My ongoing quest to eat healthier means that I try to eat a variety of plants in different colours. On top of a must-have leafy green vegetables on my dinner table, I like to have another plant-base dish like mushrooms, beans, or gourds. One of my go-to plant base dish that I cook to up my …
Pumpkin Stir-fried With Dried Shrimps and Thai Basil – 3 Ingredients Read More »
There are many different Chinese herbal blends to treat specific health concern. When someone in my family lacks appetite, we’ll make Sei San Tong (Four Spirit Soup 四神湯); when a major exam is near and we need extra brainpower, we’ll make Ming Muk Bou Lou Tong (明目補㺁湯) which translates to Soup for Improving Eyesight and Brain. An …
To make this simplified yet still delicious Thai Fish Cakes, you will need to have fish paste, eggs, and long beans as the main ingredients. It is then flavoured with chili paste and kaffir lime leaves powder. Yes, that’s it! I’ve developed this recipe for my ‘3 Ingredient Recipes’ book. The requirement is that only …
Aunty Clara cooks but rarely. Like many working mothers, she doesn’t want to toil in the kitchen but still enjoy making a delicious meal for her family. When she does cook, we do get quite fancy Indian meals (to me, least). One of my favourite is her version of prawn paratel (‘paretal’ means dry curry). …
Easy Dry Prawn Curry (Prawn Paretal) – 7 Ingredients Read More »
Do you know that besides the four basic taste (i.e sweet, sour, salty, and bitter), there’s another flavour called umami? A Japanese scientist managed to extract a substance called glutamate from kombu seaweed and discovered that its combination with salt creates a ‘pleasant savoury taste’. That is how MSG was created and slowly permeates supermarkets, restaurants, and …
Dried Shrimp / Udang Kering Powder (‘Homemade MSG’) Read More »
I rely on quick and easy recipes for everday cooking. But when I cook for a party, I put in extra effort to make amazing food that makes people go wow!. Sometimes, good food takes time. This is one of them. You will have to marinade it overnight (at least 12 – 24 hours of …
Even if you love Chinese soup, you may not heard of this ‘pang pi dou tang’ (彭皮豆湯). Hyacinth beans or Egyptian Kidney Beans, also known as pang pei dau in Cantonese, is not easily available. Ingredients Information: Hyacinth Bean Unlike commercialised vegetables such as long beans or spinach, I’ve never seen this bean at the …
Hyacinth Bean Soup / Pang Pi Dou Tang (彭皮豆湯) – 7 Ingredients Read More »
If you’re visiting Malaysia, one of the drinks you must try in this beautiful tropical country is Limau Asam Boi or Kat Chai Suen Mui (桔子酸梅), in Malay and Cantonese respectively. This drink is a thirst quencher favoured by most Malaysians on a hot day. It’s commonly available in Malaysian kopitiam as calamansi lime grow very well …
Limau Asam Boi / Lime & Plum Juice – 3 Ingredients Read More »
Kuih Keria is arguably my favourite doughnut. Not just because it’s delicious, but it is as healthy as a doughnut can be. While Krispy Kreme and Dunkin’ Donuts are made from flour and sugar, our local doughnut is made mostly from sweet potato. Although this recipe needs very little ingredients, it can be challenging for …
Kuih Keria/ Malaysian Sweet Potato Doughnuts – 5 Ingredients Read More »
Pat Chan Soup (八珍汤) was the punishment to puberty. My mother forced me to drink this super bitter medicinal soup at the end of every menstrual cycle. It was a monthly torture. I hated it so much that I secretly throw away the bowl of soup. Once, I was caught in the act. She was …
Eight Treasure Tonic (Ba Zhen Tang/ Pat Chan Tong) Read More »
Since I hit puberty, my mother started making for me two types of drink: a very bitter medicinal soup called ‘Pat ChanTong’ (八珍汤) and Red Dates Tonic (紅棗水). Though I hated the former, I could tolerate the latter. My mother made it almost every week. As I was more interested in other sweet beverages (e.g …
On the first day of Chinese New Year, every year without fail, my relatives will pay a visit to the Buddhist temple. Although neither a believer or a vegetarian, I do enjoy the special plant and soy-based dishes prepared for the festivity. Among my favourites are chicken drumstick made from soy milk (the ‘meat’ is …