Siew Yoke, then I would encourage you to try making it at home and I can assure you that it is well worth the effort when they taste your Roast Pork, and you will become the “Super Star” for the night for serving this tasty meat! :lol:

Here is my Chinese Roast Pork Belly Recipe. Please note that I always cook a huge portion in my recipes and so, you may like to cut down the portion accordingly. For a small family, I would suggest that you start with just 1 kilogramme of pork belly.

***(Added on 30 December, 2008 - another method on “HOW TO PREPARE YOUR SIEW YOKE FOR ROASTING“.)

*** (Added on 19 April, 2012 – please read my comment # 207 below for my latest, improved, and easier version of preparing your pork belly for roasting :idea: )

Ingredients & Method -

** 2 kg Pork Belly with skin – washed and pat very dry. Use a sharp knife and poke through the skin all over, or have your butcher do this for you. On the meat side, make shallow cuts (about 1 cm deep and 1 1/2 cm apart) across the length of the meat

** 2 tbsp salt, for rubbing on pork skin

** 4 tbsp white vinegar, for brushing on pork skin at 20 minutes into roasting

*

Marinade to be mixed together in a rice bowl -

2 cubes of preserved fermented red beancurd (nam yue)

1 tbsp Chinese 5-spice powder (Ng Heong Fun) – see picture below

1 tbsp white pepper

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp sugar

2 tbsps rice wine

*

Method :-

1) Rub marinate all over the meat side of the pork belly for a few minutes.

2) Place pork belly meat side down in a rectangular baking tray.

3) Rub another 2 tbsp salt all over the skin.

4) Place uncovered in the refrigerator overnight until an hour before roasting. The air in the fridge will dry out the pork skin.

5) To roast, preheat oven to 200 degrees Celcius or about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Have both the upper and lower heating elements as well as the fan in the oven on.

6) Place pork belly on a rack in the middle of the oven. Have a pan below to catch the dripping fat during roasting. I placed a piece of aluminium in my pan for easy cleaning later, and I like to save the fat drippings from the roast pork for roasting potatoes for another meal. :idea:

*

Pork Belly roasting about 10 minutes in the oven

*** Note – if your oven does not have a see-through glass door like mine, please check on your pork now and then to prevent burning

*

7) After 20 minutes have passed, change the oven setting to just the upper heating element or “grill function” or “broil function” on. Brush the white vinegar onto the skin. This will accelerate the cooking process on the pork skin and make it light and crunchy by crackling with bubbles or blisters all over. Occasionally, I opened the oven door slightly for about 10 seconds to let in some fresh air and then closed it back.

*

You can see about 40% of the skin has become crispy. Actually, the skin is crackling and puffing up with little bubbles.

*

I have turned the meat around. Whenever I see some liquid fat building up on the skin, I would use some paper kitchen towels to dab it, so that the skin is exposed and gets “bubbling” crispy

*

8 ) You have to monitor the pork quite often by looking at the progress of the skin in getting crispy. The total time it takes for the skin to get really light and crispy will depend on your oven and how dry the skin was before roasting.

So, look at the skin closely. My butcher told me that the pork skin needs to get charred and burnt as that will mean that the skin has become really crispy all the way through. The last time I made this Siew Yoke, I didn’t wait it for the charring stage and therefore, the skin was still hard to bite on….

*

When the skin is charred, it means it has cooked all the way through and has became dry and crispy and crunchy. Don’t worry about the burnt parts – use a steak knife that has a serrated edge and you can easily scrape the charred bits off in 2 minutes … and your Siew Yoke will be fine, like in the picture below ===>

*

Voila! Your yummy homemade Siew Yoke is ready…it took about an hour to for my 2 kg of pork belly to finish cooking. Let it rest for about 15 minutes and then CHOP (don’t slice as the crispy skin will drop off) it into bite sized pieces. See the how the juices run and hear the sound of the crispy crunch as your knife cuts through the skin! Pop a piece into your mouth and savour your own Siew Yoke…. Mmmm…yummy, yes? :wink:

*

See the 3 layers of meat and the thin layer of fat in between? See the crispiness on the skin crackling? They taste absolutely heavenly!

There you have it, a homemade recipe for Siew Yoke or Siao Bak or Crispy Roast Pork Belly. It is actually quite easy to do and it only cost a fraction of what you will pay for if you have bought it from the Roast or Barbequed Meats Stalls outside. But yours will taste the best in the world! :D

I hope your will try this recipe and impress your family or friends with your homemade Siew Yoke. I had also made a pot of cooling Old Cucumber Soup to balance the heatiness of this dish… The Siew Yoke was the “main star” of my dinner and I just cooked a French Bean stirfry together with some steamed Salted Chicken – all this went well with hot steamed  rice! Yummmy… :lol:

Bon Appetit! I hope your Roast Pork will turn out heavenly! :D

With best wishes,

choesf :D

Note added on Sunday, 18 May, 2008 -

I forgot to mention that I like to make a large piece of Siew Yoke and so that I can use some of it to cook my husband’s favourite stirfried noodles for lunch the next day. It is a delicious Hokkien noodle recipe that I had learned from my late mother-in-law, and have ingredients made up of Lai Fun (the dried thick rice vermicelli that is boiled in water so soften), strips of Siew Yoke, lots of diagonally cut leeks, and dried prawns (har mai or heh bee).

