Thursday 21 October 2010

Kelantan Di Sana Sini

21 October 2010, 10.43 am -11.16 am

1. Makanan Segera (Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, ...)

Boleh ke tak boleh makan? Yes/No

2. Makan di restoran

Boleh ke tak boleh makan? Yes/No

3. Pengambilan gula sehari

Berapa banyak gula boleh makan sehari? 1-2 sudu teh
Apa itu beras perang? Bukan beras yang buat nasi dagang
"Nasi masuk dalam gula"? Should be nasi membekalkan gula...
Selamat ke kalau boikot gula tebu?

4. Teh tarik

Adakah teh tarik selamat? Yes/No

5. Minuman 3-dalam-1

Selamatkah minum 3-in-1?
Kopi radix selamat tak? Radix ialah nama saintifik bagi ginseng
Kopi Omega habbatus sauda? Tak kencing kuat macam kopi mengandungi kafein

6. Kopi dalam pasaran

Selamat ke minum kopi?
Kopi susu kambing
Kopi buah manggis
Kopi cengkudu
Kopi radix
Kopi habbatus sauda
Kandungan kafein kopi dalam pasaran?

7. Mimum air masak

Berapa banyak kena mium sehari:? 1-11/2 jag atau 1 gelas air setiap jam
Kalau minum air masak kerap ke tandas?

8. Air tapis vs air direbus

Selamat ke air yang ditapis?
Air paip kerajaan tak boleh direbus sebab mengandungi klorin --> merbahaya
Air paip kerajaan patut ditapis
Air telaga patut direbus
Cuba bela ikan dalam air tapis --> ?

9. Penapis air dalam pasaran

Yang mana baik sekali?
Elken?
Apa ada dalam penapis air? Arang untuk buang bau, pasir & batu tapis sampah terampai, resin tapis semua yang bercas --> tinggal apa dalam air yang ditapis?

10. Hotel Raudhah (sebelah TH lama)

SEMINAR BUANG BAYI , KITA MAMPU MENGHENTIKANNYA
(Penyelesaiannya menurut Syariat)

dan

Bengkel Bersama Pakar "Pendidikan Seksualiti Bermula Di Rumah"

Temui
Prof Madya Dr Hjh Harlina Halizah Hj Siraj
Ust Dr Hj Mohd Sharani B Mohd Naim
Tn Hj Mohamad Saidy Mohamad

Pada : Sabtu, 23 Oktober 2010
Di : Hotel Raudhah Kota Bharu
Jam: 8.30 pg - 4.30 ptg
Yuran Pendaftaran: RM45.00
ANJURAN BERSAMA
WANITA JIM KELANTAN
PERTUBUHAN IKRAM KOTA BHARU

HUBUNGI:
W Noorliana 019 9282043
Dasmawati Mohamad

Ikan Pekasam Pak Su Napi

Smelly salted soured fish


I bought this preserved fish for the first time from a colleague for RM6. It comes in an aluminium foil pack.

To cook the fish, remove it from the foil and fry in a bit of oil till crispy brown. You can also add eggs, onions, chillies and spring onion.  A drop of fresh limau kasturi juice makes it yummy. Bon appetite!

Friday 17 September 2010

Tripoline

September 16 Tripoline Brunch
Malaysia Day / Hari Malaysia

This is the first time that Malaysia celebrates Malaysia Day / Hari Malaysia. So I decided to cook tripoline for the first time as I did not have any spaghetti.

Ingredients
1 packet Tripoline
1 big white onion
1 medium red onion/Bombay onion
1 shallot
4 cloves garlic
1 pack Ramly ground beef
1 piece/1 patty Ramly beefburger
10 cherry tomatoes / 4 large tomaotes
1 packet Maggi Bolognese sauce mix (60g)
Celery
Spring onion
Salt
Pepper
Oregano (dried specs, not finely grounded)
Hot water

Utensils
Big pot to boil tripoline
Big bowl to place tripoline after boiling
Collander
Aluminium rice pot (to use with collander)
Wooden laddle

Method
(1) To prepare tripoline
Boil water and add 2 teaspoonful salt plus 1 tablespoonful cooking oil.
The salt will season the tripoline slightly.
The oil will prevent tripoline strands from sticking to each other.
Boil tripoline till tender (lembut). Stir constantly to avoid sticking.
Remove tripoline from heat and separate tripoline from liquid.
Tapis dan simpan air rebusan.
Keep tripoline warm in a covered bowl.
Save liquid (boleh makan sekali dengan tripoline).

