Braised mutton (lamb) with Chinese herbs 24 Apr 2017 8:26 AM (8 years ago)
Sometimes, I strike on a right combination and came up with something delicious. Today is one of them. I surfed The Star’s site and read two recipes, from Amy Beh and Majorie Chiew. I combined both ideas and make use with whatever I have in my fridge and came up with this recipe.
BRAISED MUTTON WITH CHINESE HERBS
About 500-600gm mutton or lamb, cubed
1 piece of fuyi (red fermented beancurd)
Rub the meat with fuyee and leave to stand for a while.
Use a little oil and fry the meat till the water comes out.
Pour the water away, rinse meat.
Put meat into the slow cooker (crockpot)
Add:
Just enough water to cover the meat
Add in the following Chinese herbs (photos can be seen here) :
10 red dates
small handful of wolfberries
1 small piece dongguai
small handful tong sum
thumb size ginger, smashed
1 piece fuyi
*optional 2 tablespoon rice wine
Leave to simmer for several hours (3-4 hours or longer) until the meat is very soft. Taste for flavour. I did not use any salt as the fuyi is already salty.
One can add some fuchok (dried bean curd sticks) which had been deep fried for extra ‘meat’. Add in just before turning off fire.
Serve with white rice. Alternately, boil some rice vermicelli (mee hoon). Put single portion and pour soup and meat, garnish with spring onions.
I love this so much because it is not easy to find Chinese restaurants cooking mutton as Chinese believes mutton is ‘heaty’. Combined with dongguai, it becomes double heaty (though I am not prone). I remember eating something like this in Singapore once. I was staying in Little India (by accident) and found this small lane with a few shops selling braised mutton. The taste is something like braised beef (ngau lam meen).
(I had been extra hardworking in the kitchen these few days and have several recipes lining up to be blogged. So busy that I hardly have time for my other blog. Hmmm….Is this a good sign or bad?)
Changing eating patterns for a healthier lifestyle 29 May 2013 9:42 AM (12 years ago)
It is frightening how people are getting sick with diabetes and hypertension. It is like almost every other person I know who is above 45 years old has some sort of health concern.
Though we have read a lot about preventing these diseases like more exercise, a healthier diet and less stress, people still succumb to these diseases. If left unchecked, it will lead to heart disease and stroke.
Nowadays, most people will have their preventive check up to ensure that their health are not affected by these diseases. Many people have the means to do so annually. However there are some who are not covered and they are the ones suffering because by the time the symptoms show, they usually are in the advance stages.
Lower Employee Healthcare Costs may enable people to be more cautious, takes better care of themselves and be more frequent with the check-ups. Therefore many corporate companies now ensure that their employees are covered by Corporate Wellness Programs.
Wellness Programs will keep people more alert of their wellbeings. A regular check-up which consists of blood test, cardio and other tests will indicate the person’s condition.
If you wanna see more go to Orriant offers corporate wellness programs that have high employee participation rates. Their programs also qualify for Federal Wellness Incentives from 20-30%.
Lastly, always be wary of what you eat. Increase the amount of legumes, vegetables and other high fibre but low sugar foods in your diet. Cut down on the oily stuffs, fried foods and fatty meats. It is always good to take more fruits and grains too.
Exercise 30 minutes at day and relax more. These are some of the ways one can keep a healthier lifestyle. Initially, it may be hard to change our eating patterns but with some practice and resolve plus the worries of high costs of medical care, one will definitely get there. Eat healthily, it saves lives.
Go Natural For A Good Night Sleep 23 Mar 2013 12:24 AM (12 years ago)
I just read a short article that has been passed around the social media sites about women needing more hours of sleep than men. It says that women become grumpy when they do not have enough sleep. The recommended hours are nine solid hours. I don’t think I can ever achieve that. In fact, if I can sleep for just 7 hours, I am happy enough. Unfortunately, I sometimes catch only about 6 hours and some times, even worse. Five hours of shut eye and I have to wake up to get the kid’s ready for school again.
The other thing about sleep is that we cannot pay back or compensate the hours we missed. Even though I managed to catch a nap in the afternoons during the weekend, it is not the same as getting a complete night’s sleep.
So, I was looking around for natural remedy to make me sleep better. I wanted to try some herbal teas which are supposed to make me calm, relaxed and ready for bed earlier. I have problems falling asleep and I am always wide awake as an owl, even at 1 am or 2 am.
Though I have been searching for sleep aids natural methods all over, I still can’t find something that can make me fall asleep the moment I hit the pillow. Natural teas like camomile do not work for me. SleepAidPill may just do the trick seen at https://sleepaidpill.com/compare/. The website says it is made of other natural ingredients (https://sleepaidpill.com/ingredients/) like valerian root, passion flower and of course, camomile.
The other thing I read about not having enough sleep, is how our bodies may not have enough time to repair themselves. My friend told me the most affected organ is our liver, as it doesn’t have enough time to clear the toxins from our bodies. Hence, aging, dull skin, looking lethargic etc., are the results of not getting enough sleep.
Maybe after taking all these points into considerations, I might seriously think again and get the nine hours of sleep that I should be getting. I do not want to be a grumpy old woman with bad skin, bad breath, and leathery skin.
Organic food made easy with organic home delivery 12 Jan 2011 10:12 PM (14 years ago)
A lot of people like the idea of going organic but dislike the trouble of going to the nearest store for the freshest ingredients. Not many places have the convenience of organic food stores and hence, one may have to drive several extra miles just to find one.
Good thing that they now have organic food delivery which made going organics so much more convenient and do-able. Friends who are organic creatures swear that organic foods are much tastier and not just healthier. They insisted that organic food like organic grown vegetables, organic farm chicken and even pork taste totally different from the mass produced foodstuffs.
I have to admit that I never really go into organic cooking because I find it so hard to prepare an organic meal when I do not have access to organic home delivery.
So, if you are one of those lucky ones have the convenience of organic food, whether delivered to your home or available in the neighborhood, do go organic.
With all those pesticides horror stories, the depleting minerals in our earth and all kinds of scary stories we read on the papers, it is certainly a good choice. If you are a mom like me, then, all the more you should start preparing healthy meals for the little ones with safe, healthy and organic food.
Quick dinner recipes 11 Jun 2010 7:15 AM (15 years ago)
Many of us moms usually do not have a lot of time to prepare an elaborate dinners during working and school days. Most often than not, we will whip up some quick but not so healthy meals. There are the frozen meals, quick frying stuffs or canned foods.
These are not good for our children and most of the times, I do feel guilt ridden if I have to resort to that.
So, I am always cracking my brain to find ways to prepare meals without taking up too much time. Quick dinner recipes can easily be found on the internet and that’s where I usually head to before cooking.
The recipes for quick dinners available are not only easy to prepare, the meals are low in calories and loaded with nutrition. Well, you may need to look around but once you find a good site, bookmark it and go back often.
I am looking at a simple salad made of tomatoes, shrimps and corn kernels. I have never thought of serving salad with this combination but the recipe really convinces me that it will work.
The tangy tomatoes will lend a refreshing taste to the shrimps while the corn kernels will provide more bite. With all the flavours from shrimps and corn, all we need is drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper.
The other good idea for preparing quick meals for children is to make one pot meal. Children hate the fuss of having an elaborate dinner. If you give them less choices, they will have less things to complaint.
One pot meal can be a balanced meal if we include all the various types of vegetables with meats to provide a tasty, quick meal.
So, do that a look at the various options available for quick dinner recipes. It will saves us tonnes of precious time, produces great tasting meals and most important of all, healthy and balanced meals for our family.