Added on 19 April, 2012 :-

You may like to make this easy and yummy cucumber salad below. It’s tangy and sweet taste will help to cut some of the greasy or “jelak” taste of this roast pork, and the cucumber will counter the heatiness of the roast pork dish. :idea:

Healthy Yummy Cucumber Salad

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Happy Mother’s Day!

May 11, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged ,


Happy Mother’s Day to all of you that are mothers (and are being pampered by your children), and to those of you that are pampering and taking your mothers out to dinner! :lol:

I woke up this morning to the chirping of birds that seemed merrier today and when I came downstairs from my bedroom to make coffee for my husband, I found a few greeting cards (one was handmade) from my children waiting for me at the kitchen countertop. Ah, they must have prepared them lovingly in secret and placed them there in the kitchen after I have called it a day and gone up to my room to sleep! So, when they woke up this morning, they were rewarded with a few endearing big hugs and kisses from me, and vice versa! Am I glad to be a stay-at-home mom and when I look at my children, I know I have made the right decision in quitting my job and dedicating all my time to my family …. and best is, they know it and they do appreciate what I do for them! :wink:

I especially love this card from my second daughter that says it all  …. the “F.O.C.” on the card means “Free of Charge”!  :lol:

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Some Simple Cooling Foods & Drinks

May 6, 2008 · Filed under For Good Health · Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Good evening, dear friends :D

Wow, the weather has been really hot and terribly humid for a week now and the heat is making most people sweat buckets even when they are not doing anything active. Just the other day, I was telling my kids that I can even feel a film of perpiration on my eye bags!! :roll: :lol: Two weeks ago, whenever we met up with friends or some acquaintances at the market, our greeting usually went like this – “Wow, the prices of foodstuff keep going up and up!” :shock: ……..but these days, we merely greet each other with a tired, “Wah, it is really hot these days  lah ….” :cry: :lol:

This type of weather can easily cause our body to build up heatiness and depending on the level of heatiness, we would experience symptoms ranging from tension headaches, sore gums, even toothaches, dry lips (despite drinking litres of water daily), restless sleep, irritability, low grade fever, etc. They are even different classifications of heatiness in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) ….. like “moist heatiness” (eating curries often lead to this), “dry heatiness” (can lead to dry coughs, sore throats) , “bone heatiness” (causes us to get sprains and backaches easily), and “heatiness that reach the heart” (this is the one that causes us to have vivid dreams or nightmares when we sleep, our sleep is often restless, and we wake up the next day even more tired).

The simple cooling remedy for the “heatiness that reach the heart” is the Tai Bok Choy Soup. Because my family were finding that the heat got to us and we didn’t really sleep well, I had made this soup for dinner tonight. And guess what? My husband is already very sound asleep in bed at 9pm, when his usual bedtime is hardly before midnight! :lol:

I am going to list below some simple cooling remedies that we can follow to prevent a buildup of heatiness in our body -

1) Cucumbers – I always serve slices of raw cucumber whenever I have deep fried or baked foods because cucumbers are cooling in properties, and the process of baking and frying in oil are considered heaty. Cucumbers are also known to counter carcinogens in meats, especially in barbequed meats…..ever wondered why Satay is served with chunks of cucumbers? I remember when I was a kid, we didn’t have much money to buy all those type of herbs to make cooling drinks and my mom would just ask me to dip some cucumber slices in some sea salt and take that as a cooling remedy.

2) A cold beer with salt – Have a mug of really cold beer with a good pinch of salt in it. Beer is generally regarded as cooling (whisky is heaty, but good for improving blood circulation. My healer lady friend has recommened a little whisky each night before bedtime is good for health!), and if you add some salt into it, it is even better!

3) Coca Cola with a good pinch of salt - This is especially good if you have a scratchy and dry throat with the occasionally dry cough……down a really cold can of salted Coca Cola and feel the relief in your body! Sometimes when we are too heaty, we even get grumpy and we just feel under the weather. This is surely one remedy that you will enjoy (well….other than the beer above! :roll: )

4) Mangosteens - I mentioned mangosteens because I had just finished eating some really juicy, and sweet mangosteens! :lol: Mangosteens are also known as the “Queen of Fruits”, just as the Durian is known as the “King of Fruits”. Just as durians are considered very, very heaty…..mangosteens are considered very cooling.

