A 'Whole' Bunch of Fresh Shallots

   I bought this whole 'bunch' of shallots (scallions, Allium cepa var. aggregatum) from a Malay vendor at the Kepong Baru Wet Market. This is the first time I came across shallots being sold with the leaves (aka spring onions) still intact. However the leaves are already dried up.

Anyway, these shallots are very fresh. You can see the shinny, clean and brightly coloured skins in the first photo, unlike those that are sold loose (without the dried stalks).

Ok, gotta go.....now can cook  fried bihun (rice vermicelli) with crispy fried shallots as garnish! Yum Yum!

Various uses of Mulberries

 My sister in law cultivated this mulberries plant in her garden. Morus or more commonly known as Mulberries are native to subtropical countries and we can also grow them in Malaysia. The black mulberries plant in China are famous for silkworm cultivation. The mulberries can be used to make cakes, jam, drink and pies.

It can also be used as food colouring. Mulberries contain anthocyanins, water soluble pigment which a powerful antioxidants. It is also known to be beneficial for fighting cancer, slow down aging, fight neurological diseases, anti inflammation, fight diabetes problem and  has anti bacterial properties.

Some people believe that mulberries are good for the eyesight.

Mulberries taste a little sour and the ripe ones which are black in colour are slightly sweet.

My sister in law also planted other type of berries. Below is a photo showing the various type of berries I plucked from her garden. Can you identify them?

Young Cashew Nut (Daun Janggus Muda) Leaves - A Tasty Ulam (Salad)

The cashew nut' leaves (daun janggus muda) above sure look like some kind of bettle. Young cashew nut leaves have very nice sweet aroma and are really tasty if made into ulam (Asian salad). You can eat them raw with sambal belacan or a more extreme way, with Otak Udang (Prawn paste, Har Ko, Heh Ko).

I used to pluck these leaves from the plant near my neighbour's house when I was a kid. Then, I would happily bring them home and after a quick wash, ate them raw with rice. However, the resin from the plant can stain your hands black, so better use a glove when you are plucking these leaves.

Tea Time, have a cuppa! - A Relaxing Drink

I love to try out different types of tea. Drinking tea is a good way to relax. Apart from that, tea contain antioxidant, protect your bones, clear our blood vessels from clots, protect against cancer (polyphenols) and increases your metabolism. The photo above shows the small collections of tea that I have.

Basically there are three types of tea; Black (fermented), Green(not fermented) and Oolong semi-fermented).
Black tea go through four steps process; Withering (fermentation), Rolling, Fermentation and Firing.
Green tea go through these 3 processes; Panfiring, Rolling and Firing.
Oolong tea go through only 2 processes; Withering (brief fermentation) and Firing (to stop fermentation)

 Although I drink tea almost everynight, I can still sleep well! Caffeine has no effect on me! LOL!

Infertile Tomato Plants

These tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) plants grew from the pulp that I that I used to make tomato juice. I put them in my flower pot as organic fertiliser and without knowing it they started to grow into tomato plants. Unfortunately, the flowers did not bear any tomato and I was forced to destroy the plants when disease started attacking them. Tomato belongs to the nightshade family of plants. Some of the well known nightshade family are potato, petunia, aubergine (egg plant) and bell pepper. The nightshade plants contain a range of toxic alkaloids and are poisonous to human. The leaves of tomato, stems and unripe tomato contain a small amount of tomatine which is a toxin but ripe tomato is safe for consumption. The level of tomatine is quite low but the leaves can be toxic for dogs. People with rheumatoid arthritis should avoid eating produce from nightshade family because the solanine inside it can cause pain. Anyway, there are also lots of good nutrients in tomato like lycopene and are also beneficial in preventing prostate cancer.

Harvesting my First Batch of Homegrown Roselle

Still remember my post about the Roselle (scientific name, Hibiscus Sabdariffa) fruits that I bought from the market to make drinks? Well, I planted some of seeds in my garden and I harvested my first homegrown roselle fruits today. Although I managed to collect only 11 mature fruits, there are still lots of smaller ones on the trees. The roselle has pretty pink colour flowers and the fruits would form when the flowers drop off. Some of the earlier fruits dropped before reaching maturity so I boosted up the soil with some plant nutrients and managed to overcome this problem. I didn’t use any insecticide so I guess my roselle is healthier compared to the ones sold at the market. The stem of the trees are too soft to support the weight of the fruits and some of them bent during a heavy downpour yesterday. Luckily the stems were not broken and tied them up to my fence for support. Therefore, I quickly plucked all the matured fruits today! The eleven fruits I collected were enough to make around 6 glasses of tasty roselle drink. Cheers!