(2) To prepare filling
Slice onions and garlic
Fry onions and garlic till fragrant
Defrost ground beef in microwave oven.
Shred manually into small pieces directly into onions.
Defrost burger patty and shred directly into fried mixture.
Stir and add 1 teasp salt.
Add shredded celery and spring onion.
Add tomatoes.
Add water and let boil till meat is tender.
Taste, add salt and pepper.
Add Maggi Bolognese sauce mix, add water and mix.
When topping has thickened to consistency, remove from heat.
Serve warm.
Bon appetite!

Wednesday 8 September 2010

Fried watercress

Kangkong goreng

There are many different types of watercress (sayur kangkong) sold in the local market. One type has medium leaves and not-so-tender stems - this is for frying. Another type has soft broad leaves and tender stems - this is for blanching for making salads (ulam). There are also varieties with small leaves - they are useful for cooking with Maggi instant noodles. This recipe below is for fried watercress using watercress with broad leaves & tender stems variety.

Ingredients
2 bunches of watercress (2 ikat kangkong)
1 tabsp dried shrimps
1 shallot
2 garlic
half red chili
salt
hot water
running tap water

Utensils
Kuali
Wooden spatula
Mortar and pestle (lesung)

Method
Wash and cut watercress (kangkong).
Soak shrimps in hot water and let shrimps swell.
Drain water and replace with tap water. Let soak.
Drain water from shrimps.
Pound shrimps till they become fibres (no lumps).
Add shallot and garlic. Pound till they become coarse pieces (not fine pieces).
Add chili and pound till chili becomes coarse pieces (not fine pieces).
Heat kuali and fry pounded ingredients till mixture is an even brown colour and releases fragrance.
Add cut watercress (kangkong) and stir to mix.
Add salt and water.
Remove from heat when watercress has softened.
Serve hot with rice.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Sugarcane juice

Air tebu

Freshly pressed sugarcane juice (air tebu) is a favourite during the fasting month of Ramadan in Malaysia. Here are some shots at the roadside stall which we frequent.


Fresh sugarcane juice has a murky green colour. It must be consumed within a few hours after pressing. It cannot last long at room temperature or hot temperatures - it will start to ferment and become sour. Once soured, sugarcane juice is not drinkable - it smells stale  and has an off taste.

Thursday 2 September 2010

Tyramine in foodstuff

Kenapa pening kepala?

When you eat foods that are high in tyramine, you will tend to suffer headaches! Why? Because tyramine affects your blood vessels and blood pressure. Tyramine constricts your blood vessels, which in turn increases your blood pressure!

Is tyramine safe? Yes and no! Yes, if your body can tolerate high levels of tyramine. No, if your body cannot tolerate high levels of tyramine. How do you know if your body can/cannot tolerate tyramine? If you get headaches after eating a certain foodstuff, that foodstuff probably has high levels of tyramine which your body cannot tolerate. Should you continue to eat it? Better not, unless you wish to have another bout of headache!

What is safe then? Foodstuff low in tyramine, which your body can tolerate. At least know which foodstuff contain high tyramine levels and which foodstuff contain low/moderate amounts of tyramine.

What other active ingredients raise blood pressure (BP) and cause heatiness? Try and check out mirin.

More on tyramine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foods_containing_tyramine
More on mirin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirin

French toast

Roti goreng telur

This is a quick dessert to prepare when you have nothing else to make for berbuka puasa. If you are used to breakfast with bread, margarine and eggs, you may still have old bread from last week or earlier this week. Use this recipe to clear your refrigerator of old bread so you can buy a new loaf of bread. Don't throw away old bread. This recipe in sufficient for 4-5 people and can be served at berbuka. You can continue to eat any leftover after berbuka - ie after solat maghrib/isya'/terawih.