5) Watermelons – Another juicy, sweet fruit that I love – best eaten on a really hot day! Not only does it taste great but it packs a lot of antioxidants as well. Watermelons also quench the inflammation that leads to conditions like asthma, atherosclerosis, colon cancer and arthritis. Also a good source of Vitamins A and C.

6) Bittergourd – Generally in TCM, bitterness is a sign of cooling properties and the rule of thumb is, the more bitter the taste, the more cooling it is! I love eating bittergourd and whenever I cook them, I don’t rub salt into them to remove the bitter taste, so that I can retain most of its cooling nature. Earlier, I have posted a really simple Japanese recipe for bittergourd, called “Okinawa Bittergourd Stirfry.” You can substitute with other meats like bacon, ham or even chicken slices.

7) Ginseng Root Drink – Known as “Pow Sum” or “Yeong Sum”, the ginseng root is generally boiled in water for a few minutes to allow the flavours to come out, then add in some salt and let the drink cool completely before consuming. It is of utmost importance to drink this cool or else the heat in your body will all rush up, thus causing the heaty symptoms (e.g. sore gums, headaches) to be even worse and you start wondering how come the ginseng drink didn’t work for you. Some old ladies even recommended putting the pot of ginseng root drink on the floor to cool down, and it is believed that the “earth energy” works together with the ginseng root to calm down our heatiness. Note – Korean ginseng is considered as very heaty!

8 ) Mung Beans or Green Beans – This is usually boiled with some sugar, pandan leaves (for good aroma), and water for about an hour and is served as a sweet soup or sweet dessert known as “Tong Sui.” Not only is this very cooling but it is also a very good detoxifying food. My healer lady recommends that we have this once a week and she told me acne-prone second daughter to take this regularly to help with her acne problem.

9) Dried Chrysanthemum Flowers – This is made into a flower tea where you can add sugar or honey for flavour, or just drink it plain. This drink is very good for dispelling heat and wind symptoms, refreshes the liver and clears the eyes (sometimes, we get “gunky” eyes due to heatiness as well.)

10) Chinese Cabbage or Napa or Savoy Cabbage – This vegetable is very cooling, and especially when it is pickled or fermented, the cooling properties are enhanced (best not to consume too much then). I like to make either rice vermicelli soup with this or just a simple Chinese stirfry as a vegetable accompaniment to a meal.

Okay, I will stop here with this list for now and if I can remember more, I will post a Part 2 later. As in anything, moderation is the key and do not go overboard in consuming lots of the above at a go…otherwise, you may end up with a too “cooling” body and end up with coughs and colds. In TCM, balancing of the Yin and Yang in our body is very important but it is a very fragile balance which will take an expert Chinese physician to diagnose.

Good night from KL! :D

P.S. I apologise for the lack of pictures in this post as the “Image Loading” feature in WordPress seems to have gone crazy on me again. :roll:

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A Pictorial Recipe – Homemade Sweet & Sour Pork

May 2, 2008 · Filed under Chinese Food, Uncategorized · Tagged , ,

Sweet & Sour Pork

Everyone loves Sweet & Sour Pork and you can just ask for this by its name in any Chinese restaurant all over the world. However, there are many variations of this dish in terms of presentation and colour, but basically, it is the unique combination of sweetness and sourness that makes this dish a hit!

I have written another recipe on Sweet & Sour Pork earlier here.

But this version below is a simple and traditional style that I usually cook at home. :wink:

Ingredients & Method :-

Pieces of pork belly marinating

500gm of pork belly, cut into bite-sizes. Marinate with 1 egg, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp of sesame oil, a good shake of pepper, and 3 tbsps of cornstarch. Set aside for a hour, longer is better.

Meanwhile, cut up some vegetables into similar sized chunks – cucumber, large onion, tomatoes, sweet bell pepper. Have some chopped garlic ready, too.

For the sauce, mix together – 1/2 cup tomato ketchup, 3 tbsps white vinegar, 2 tbsps brown sugar, 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1/4 cup water and 1 tbsp cornstarch. The ingredients can be adjusted according to your taste.

Some chopped coriander leaves and julienned green onion for garnishing and aroma.

Start cooking by deep frying the pork pieces in hot oil by batches until they are cooked and golden brown like this ===>

Set aside the fried pork belly.

In a heated wok with 2 tbsp of oil, fry chopped garlic until it is golden in colour, Add in the large onions and stirfry for 2 minutes. Tip in the rest of the vegetables and after a minute of stirfrying ….

.... pour in the sauce and keep stirring until ….

… it comes to a boil. Immediately, check the sauce and adjust it accordingly to your taste. Put in the fried pork pieces, stir thoroughly to mix the sauce and the pork and turn off the fire. Garnish with chopped coriander leaves and green onions and serve immediately with hot steam rice.

Voila! Your Sweet & Sour Pork is served! Bon Appetit! :D

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