Tuesday 30 October 2012

Braised Chicken with Eggs (Kay Hong Minus the Pork Belly)

The first time when I saw Phong Hong's post on Kay Hong (Terengganu Braised Chicken) at Terengganu Food Fest 2012 , I told myself I must try this dish. Too bad, I only tried last week and unfortunately without the pork belly as I have forgotten that day happened to be 'No Pork' day at the wet market. So, I just made do with just the chicken. On the other hand, I think this dish is also suitable for those who don't take pork.

I adapted this recipe from Phong Hong and at the same time from Daphne Hwee Lan Chua with some slight modification.

Ingredients :

 

 
- 1 whole chicken (cut into bite sized pieces)
- 10 hardboiled eggs (shelled)
- 10 shallots (finely sliced)
- 5 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2tbs preserved bean paste (tau cheong) to taste

- dark soya sauce (to taste)
- Palm sugar (gula Melaka) to taste

- Salt (to taste)
- Oil
- Water (enough to cover the chicken. Add more if you like to have extra gravy)

Method :


1) Heat oil in a wok or pot and fry the shallots until half brown. Then add in minced garlic. Fry until aromatic
2) Then, add tau cheong. Keep stirring over low-medium fire until fragrant.

3) Add in gula Melaka. Keep stirring until all the gula melaka is melted and started to caramelize.

4) Add the chicken and dark soya sauce. Stir well.

5) Add water, salt and hard boiled eggs.
6) Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer until the chicken is cooked and tender.
 
I have no regrets to cook this dish even though it is without the pork belly as it is indeed very delicious. I believe with the pork belly, it will be even better. Will cook it again but this time it will be with the pork belly.

Cook extra so that you can keep it overnight as it tastes even better. Yummy yummy!!

Serve it with steamed rice.


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Wednesday 24 October 2012

The latest in a long line of potential 'Superfoods'

The purple sweet potato:
The purple sweet potato, the latest food item presented to the general public as a potential superfood. The potato's colouring contained the chemical anthocyanin, which is known to lower the risk of cancer and could even possibly slow down certain types of the disease. The colour is the important part because the purple colour is responsible for the amount of anthocyanin in the potato.

Scientists have already used two strands of anthocyanin to treat colon cancer and found that the pigment slowed down the growth of cancerous cells. Anthocyanin, which produces red, blue or purple colours in different types of food, can also be found in blueberries, red grapes and red cabbage, however the specially grown purple sweet potato has a higher concentration of the chemical than any other species of potato. Dr Weiqun Wang, who was also involved in testing the potato, has said that the new purple sweet potato tasted sweeter than other potatoes but was still perfectly edible. According to Wang, "It's good not only for cancer prevention but other benefits like antioxidants as well."

SWEET POTATO (Kamote) far exceeds the nutrition and health values of rice. Here are the benefits of substituting rice with kamote:


1. Sweet potato is more filling and suppresses hunger pangs longer. It is also cheaper than rice.

2. Unlike rice, it is easy to grow. It grows in backyards with or without fertilizers. 

3. Unlike rice which needs to be eaten with a dish, Sweet Potato tastes good and can be eaten by itself. Thus, substituting rice with sweet potato saves money for other needs.

4. Rice cannot match the nutritional values of potato. Because rice converts to sugar in the body. 

5. The nutritional values of a 3 oz. baked sweet potato are: calories 90, fat 0 g, saturated fat 0 g, cholesterol 0 mg, carbohydrate 21 g, protein 2 g, dietary fiber 3 g, sodium 36 mg.

6. Sweet potato (kamote) can bring you good health and keep away some health problems.

7. Sweet Potato (kamote) lowers hypertension, bad cholesterol and even blood sugar when eaten as a substitute to rice!  The purple sweet potato (kamote) is particularly effective for lowering hypertension.

8. The Korean medical documentary credits the sweet potato (kamote) as high fiber and is one of the best foods that one can eat to prevent cancer!

source : e-mail
DISCLAIMER: This information  is intended for general information only and is not intended as medical advice. You should not rely on any information gathered here as a substitute for consultation with medical professionals. 

Monday 15 October 2012

The four treasures of food that shouldn't be wasted when eating

When eating certain food, there are certain parts which seemingly are useless and should be thrown away. In reality, their nutritional value could be higher than the food itself. Check if you have unknowingly wasted these.
Fish Eyes (Ughh !)
Fish eyes, especially mackerel family, contains rich quantity of DHA and EPA which are very rare unsaturated fatty acid. The most beneficial property of these natural substances is their ability to stimulate human brain cells, improve memory and thinking power, and also very helpful in preventing memory decline, high cholesterol and hypertension diseases. The common notion suggested is that eating certain animal parts would strengthen similar body parts of ours, and this has been proven correct by clinical experiments where fish eyes are concerned: they can help to reduce the deterioration of eyesight. 

Fibres of orange or grapefruit peels
When eating oranges or grapefruits, after removing the peel, do not remove all the fibres that cover the fruits. In fact, the fibres contained a vitamin which helps to maintain the elasticity and density of the artery wall, which in turn reduces the danger of bleeding especially in the fine arteries. Hypertension patients usually have problem of brain haemorrage while diabetic patients have retina haemorrage. For people with tendency to bleed, especially old people with tendency of artery hardening, eating fibres of oranges and grapefruit peels is particularly helpful. 

Bones
The nutritional value of bones are higher than that of the meat. Comparing the nutritional values of Pork bones and pork, the bones contain far more protein, iron, sodium and calories than meat. Bones contain 23% more protein than milk powder, 61% more than beef, three times as much as pork and more than double that of eggs. It has abundance of essential minerals that humans require, like vitamins A, B1 and B2 that are useful for slowing aging. The best part is, when boiled in soup, these nutritions become more readily absorbed by human body than plant-based food.

Chili Leaves
Chili leaves contains complete range of amino acid almost 4 times compared to the chili fruits. It also contains more than double what chili fruits have of which are anti-cancerous substance. On top of that, chili leaves are rich in calcium, beta carotene, various vitamins and other nutrients. Eating a suitable quantity of chili leaves enhances secretion of digestive juices, improves appetite and are good for indigestion, gastric and stomach discomfort. Regular intake of chili leaves also help in warming body, strengthen liver, improve eyesight, reduce weight and improve beauty. Chili leaves is tasty and can either be cooked alone, frying with meat or making soup.

Source : e-mail received from a friend