Soy Sauce-traditional and Instant version

All these while I have been wondering how the soy sauce factories are able to produce so much soy sauce because my understanding about soy sauce production is through slow fermentation processes. It takes months, and you need many big urns for soy sauce fermentation. I think I got my assumption from the old Chinese movies, where households put the urns at their backyard.

In fact, there are traditional method of producing soy sauce in China and Taiwan. I am not so certain about Malaysia. I have been naive. Now, I can only jump into conclusion that for any soy sauce that I can easily buy from the stores be it in sundry shops or supermarket or hypermarket, they must be instant version so that mass production is possible.

Time to make a change in my choice for soy sauce as it is one of the main ingredient in my kitchen, and it is not supposed to cause any harm to my health, because it is fermented.

Chinese Soy Sauce-Flavor Enhancer & Preservatives

I did not expect to see so much additives in the soy sauce I am using!

Camel brand-thick soy sauce
E200(Preservative)
E621(Monosodium Glutamate or Ajinomoto)

Camel brand-light soy sauce
Sodium Benzoate E211(Preservative)

Lee Kum Kee-first draw soy sauce
Disodium 5-Inosinate(Flavor Enhancer), 
Disodium 5-Guanylate(Flavor Enhancer)

汾阳桥-Superior Light soy sauce
Color(E150a)
E621,E631,E627(Flavor Enhancer), 
E202, E211(Preservative)

Maggi-Seasoning
Don't even list the ingredients used!

Soy Sauce and Salt in Chinese Cooking

How much salt am I consuming everyday? 

The Australian National Health and Medical Research Council has set a stringent recommended intake of 460-920mg of sodium per day. This corresponds to 1.15-2.3g of salt.

For easier mental calculation,

• 1/4 teaspoon salt = 575 mg sodium
• 1/2 teaspoon salt = 1,150 mg sodium
• 3/4 teaspoon salt = 1,725 mg sodium
• 1 teaspoon salt = 2,300 mg sodium

Based on the recommendation, we should not take more than 1/2 teaspoon of salt daily.

If I only eat 3 meals per day, each meal should not be more than a pinch of salt!

However, I may not touched the salt shaker, but in my cooking, I am using a lot of soy sauce! 

Altogether I have 6 bottles of soy sauce for different purposes. Light soy sauce for marinating meat, a few shake of thick soy sauce to add nice brown colour to the dishes before serving, maggi soy sauce for soft boiled eggs, light and thick soy sauce for fried noodles, first draw soy sauce for stewing chicken, and in fact, every stewed meat calls for soy sauce. 

What are the main ingredients of soy sauce? soy bean, salt, sugar, wheat flour and flavor enhancer and preservatives!

A sodium check on 5g (1 teaspoon) soy sauce

Camel brand-thick soy sauce-187mg

Camel brand-light soy sauce-264 mg

Lee Kum Kee-first draw soy sauce-not available in nutrition fact

汾阳桥-Superior Light soy sauce-393mg

Maggi-Seasoning-Don't even have a label for nutrition fact!

Lea & Perrins-Worcestershire-No nutrition fact label!

No doubt I consume more sodium than I should everyday. How to reduce? This is difficult!

What is the best cooking oil?

I am getting particular about my food nowadays. Solely because age really adds chronic illnesses into my life. By paying extra attention to nutrition, physical activities and lifestyle, I wish these can prolong my functional independence.

In Malaysia, the popular cooking oil would be palm oil. It is the cheapest and easily found in all stores that sell cooking oil. Of course, this is due to the fact that Malaysia produces the most palm oil globally, together with Indonesia.

When I was young, I remember my mother would cook with peanut oil. I could still remember the smell of peanut oil lingering in the air. However, nobody is selling peanut oil nowadays.

A google search shows that palm oil is quite an inferior oil as compared to other oil such as soy bean oil, sunflower oil, corn oil, olive oil, etc. Well, I don't really bother about the comments. Palm oil is cheap as compared to other oil, and as a result, market competitors are many out there to discredit it.

Anyway, here are some general rules for me
1. Use refined oil for cooking as smoke point is higher.  Due to its lower smoke point, unrefined oil becomes unstable at lower temperature.
2. Do not recycle oil. After frying fish, deep fried chicken etc, discard the oil. Oil that has been used will have lower smoke point due to the impurity in it.
3. Extra virgin oil has low smoke point. Use it for dressing only.
4. Use as little oil as possible as. A person's diet should only get about 6% of calorie from fat. Basing on my daily calorie of 1800, 6% is 108 cal. Convert to fat is 12g, this is about 2 tbsp. Calorie from oil must be less than that amount because meat consumed also contains fat.

What is the smoke that comes out of my wok?