Ingredients
Half loaf of bread (~9 keping roti Gardenia)
5 eggs
2 tabsp evaporated milk (susu cair Carnation)
1/2 teasp salt
A little bit of water (sedikit air)
1/4 teasp pepper (sedikit serbuk lada hitam)
1/2 cup cooking oil

Utensils
Kuali / frying pan
Flat ladle (senduk leper)

Method
You can use less eggs (4 eggs if you have 4 people eating).
You can omit the milk if you don't have any.
Do not substitute evaporated milk with condensed milk.

Beat eggs in a bowl till fluffy (pukul telur sampai kembang).
Add water to salt and mix. Add salt water to eggs and mix.
Add pepper to egg mixture and mix.
Heat oil in kuali / frying pan.
Dip each piece of bread in egg mixture, toss extra egg, place bread in kuali.
Fry each piece till brown and then turn over to fry the other side.
Remove bread when both sides are golden brown.
Arrange bread on a plate.
Serve hot with peanut butter and honey or jam.
Bon appetite!


French toast with peanut butter and honey/jam 

Wednesday 25 August 2010

Bread and margarine pudding with custard

Ramadan dessert

This recipe uses old pieces of bread. When old, bread has a sour smell - they are still safe to eat. Only make this dessert when you have old bread and don't know what to do with them. Never throw away old bread (jangan membazir). You can reduce the amount of sweetness by reducing the amount of sugar. Prepare this dessert about 1 hour before buka puasa.

Ingredients
9 pieces of old bread (Gardenia, etc)
1 tabsp margarine
2 tabsp strawberry jam (can also use other jams)
9 tabsp sweetened condensed milk
2 teasp sugar
1 egg
6 tabsp Kings custard powder
cooled boiled water
4 tabsp raisins (any type will do)

Utensils
1 medium non stick pot
1 plastic ladle (senduk plastik)
1 knife (to spread margarine)
1 teaspoon (to spread jam)
1 microwave oven-proof container, large enough to hold 9 pieces of bread

Method
Wash and dry the microwave container.
Mix 2 tabsp sweetened condensed milk with some water for soaking bread.
Soak each piece of bread and arrange in the microwave container.
Spread margarine on the soaked bread and then spread jam on the top layers.
Layer with next piece of bread and repeat till all of the bread pieces are used.


Arrange old pieces of bread previously soaked in milk, in a microwave container 

Sweetened condensed milk, margarine, strawberry jam, milk and old bread 

Spread margarine and then strawberry jam on each piece of soaked bread 

Spread some raisins on the topmost layer of bread 


In a separate bowl, mix water and 2 tabsp custard water.
Add 1 egg. Do not beat the mixture after adding the egg. Mix lightly to mix. 
Pour egg mixture onto bread in the microwave container. 


Sweetened condensed milk, custard powder and milk. Add egg next 

After adding egg to milk-custard mixture. Do not beat this mixture. Add to bread pieces 

Egg-custard-milk mixture poured over the bread. Cover all the bread.
Bake in microwave oven for 5 min 


Heat bread pieces in microwave oven for 5 minutes (or longer) till the liquid is gone.
Prick the bread with a fork to create tiny holes to let air escape.
Cover holes with any liquid present (use a spoon to do this)
Continue to heat in microwave oven till liquid is all gone.

Remove bread & margarine pudding from microwave oven.
Use a spoon to scoop a large portion of the bread & margarine pudding and place in each serving bowl - 4 bowls will do. 
Refrigerate leftover pudding.


After baking, scoop bread & margarine pudding and place in bowls.
Then pour custard over pudding pieces 


Heat water, 2 tabsp sweetened condensed milk and 2 teasp sugar in non stick pot over slow fire.
Stir constantly to avoid foaming and over-boiling.
Do not overboil. 

Add 2 tabsp raisins.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 tabsp custard powder with 1 cup water
Add custard mixture to non stick pot.
Boil mixture once and remove from fire.

