Nyonya Cooking in Tropical Spice Garden
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| Introduction about Nyonya Cooking |
Learning to cook our Penang food like Nyonya, Indian, Malay or Chinese is made easy with locals like me sharing our passion. Our learning starts when we were young.
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| Janette, Crag, Daneil and Mum having lunch in Tropical Spice Garden |
I must tell you, I am glad to use blender, liquidize and latest Thermomix, the world's smallest kitchen. Those days, I keling rempah using mortar and pestle, the big bulky one. To cook Nyonya food, I do missed the keling rempah.
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| Renee and Dr Bill, mother and son having a private moment |
The blender cuts it so finely and crushed all fibers till it is too fine for my liking. With the pestle and mortar, it grinds and flatten the fiber of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric. I just love the flavor of grind cooked paste of rempah.
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| Daniel mum from Germany (lady with white hair) went home and whips out Hong Ark or Stew Duck and Curry Kapitan |
When some guest ask me the difference using pester, mortar versus modern blenders, this is my reply. But in modern times, we appreciate modern tools. So most of them are happy to be able to use modern blender to grind the galangal, turmeric, lemongrass.
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| Cooking Curry chicken with potatoes |
The basic principles of The Healthy Way of Eating are:
You have to know how to choose the most nutritious foods.
You have to know how to prepare them the healthy way using the right recipes to enjoy the full flavors.
You have to select foods and recipes to meet your individual needs.
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| Robert and family cooking Masak Titik |
Benefits of using Cekur or Sand Ginger in Duck Stew or Hong Ark
It is a herb from the ginger family and also known as sand ginger. The Chinese call it sar keong in Cantonese and Hakka which both means sand ginger. The stemless leaves usually grow in twos and spread out flat on the ground in opposing directions. These leaves sprout from rhizomes growing in shallow soil. White and purple coloured flowers sprout from between the leaves. Try eating the leaves. It taste pleasantly sweet, try it next time you buy it.
The rhizomes of the plant, which contains essential oils, have been used in Chinese medicine as a decoction or powder for treating indigestion, colds, pectoral and abdominal pains, headache and toothache. Its alcoholic maceration has also been applied as liniment for rheumatism.
The texture and flavor are very similar to Krachai with a faint hint of licorice. More widely available Krachai makes a suitable culinary substitute.
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| Preparing to cook Fried Garlic Rice |
Benefits of Garlic
Garlic's health benefits and medicinal properties have long been known. Garlic has long been considered a herbal "wonder drug", with a reputation in folklore for preventing everything from the common cold and flu to the Plague! It has been used extensively in herbal medicine (phytotherapy, sometimes spelt phitotherapy).
Raw garlic is used by some to treat the symptoms of acne and there is some evidence that it can assist in managing high cholesterol levels. It can even be effective as a natural mosquito repellent.
Allicin does not occur in "ordinary" garlic, it is produced when garlic is finely chopped or crushed. The finer the chopping and the more intensive the crushing, the more allicin is generated and the stronger the medicinal effect.
As well as having antibiotic properties, allicin is an excellent anti-fungal and garlic preparations have been used in folk medicine to treat skin infections such as athlete's foot. Be cautious: too much contact with crushed garlic can result in skin blistering. You should also be aware that a few people are allergic to garlic. Garlic is powerful and needs to be treated with respect - see the warnings page.
The diallyl sulphides (sulfides) obtained from garlic are less powerful than allicin but can still reportedly provide some benefits to health.
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| Mincing prawns to make prawn balls for Masak Titik |
Diallyl sulphides are also less volatile than allicin. They do not degrade as quickly and, importantly, the health benefits survive cooking. Note that garlic still needs to be chopped or crushed to produce the sulphides - if garlic is cooked whole then it has almost no medicinal value or health benefits.
Diallyl sulphides do not share the antifungal properties of allicin. However they are reportedly good for the blood and circulation in some cases. The sulphides might also help to lower the levels of "bad" cholesterol, hence garlic might help to keep the heart and cardiovascular system healthy.
See some Nyonya dishes form my website
See some Nyonya kuih from my cooking class in Pulau Tikus
Ask me more here
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