I have always wondered what is the smoke when the oil in the wok gets heated up.

Little have I known that it follows the same vaporisation principle that applies to water molecules when heated will have high enough energy to break the bonds of H2O molecules.

As for cooking oil, the much more complicated tryglyceride compounds of oil that made up of 1 molecule of glycerol and 3 molecules of fatty acid when heated will have high enough energy to break down into individual molecules, releasing toxic fumes and free radicals which are harmful to your body.

Thus, if you always cook in a bad-ventilated kitchen, you may want to look into the type of wok and oil used to reduce the kitchen hazard.

I have always been using cast iron Chinese wok. For Chinese wok fried dishes, it is a standard practice (at least for me) to heat the wok until it dries up, then pour oil into the wok, wait for it to smoke before putting in ingredients. I dislike the smoke released from the wok in my small enclosed kitchen with poor functioning cooker hood. Adding to the heat released from the gas stove, I really hate cooking time.

A few months ago, I bought for myself a Buffalo stainless steel wok and an induction cooker.

Stainless steel wok does not release much smoke, and the induction cooker does not release unnecessary heat to the kitchen. I can even turn on the table fan to blow at myself while coloking. This has definitely solve my problems of the smoke emitted from the wok and to reduce kitchen heast.

Shepherd's Pie

I made this Shepherd's Pie for lunch just now.  My son and I love it so much!  The recipe was from

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_shepherds_pie/

with some variation .

I used topside, added chopped garlic to onion, rosemary to minced beef just before I transferred to the casserole to bake, and topped the mashed potatoes with sliced cheese. 

My son wants to sell this to his friends for breakfast.  I can think about this.  

Braised Chicken Feet with Mushroom

In my freezer, there were 8 pairs of chicken feet which I kept after cooking 8 chickens. It's time to cook braised chicken feet with mushroom. The last time I cooked this dish was two years ago. I liked it so much that I ate plenty, and eventually, came down with food allergic. I suspect it must be the not-so-good quality of chinese mushroom.

I googled the web and this site gave me the recipe that I want. http://raymondskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/04/braised-chicken-feet-with-mushroom.html.

The difficult part was deep-fry the chicken feet. I didn't expect so much oil splashing on my hand, on my finger, and one drop hit on my eye lid. It's like starting a war in my small kitchen. Next time I must remember not to wait for the oil to heat up before I drop the chicken feet into the oil. Next time I must remember to chop the chicken feet into half, put the chicken feet into the cold oil, cover it with wok lid before I turn on the fire to heat up the oil. This will save me from getting injured from the splashing oil, and save me from mopping the floor and wiping the oil everywhere in the kitchen.

Anyway, the finished product was superb..... Though the colour of the chicken feet that I cooked was not so brown, but it still taste as good as those served in famous chinese restaurant. This time round, I didn't get allergic.

Mincing Meat

I finally have a food processor to mince pork! I bought this in SenQ in Suria Sabah. RM289, 2 years extended warranty. It only takes me in less than 20 seconds to mince the meat. I am very, very please with it. It used to take me at least 30 min to slice and to chop and it has never come to this fine. My son is also very happy because he knows my recipes will be expanded. This Panasonic MK-5087M is the only food processor I can find in SenQ. Anywhere, I am very happy with this. It is easy to use, fast, and easy to clean. Highly recommended.

Durian

Husband bought two durians on his way back to KK from Papar. We love durians but my children dislike durians. It almost rains everyday these few weeks. It is not recommended to buy durians during rainy season as the durians may dropoff from the tree because of the wind and heavy rain. These kind of durians are not ripe on the tree and therefore don't taste good. Too much rain also make the durians meat soggy. Hubby forgot the rule of thumb because he couldn't resist the sight of the durians.

Banana - Pisang Gelangang

This is Pisang Gelangang. Pisang means banana in Malay word. This is from my uncle's garden in Keningau. He grows fruit trees and rear some pigs, cows, chickens and goats in his small farm. He is a veterinarian and chose to live simple life in Keningau.

The Lady Who Sells Coconut On Lorry

This is the local girl who sells coconut in Taman Foh Sang. Her hand is really fast and sharp. Holding one coconut with one hand, she can crack the coconut using cleaver in one minute. I forgot to bring water container to hold the coconut water. So, she just remove the outer shell for me. However the crust was too hard for me to dig a hole on top. Brought back the coconut for her to crack the coconut for me. She can sell about 200 coconuts in a day. Each week they come on Saturday early morning and return to Kota Marudu on Sunday evening. Tough girl.

Terap

This is terap. Only found in Sabah, as I was told by my husband.

He doesn't like it. In fact, his whole family does not like terap. They said it smelt like electrical short circuit.