Pour custard over bread & margarine pudding.

Fill up each bowl with sufficient custard to within 1cm of the rim.
Avoid spilling custard.

Serve warm. 

Bon appetite!


Bread & margarine pudding with custard. Serve warm 

Sunday 22 August 2010

Chocolate cake with custard & cinnamon

Buka puasa / Ramadan dessert

This recipe uses a chocolate chip pound cake available from TESCO (RM4.99) and homemade custard as gravy. This dish is suitable for breaking of the fast (buka puasa). This is a sweet dish/dessert. You can prepare this dish 15 minutes before buka puasa but work fast. The photos here were an afterthought. I didn't know whether this dish was going to make it to the table after all as I have not made custard for quite some time. This dessert is safe for children and overweight adults. Do not have a second serve.


Chocolate chip cake with custard and cinnamon (serving size) 


Ingredients
1 Chocolate chip pound cake from TESCO (RM4.99)
3 Tabsp Kings custard powder (use more for thicker consistency)
3 Tabsp sweetened condensed milk (use less if diabetic)
1 Tabsp sugar(omit if diabetic)
McCormick cinnamon powder
Pot of water (about 5 cups)

Utensils
Non-stick pot (not mine, it's my eldest daughter's)
A plastic or wooden ladle would do
5 Soup bowls (can buy them from Pantai Timur in KB)

Method
Slice chocolate chip cake into 1cm slices and place in bowls
Cut each slice in half and tuck in bowl so they won't float when you pour the custard later
Boil water and add sweetened condensed milk
Add custard powder and stir to mix (avoid starch globs)
Add sugar and keep stirring to avoid overboiling
When custard starts to thicken to consistency, switch off fire
Pour 3 ladle-full of custard over chocolate chip slice in serving bowl
Dash with powdered cinnamon (not too much as cinnamon is bitter)
Serve immediately while still warm (else the custard will soak the cake and become an ugly brown colour from the cake)
Bon appetite!


Chocolate chip pound cake from TESCO 

Kings custard powder and powdered cinnamon 

Custard in non-stick pot 

Make lots of them! They sure taste good! Tak dapat kat kedai.LOL 

Friday 20 August 2010

Rendang for Raya

Hari Raya Aidilfitri

This rendang recipe is a bit different as it does not use coconut milk (santan), pounded fried coconut shreds (kerisik) and rendang spices. Since it does not require santan, you can safely use beef with marbled fat (leave the fat in, do not remove the fat from the beef). This recipe also uses very little onions and garlic - the less likelihood of uric acid crystals forming in the joints. Overall, this rendang recipe does not give you adverse effects such as chest pain, heart attacks, pain in the joints (gouty arthritis) and the like. This rendang recipe is safe for overweight people with body mass index (BMI) of between 26kg/m2 and 30kg/m2. Just don't overeat!


Raw ingredients for Malay rendang 

Ingredients
1/2 kg beef (beef with marbled fat is better than beef without fat)
2 tabsp Adabi Serbuk Kerutuk Ayam & Daging (halal, made in Malaysia)
2 tabsp Adabi Rempah Briyani (RM2.80/100g packet, halal, made in Malaysia)
[Alternatively, you can substitute both spices with a packet of Rendang paste - Adabi Perencah Rendang (120g/packet, halal, made in Malaysia)]
1 packet Adabi Perencah Sup Siam (RM1.00/40g packet, halal, made in Malaysia)
1/4 large white onion (Australian)
3 cloves garlic
3 small tumeric leaves (daun kunyit)
2 limau purut leaves
1 stalk lemon grass (serai)
4 small slices galanga (lengkuas)
3 tabsp cooking oil (use palm oil)
1 electric jug hot boiling water (17 litres, use bit by bit)
2 teasp salt

