Tofu With Dried Prawns

Ingredients
2 pieces of soft tofu
5 -7 shallots, sliced and fried
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dried prawns, chopped

Method
1) Steamed soft tofu for about 2 minutes in a rice cooker while cooking rice at the same time.
2) Fry shallots and dried prawns till brown.
3) Remove tofu from rice cooker and set aside.
3) Pour oyster sauce onto tofu.
4) Pour fried shallots and dried prawns onto tofu.
5) Dish and serve.

Fan Kok Soup

Ingredients
About 200-300gm of fan kok, remove skin and cut into small pieces
250gm pork bone
1 tbsp gei zhi
15 nos of red dates
2 tbsp peanuts
Salt to taste
Pot of water

Method:
1) Add all ingredients into a pot of boiling water and cook for 2.5 hours on medium to small heat.
2) Add in salt to taste.

Pork Chop a la Chinese Style

Ingredients:
4 slices of pork chop, pounded with the back of a cleaver
1 tbsp corn flour
1 no of egg
3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Marinate:
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp fah tiew wine
Salt and pepper

Method:
1) Marinade pork chop and leave it for at least 2 hours.
2) Add in cornflour and egg and mix well before pan fry.
3) Pan fry on both sides of pork chop on medium heat till tender.

* Do not overcook the pork chop.

Stewed Pork Meat With Egg

Ingredients
200gm pork meat, sliced
4 nos of boiled eggs, remove shells
1 no of dry tofu (optional)
5 slices of ginger
1 tbsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp dark soya sauce
1 tbsp fah tiew wine
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 cup water

Method:
1) Heat up oil in a pot. Add in ginger and briefly fry. Add in pork meat.
2) Add in water and when it is boiled, add in all the sauces.
3) Stew pork meat for about 10 minutes, add in boiled eggs and tofu and stew for another 10 minutes or till the sauce thickens.
4) Add in fah tiew wine and let it simmer for 1 minute.
5) Dish and serve with steamed white rice.

Margarine And Butter

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback. So they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings.

DO YOU KNOW the difference between margarine and butter?

Both have the same amount of calories.

Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5grams.

Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.

Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few only because they are added!

Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.

Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for Margarine.
Very high in Trans fatty acids.

Triple risk of coronary heart disease.

Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).

Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.

Lowers quality of breast milk.

Decreases immune response.

Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC. This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).
You can try this yourself:
Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area.
Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:
* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should
tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value;
nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny microorganisms will not find a home to grow.

Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

How true can this be?

Braised Spare Ribs With Fermented Soya Bean Paste

It was a quick decision to cook for dinner and my freezer was out of meat and I still have some left over pork ribs. I got this recipe from a recipe book and modified slightly as I would prefer to have some sauce for the kids. That happens when I cook few dishes and all are usually dry dishes without sauces to go with the steamed white rice.
Other than that,I wanted to try some new pork ribs dishes for a change instead and it tasted like one of my MIL's pork ribs dishes. You may even cook with potatoes.

Ingredients:
400g spare ribs, cut into serving pieces
2 cups oil for deep frying
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic

Marinade:
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp light soya sauce
1 tbsp corn flour

Seasoning:
1 tbsp fermented soya bean paste
1/2 tbsp light soya sauce
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp shaoxing wine
Dash of sesame oil and pepper

500ml water

Method:
1. Mix spare ribs with marinade and marinate for 30 minutes. Deep fry in hot oil for a short while or till slightly brown. Dish and drain.
2. Leave 1 tbsp oil in wok and saute chopped garlic until aromatic. Add in seasoning and fry for 30 seconds. Add in spare ribs and water and bring to boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes or until spare ribs are tender or when the sauce thickens. Dish and serve.

Danger of Bottled Water In The Car

Another email I would like to share with you. Mom told me about the danger of it but I didn't know that it can cause breast cancer in women. But I personally believe that it harms men as well.

Bottled water in your car.....very dangerous, woman!!!!
This is how Sheryl Crow got breast cancer. She was on the Ellen show and
said this same exact thing. This has been identified as the most common
cause of the high levels in breast cancer, especially in Australia .
A friend whose mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The Doctor
told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car.
The doctor said that the heat and the plastic of the bottle have certain
chemicals that can lead to breast cancer. So please be careful and do not
drink bottled water that has been left in a car, and, pass this on to all
the women in your life. This information is the kind we need to know and be
aware and just might save us!!!! The heat causes toxins from the plastic to
leak into the water and they have found these toxins in breast tissue. Use
a stainless steel Canteen or a glass bottle when you can!!!

Do You Eat Petai?

Got this from a forwarded email but don't know how true it is.Don't blame me if you smell of petai all day and night.



ADVICE FROM UKM MEDICAL DOCTOR

Little did you know ...... after reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at petai in the same way again!