My husband's family came from Perak, West Malaysia. My brother-in-law married a Sabahan. One day, she bought a terap and kept it in a corner in the house. When the terap fruit has ripen, it gives out very strong smell. When my husband's family noticed the strange smell, they thought there was a short-circuit somewhere. Eventually, they found out that the smell came from terap. That was the first time they saw terap. That was a bad first impression. That's why the whole family doesn't like terap until now. lol.

I bought this terap for RM5. I ate it all by myself!!! Superb!!!

Coconut Drink From Kota Marudu

Two young coconuts for RM5!

The coconuts are from Kota Marudu.  I brought along a water container to hold the coconut water. It will take me hours to open the coconuts with a cleaver. The local trader does it so easier. I must remember to snap a photo for my readers (especially those from overseas) to see how the traders crack the coconuts with a cleaver.

Coconut water is God's gift for us in Kota Kinabalu. The water from 2 coconuts is about 1 litre. The coconut flesh was superb. So original and refreshing!

Local Grown Banana - Pisang Emas

As usual, after church, we went to Foh Sang to buy banana and coconuts. The kadazan (local ethnics in Sabah) from Kota Murudu gather here to sell banana and coconuts.

I bought a bunch of pisang emas (golden banana). It only costs me RM1.50. The banana is very fresh. In the hot climate here, the banana normally lasts at most 2 days after ripen. I prefer to eat banana as compared to imported fruits as such low value local fruits don't use chemical fertilizer and preservative. The fruits also ripe on the tree. Excellent!

Extraction Of Virgin Coconut Oil

I live in a land that coconuts are grown along the seaside. Drinking fresh coconut water is really a blessing in Kota Kinabalu. Cheap and easily available.

My husband mentioned to me the benefits of virgin coconut oil (VCO) a few months ago. I didn't pay a lot of attention as I was taught that coconut oil has bad cholesterol. VCO came to my attention when I was trying to find out why sometimes my wok smokes a lot. Finally I found out that the type of oil used was the culprit. I read about smoke point of different oil, and how heat can damage the oil. Now I know that different type of oil has different smoke point. Once the oil passed its smoke point, the oil becomes damage and harmful to our body. For example, olive oil is meant to be good for our body. However, if we heat olive oil in high temperature, the good oil becomes bad oil.

Back to VCO. At the tip of Borneo in Kudat and Kota Marudu, the locals plant a lot of coconut trees. They are hard-core poor farmers. A few NGO helped to set up a VCO processing centre for the locals to extract VCO. I remember when I was young, I went to Keningau as my aunties and uncle were living there. They kept coconut oil in the house as disinfectant like iodine. The locals always apply coconut oil on their hair. The coconut oil smelt very bad. Because of that, I have never like coconut oil. However, VCO changes my perception. My brother in law brought along some boiled vegetables sprinkled with VCO on Saturday night. The VCO smelt 清香fragrant。I love it.

Again, back to VCO. Now I understand the coconut oil extraction method can affect the type of coconut oil quality. Apparently, VCO doesn't go through high temperature heating. It involves a simple process.

First, 10-15 matured coconuts are grated using the grater machine. The grated coconut is then sun-dried for three hours, after which it is ready for oil extraction. The dried coconut is fed into the oil expeller machine, and then cold-pressed to extract oil that flows down into a container. It is then filtered to obtain clean oil. And the end result is virgin coconut oil—pure, raw and crystal clear, without any chemicals added, and with a sweet aroma.

There is no heat treatment—the grated coconut is dried naturally in sunlight. This differs from refined coconut oil (hydrogenated coconut oil), obtained by boiling the copra of which the oil is yellow in colour with a thick odour.

VCO can be obtained through traditional fermentation method, involving the natural separation of the coconut oil from water using gravity. This can be done at home. First, coconut milk is expressed from freshly harvested coconuts. The coconut milk is then allowed to sit for approximately half a day. The water separates from the oil and sinks to the bottom, while the lighter coconut solids float to the top. In between the coconut solids and the water is a crystal clear layer of completely unrefined coconut oil. The oil is warmed for a short time to remove any remaining moisture, and then filtered. The result is a clear coconut oil that retains the distinct scent and taste of coconuts.

There are many claims that VCO provide many benefits. I am yet to try it out, for my aging skin, my gum and the old age spot. Since it is easily available, I should give it a try.

ABC

This is ABC. It stands for Ais Batu Campur. Ais = Ice, Batu = stone, Campur = Mix. Or ice cube mixed.

We had this in Malacca 2 years back. There is a street where you can find many tourists. This ABC was very good. Crunched ice with lots of thick santan (coconut milk) and gula melaka (palm sugar). Very cooling after a hot and tiring walk.