Method
Slice onion and garlic.
Wash beef and cut into small bite-size pieces. Wash several times and let it stand to drain blood. Wash to remove residual blood.
Fry onion, garlic, galanga, lemon grass, daun kunyit and daun limau purut in cooking oil in a wok (kuali) or pot till onion and garlic become golden-brown.
Add spices (powedered and paste) and hot water. Mix with a wooden ladle to form a slurry (loose mixture). Add more hot water as deemed necessary.
Let the mixture boil once, stir and let boil again.
Add beef and stir to mix. Leave to boil.
Do not add salt before the beef has boiled. Wait for the beef mixture to boil. Be patient! Jangan gopoh!
Once the beef mixture has started boiling (becomes bubbly), add salt and stir to mix.
Leave to boil. Add more hot water as necessary. Stir often or it will stick to kuali.
Check back often as this mixture tends to dry through fast!
Do not forget to check back!!!
Boil for 1.5-2 hours till beef is tender and edible.
Add hot water and stir to obtain your desired texture.
Make the rendang into a paste for eating with rice cubes (nasi empit/ketupat).
Make the rendang into a thick non runny mixture for eating with plain rice.
Make the rendang with gravy for dipping bread (kuah cicah roti)
Turn off heat. Serve hot or warm with nasi empit/ketupat, rice or bread.  
Bon appetite!


Beef with marbled fat 

Fresh galanga 

Break up the galanga and clean each piece 

Slice the galanga into thick portions. Pull out the roots. Refrigerate unused slices. 

Use a quarter of this large white onion. Slice thinly. Refrigerate unused portion. 

Need 3 cloves garlic. 

Need one stalk of lemon grass - cut into 2 pieces and pound. 

Refrigerate unused lemon grass 

Fragrant daun limau purut (kaffir lime leaves). Use only 2 pieces at maximum. Keep unused leaves in a plastic container and store frozen.


Never use many daun limau purut as they will make your rendang taste bitter (rasa pahit) from the limonene!

Saturday 14 August 2010

Know your dates

Which dates to eat?

There are many types of dates. The ones we usually see are dried black or brown dates. There are also fresh yellow and red dates which are more nutritious. The yellow dates are small and round, and sweeter than the red dates. The red dates are tart (kelat atau putik) and don't taste sweet at all. Both the yellow and red dates are available at TESCO in KB.

Ustaz Saibon Ismail (then Pejabat Agama Islam KB in 20110, now Jabatan Mufti Pejabat Sultan Kelantan in 2017) alerted us (Jemaah Umrah 2010) to the different types of dates and their uses. The dates are known by different names (Arabic rutab, tamar, etc) based on their colours and ripening stage. Rutab is fresh dates while tamar is dried dates.

Ajwa' are dates of the Prophet Muhammad S.A.W. These are small black dates. Some are grown in India and some are grown in Saudi Arabia.


Different dates serve different purposes.


(1) BREAKING OF THE FAST

For breaking of the fast (Malay - buka puasa; Arabic - iftar), it is suggested to eat the yellow or red dates. If there is none of these, then eat the brown or black dates. The yellow or red dates are preferred over the brown or black dates.


(2) INFERTILITY PROBLEMS

For mothers, it is suggested that they take yellow or red dates for overcoming problems of infertility.


(3) MENSTRUATING WOMEN

For menstruating ladies, it is suggested that they take yellow or red dates for their health.


Fresh yellow dates are highly nutritious. Keep them refrigerated. 

Fresh red dates are highly nutritious. Keep them refrigerated. 

Cold fresh red dates. Keep refrigerated.


Update on dates, 4 June 2017:

WASHING DATES

It is advised that dried dates must be washed or rinsed prior to eating. They are covered with desert dust, dirt and sand.  

Dates come from date palms which grow in the desert where the winds blow strongly across the desert sands and date plantations. Dust gather on the dates.

When harvesting, the date bunches are recklessly thrown on the desert sand by the date palms. They are picked up and packed into boxes for selling and export. The dates are not washed before packing.

Wash the dates under running tap water and squeeze then lightly. Rinse last with plain cool boiled water or filtered water. Washed dates are shiny and with soft skin which tear easily. The flesh is also soft and easily falls apart. 

