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.