Petai contains three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose. Combined with fiber, petai gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proved that just two servings of petai provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder petai is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way petai can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.

Depression:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND among people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating petai. This is because petai contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

PMS (Pre-Menstrual Syndrome):
Forget the pills - eat petai. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

Anaemia:
High in iron, petai can stimulate the production of haemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anaemia.

Blood Pressure:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the petai industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.

Brain Power :
200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating petai at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

Understand that bananas contain lot of potassium too so eat more banana. Just look at those monkeys, they are really active, alert, smart and cunny too!!

Constipation:
High in fiber, including petai in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

Hangovers:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a petai milkshake, sweetened with honey. The petai calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.

Heartburn:
Petai has a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating petai for soothing relief.

Morning Sickness:
Snacking on petai between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

Mosquito bites:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of the petai skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

Nerves:
Petai is high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system.

Overweight:
Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.

Ulcers:
Petai is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

Temperature control:
Many other cultures see petai as a 'cooling' fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Holland, for example, pregnant women eat petai to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD):
Petai can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.

Smoking:
Petai can also help people trying to give up smoking. The B6, B12 they contain, as well as the potassium and magnesium found in them, help the body recover from the effects of nicotine withdrawal.

Stress:
Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium petai snack.

Strokes:
According to research in 'The New Engla nd Journal of Medicine, ' eating petai as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of death by strokes by as much as 40%'.

Warts:
Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of petai and place it on the wart. Carefully hold the petai in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

So, as you can see, petai really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrates, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, 'A Petai a day keeps the doctor away'.

Fish Fillet And Spinach Soup

Ingredients
200gm fish fillet, sliced
1 tbsp oil, 5 slices ginger
800ml water
300g spinach/choy sum

Marinade
1/4 tsp salt
Dash of corn flour

Seasoning
1 tsp concentrated chicken stock
Dash of salt and pepper

1 deep fried yao char kwai, sliced

Method
1. Mix fish with marinade
2. Heat up oil, saute sliced ginger until fragrant. Add water, seasoning and bring to boil. Add in the remaining ingredients and bring to boil again. dish up.
3. Sprinkle yao char kwai on top and serve.

Steamed Minced Meat With Dried Squid

Ingredients
200gm minced meat
1 dried squid, soaked and chopped
8 waterchesnuts, peeled, chopped and squeezed out juice
1 egg

Seasoning
1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp light soy sauce
A little sesame oil and pepper
1 tbsp corn flour

Method
1. Put all ingredients and seasoning into a mixing bowl and mix well. Place onto a steaming tray.
2. Steam at high heat for 12-15 minutes or until cooked. Remove and serve.

Cotton Cheese Cake

Ingredient A
250gm cream cheese , Philadelphia brand
75gm of butter, I used unsalted
70gm castor sugar
6 egg yolks
40gm flour,sieved
20gm corn flour, sieved
1/2 tsp cream of tartar, sieved
1-3 drops of lemon essence (optional)

Ingredient B
70gm castor sugar
6 egg whites

Method:
1. Melt cream cheese and butter in a big cup (I used stainless steel) in a wok of boiling water. Keep on stirring till it melts completely with a medium heat.
2. Remove the cup and leave the melted cream cheese and butter to cool.
3. Once it is cool, start beating Ingredient B in a mixer on speed 3 for about 10 minutes or till white foam appears (like the bubble in the bath). Leave it aside.
4. Put melted cream cheese and butter into a big mixing bowl. Add in egg yolk one at a time. Add in castor sugar. Fold in flour and cream of tartar.Add in lemon essence. Lastly, add in beaten Ingredient B. Mix evenly.
5. Line a medium square baking pan and pour mixture into it.
6. Fill a big round baking pan with hot water.
7. Place the square pan into the big round pan that is filled with hot water.
8. Bake at 180 C for 1 hour 15 minutes or till cooked.

Notes:
The important method that you have to do it right is beating the castor sugar and egg white in a mixer. Ensure that it doesn't drip when you turn the bowl over.
You many add lemon essence to get a hint of lemon.
You don't need to reduce the sugar content as it is just of the right taste. Not too sweet too.
Remember to preheat your oven!

Spicy Sambal Squid

4 large squids, sliced into small ring shape
2 tbsp plain chilli sambal
10 no of shallots, blended
1 medium size of serai
2 large onions, cut into 6
8 cloves of garlic, blended
pinch of salt
2 tsp of sugar, more or less
3 tbsp cooking oil

Method
1. Heat up oil in wok. Add in shallots and garlic and fry till fragrant.
2. Add in chilli paste and fry till fragrant/change to darker red color.
3. Add in squid and fry for 30 seconds.
4. Add in sugar and salt and some splashes of water. Fry for another 2-3 minutes or till squid is cooked.