Wash the dates just prior to eating and eat them immediately after washing. Refrigerate any unused washed dates. Eat them at the next meal.


DATES HELP TO OVERCOME DIARRHOEA

Cholecystectomy is surgical removal of the entire gallbladder. I have had cholecystectomy done four years ago, but the dumping syndrome that ensued is wrecking me today. So searched for natural remedies. Two pieces of wholemeal bread is able to stop daily bouts of diarrhoea (3-5 times daily before 12 noon) under normal circumstances, but not during Ramadan fasting.

The Prophet has said that if you eat 7 dates a day, you won't suffer from abdominal ailments. To observe this statement in reality, I have tried taking dates after failing to stop diarrhoea for many days, even after I went to clinic. 

During the first week of Ramadan fasting (25 May - 3 June 2017), two pieces of wholemeal bread is insufficient and I was purging 3 times daily for no reason. Then I took 3 washed dried dates for iftar and a few more dates at sahur. After 1 week of Ramadan fasting, I no longer have diarrhoea even though I take a high-fat meal of fried catfish, fried rice, BBQ chicken and ayam percik with santan dressing. Santan dressing is a thick coconut milk dressing for roasted chicken.

Sunday 18 July 2010

Durian

King of tropical fruits

Durian, king of fruits

If durian is king then I am its eating queen! LOL. Durian tells its own story. Some Mat Salleh say it stinks like the WC while the Malays gobble every bit of the fleshy yellow pericarp. We are worlds apart when it comes to durian. I love durian as it smells of magnolia but durian is edible. If the Mat Salleh thinks magnolia is queen of flowers, I must say durian is both king & queen of flowers and fruits! Even durian flowers are said to be edible but I have not tried it.

Which durian is best? Depends on your taste-buds and nostrils and the connection between the two. If you are checking out durian, then I would suggest use your sense of smell and shut your eyes.

The durian aroma comes from many chemical substances - I don't know them all.

The heatiness of durian comes from an active ingredient, tyramine. Check it out on Wikipedia!

More on tyramine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foods_containing_tyramine

Budu

Malay style fish sauce

Budu with green chilies and durian
Budu with chilies, diced shallots and durian

Budu - some like it, some don't. Some must have it, some can't bear to smell it. Have it your way then. This is the weird story of budu. The first time I heard about budu was in California during my undergraduate days when a group of young Malay kampung boys came to eat at our apartment. I almost cried laughing (LOL) as budu is almost phonetically similar to bodoh (stupid). I was intrigued by the similarity and the differences in meaning. I watched the boys ate rice with budu.... It appeared that the boys loved budu so much and needed budu to eat their rice (second and third helpings). I was thiilled by the discovery that Malay boys enjoyed budu with rice. From that point onward I decided to research on budu... and that has occurred for the last 30 years!!!! I'm still researching. This is what I can tell you about budu - budu is not synonymous with bodoh. The boys who ate budu all performed better in their studies and became foremost physicists! What say you?

In Malay cuisine, budu is served with rice, some serve it for lunch and others for dinner. There are many ways to serve budu. Budu can be served with/without the following:

chilies
diced shallots
durian
tempoyak
lime juice
limau kasturi juice
petai
jering
buah kerdas
What else? All fresh vegetables:-
cucumber
tomatoes
boiled ladies fingers
boiled cabbage
boiled long beans
boiled brinjals (aubergine, terung)
cashew shoots (pucuk ketereh)
sambung nyawa
kangkung Jepun
tapioca shoots (pucuk ubi kayu)

What's in budu? Depends on brand.

Budu Selera Kampung (320ml)

Budu Selera Kampung (320 ml) contains:
ikan bilis (anchovies)
garam (salt)
gula (sugar)
asam jawa (tamarind juice)
tanpa pewarna (no colorants)


Budu Pati Ikan Bilis (100ml)

Budu Pati Ikan Bilis (100 ml) contains:
ikan bilis
asam jawa
manisan
air
garam
100g budu supplies ~54 kcal energy from protein - it is a high-protein food (11.4g protein/100g budu).