Muesli for breakfast

I found out this great recipe last year. This tastes good for breakfast, filling, nutritious and good to ease constipation. Muesli -my version.

In Western way, muesli is eaten by soaking oats in the milk. My sons do not like to eat it that way. I searched the internet for recipes, and finally do some adjustment to come out with this version. The crunchiness depends on the amount of margarine you add in. My sons just eat it like that without adding in milk. As for me, I eat with milk. Otherwise it would be too dry.

My son has constipation problem since baby. After this recipe of breakfast, it solves his problem. 

What I need to make the museli is simple:
80g margarine
500g big leaf oats
125g sunflower seed
50g sultana
50g walnut or almond, chopped
60g sugar

1. Melt margarine.
2. Add in oats
3. Stir well
4. Add in sugar
5. bake in oven, 170 C  for about 30 min, stir occasionally
6. Add in sunflower seed and walnut, and bake for another 7 min
7. After switching off the oven, keep the content in the oven

Simple Lunch

Both sons are out at Suria Sabah. There is a book fare at Suria Sabah. Younger son is performing "Virus" together with his other friends. I suppose elder son followed along. Hubby is in Tawau, be back tomorrow.

When I am alone, I choose to eat simple. Normally just see what is left, cook and eat. There was some pasta left from the night before. I re-boiled the pasta. Fried some cashew nuts, some sliced garlic and some pork. Chopped some spring onion from my backyard. Mixed everything together. Poured over some teriyaki sauce and pepper. Finished with a cup of black coffee. That was my lunch. I lost weight when I am alone in the house. And, it is always like such moments that I have a lot of time to myself. In 2 years time, when both sons are away for further study, I'll have a lot of time to build up my business.

Cooking For The Family

Hubby is out-station in Tawau these few days. He will be back on Sunday evening.

My sister and I jogged at the park near Taman Perdana this morning. Returning from exercise, my 2 boys were still sleeping. Today is Hari Kebangsaan, no school today.

I finally made kuih dadar (pandan pancake with coconut filling). That was delicious. I wanted to make for so long, but didn't get the mood doing that. I like the grated coconut sweetened with gula melaka, and the fragrant pandan flavoured pancake. Every ingredient is fresh.

I bought a grated coconut at Borneon for RM1.80. Using my wok, add some water and gula melaka, simmer until the syrup thickened. Add in grated coconut and mix well with the syrup. Let cool. I keep in freezer if I have no time to make the pancake.

From my back yard, I plucked a few pandan leaves, cut them shorter, and blend with some water. The pandan flavoured juice extracted is green in colour. Use it for making batter for the pancake.

Since I do not have non-stick frying pan, I use my all-purpose wok for the pancake. The first few did not come out good enough for me to roll the coconut fillings, so I sprinkled the grated coconut on top. My son said they taste good as well.

Breakfast was delicious. Buying good kuih dadar from the market is not easy. The pandan flavour is either not strong enough or artificially coloured, and the coconut normally is not juicy because the hawkers usually squeeze some santan away so that the grated coconut can last longer. Nothing is better than to cook my own food.

Last night I cooked spaghetti because my elder son missed my spaghetti.  We went out together in the afternoon to buy the ingredients.  Couldn't get hold of parmesan cheese powder at Bake With Me. Anyway, three of us enjoyed that last night. I still have some pasta in the fridge. Wonder whether I can fry the leftover pasta like mee and meehoon.

On average, I spend about three hours everyday on cooking the 3 meals.  I told my hubby that if not because of my love for them, and the joy of a mother's heart to see her children enjoying her cooking, I wouldn't be bother to spend so much time and effort to cook.

My husband told me that when he was young, he remembered his mother having to cook for the whole family including his 4 uncles and 6 aunties and his 6 siblings. Not only that, his grandma and aunties sometimes would complain about the food and left with washings undone.  That was unbearable. If I were to live such life, I think I would leave the house.  Glad that Chinese are not so traditional anymore. 

幸福 Blessed

I found my cooking skill improving this one or two years. Frying mee as breakfast for the family is an easy task for me now. I didn't know how to fry mee before. A chicken can be cooked in 3 different ways that my family enjoys so much. Stewing mutton in Chinese style really bringing up our appetite. Steaming fish that needs special skill is no longer a hard job for me.

Now that I am 50, I finally get the feel to be a good chef. No doubt, cooking needs patience and the people you are cooking for must be those that you love.

Baking cookies is tiring as you need to stand by the oven patiently, a tray after another. But once the fulfillment of my children eating my cookies come to my mind, I don't mind anymore.

Very soon both of them will be away for study. I know they will come back, for my cooking. And before I realize it, I'll will cooking for my grandchildren....