Next time someone offers you budu, just say "yes, please" and smile, it's budu magic! Have I done justice to budu? Bon appetite!

Cara buat budu:
https://www.facebook.com/664852093624181/videos/831635156945873/

Kuah cili

Malay style chili sauce

If nobody has ever taught you how to make this Malay style chili sauce, then I'm going to teach you and you will learn just that here.


Fresh chili in soy sauce
Ingredients
Red chilies
Green chilies
Orange chilies
Yellow chilies
White chilies
Soy sauce (salty variety)

Method
Sort out the good chilies from the spoiled ones.
Wash chilies thoroughly and repeat washing 3X.
Rinse once more with clean running water.
Rinse in cooled boiled water.
Toss in colander to dry.
Keep in refirigerator if you don't have time now.
Come back later.

Cut chilies into bead-sized pieces with a sharp paring knife.
Avoid chili juices splashing in your eyes
Don't rub your eyes if you are cutting chilies or you will regret the agony!

Place cut chilies in a small glass/porcelain bowl.
Pour soy sauce to cover chilies (dunk them).
You can add salt, sugar and vinegar to taste if you wish.
Serve with rice.
Bon appetite!

Bendih

Ladies finger (my late Chinese grandma called it bendi)

Boiled ladies finger with soy dip

The first time I was taught 'ladies finger' I almost died laughing in my Standard One class. I was 7 years old and could not wait to go home to tell my mum of the new word I had learnt in class. It took me quite some time to understand why this vegetable-fruit was called such. I don't have long thin fingers and that was why it was difficult understanding ladies fingers! Not all ladies have slender fingers anyway! Some men I know have really slender fingers! LOL Check yours? I still don't like the English name and I prefer to call it bendih. As kids, my sibs really enjoyed joking about bendi vs bendeh (the Melaka accent). Another variation is bendae as in sundae.

Ladies finger is useful as a source of fibre and as a laxative. Three small-medium ladies fingers are sufficient for one person at either lunch or dinner. Do not eat too many ladies finger as you will get diarrhoea and you will see intact seeds in the WC! LOL

Ladies finger is also good for dissolving kidney stones (renal stones), especially small ones which are just forming. There is a prescribed method for using ladies fingers to clear renal stones - wash and soak a ladies finger in a glass of water overnight. Drink all the water the following morning. No update on how long to keep doing this.

Kuah Kopes

Homestyle Kuah Kopes
Kota Bharu kuah kpoes is very sweet and visitors from outside KB may not be able to eat sweet kerutuk. I make my own kuah kopes as I too cannot eat sweet kuah kopes Kelantan style. This is my recipe for kuah kopes.

Kuah kopes (kari kerutuk)

Ingredients
(This recipe is for 1/3 chicken.)
2 shallots (2 bawang merah)
4 cloves garlic (4 ulas bawang putih)
2 slices lengkuas
1 stick lemon grass (serai)
1 tumeric leaf (daun kunyit)
6 stalks of cardamom leaves (tangkai daun ketumbar)
10 cherry tomatoes (can use more/less, suit to taste)
1 biji limau kasturi
2 tablespoonful (sudu makan) Adabi kerutuk powder
2 tablespoonful Adabi Briyani powder
1 packet Adabi Rendang paste
1/4 coconut palm sugar (gula Melaka)
1 tablespoonful salt (adjust to taste)
5 tablespoonful cooking oil
hot water

Use a wooden spoon

Method
Heat wok/kuali/pot and add cooking oil.
Fry onions, lengkuas, serai, daun kunyit till onions are brown.
Add Adabi kerutuk powder, briyani powder, and rendang paste.
Add water and stir to mix.
Add more water to avoid sticking.
Stir and let boil a little.
Add chicken, water and tomatoes.
Stir and leave to cook. Add water as necessary.
Add salt, limau kasturi and gula Melaka.
Do not make kuah kopes too salty.
When chicken is cooked, add potatoes.
Stir potatoes and let cook.
Switch off fire after 10 minutes and cover.
Let potatoes cook in heat to hold shape.
Bon appetite!