Serai (Lemongrass) – Destroyer of Malignant Cancer Sells

My friend’s sister who is a teacher had just undergone an operation to remove 1/3 of her lungs that was cancerous. The operation was done by a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and I was told that there is only a handful of this specialist in Malaysia. A few hospitals in KL share one Cardiothoracic Surgeon. She was told to stay away from meat for five year and have to be on strict medication during this time. One of the nutritionist in the hospital told her that Serai (lemongrass, Scientific Name, Cymbopogon citratus) is effective in killing cancerous cells. She was asked to boil serai in water to drink from time to time. In fact it would be good for the whole family members to drink this serai drink as well. Then, I remembered that I have written about the properties of serai in my previous post Edible Plants, Fruits and Herbs in a Foodie Garden. It seems that the active ingredient citral in serai is capable of destroying cancer cells in our body. I have seen my dogs which are sick chewing and eating serai plant when I was young. They seem to be cured after eating the serai plants at my house. Apart from that serai also have anti fungal properties and is commonly used as insect repellent. I boiled some serai and added in a small amount of rock sugar for my family to drink. Actually it tastes quite good!

Soon Beng Longan (Mata Kucing) Trading Orchard, Gadong Estate, Tanjung Sepat, Selangor

After a hearty lunch at Hock Heng Huat, Tg Sepat, we headed towards Banting direction and made a right turn from the main road into Soon Beng Longan orchard at Gadong Estate, Tg Sepat. The owner began planting longan trees many years back and it is now one of the most successful longan orchards in Malaysia. Actually longan doesn’t really grow very well in our climate and soil but this orchard managed to produce good quality longan. I have been visiting this orchard for many years. The medium size longan is very sweet. I would normally buy the fresh longan (RM5) and sometime dried ones as well. Apart from longan, there are also other produce for sales such as fresh vegetables, dragon fruit, coconut, bananas, sweet potatoes, guava, rose apple, melons and many more. There are loads of buses and cars going into this plantation during weekend and school holidays. This is more of an educational trip for my children. Town children seldom get to see how fruits and vegetables are grown. We sat down there, enjoyed some pandan coconut drinks and local fruits.

Address

Soon Beng Longan Trading, Gadong Estate 42800 Tanjung Sepat 25 minutes from Banting town and 5 minute dirt road drive into the orchard

Telephone number : 03-31481018 H/P: 019-2392369

Map of our round trip

No more Papaya, No More Cuckoo Bird

If your remember from my previous post Papaya Birds about The Asian Koel (Eudynamys Scolopacea), Asian Glossy Starling (Aplonis panayensis), Black Naped Oriole (Oriolus chinensis) and even squirrels feasting on my papayas. I know Cleffairy would remember because it was one of her favourite post! ha ha ha Well, the tree is getting old and have grown way too tall. I am afraid that it might come crashing down on my roof during thunderstorms so I decided to chop it down last week. Anyway, the papayas it produce nowadays are quite small and full of warts as shown below.

I have to chop the tree down sections by sections to avoid it from crashing down on my roof. Luckily, I have a tall ladder to reach the top of the tree! I left a stump around 8 feet in height because there are new shoots coming out from it. I wanted to see if it can produce any fruits or not.

All the papaya tree trunks that was chopped off!

So, for now there will be no more birds feasting on papayas in my garden! A good weekend exercise, I was sweeting all over, what a hot day! LOL! Copyright Material of Peteformation Foodie Adventure

Ngaku (Arrowheads, Duck Potato, Wapato Saggitaria Latifolia) Plant – Nice Chinese New Year Decoration

Before Chinese New Year and After Chinese New Year!

I planted three leftovers ngaku bulbs in the pot where I kept my little Bettas (Siamese fighting fish, Trey Khem) offspring before Chinese New Year. They really grow very fast! Take a look at the picture I took yesterday and the one before Chinese New Year. The arrow head shaped Ngaku (Arrowheads, Duck Potato, Wapato Saggitaria Latifolia) leaves that pointed sky ward looks very green and majestic. Ngaku grows very well if you put it in a pot with stones and flood it with water. I love to watch my little betta fishes (Trey Khem) swimming and playing around the ngaku roots. They seem to enjoy swimming around it very much! So, Ngaku not only makes nice crispy chips when deep fried or as vital ingredients for many Chinese New Year recipes but also as an attractive decorative plants for our house!

Bunga Telang (Scientific name, Clitoria Termatea), Colouring for Pulut Tai Tai (Nyonya Glutinous Rice Cake with Kaya Spread and Kelantanese Nasi Kerab

The Nyonya and Babas in Malaysia use Bunga Telang extract as food colouring. This dark blue extract is one of the important ingredients for a popular Nyonya ‘kuih’ (dessert), the Pulut Tai Tai. In Kelantan, it is use as colouring for their famous nasi kerabu. I remember, as a kid I used to see my mom collecting and drying these flowers which are then boiled in water. The blue coloured water was then added to a portion of the glutinous rice. My dad made a wooden mould with a top cover which heavy bricks are placed on top to compress the pulut tai tai (Nyonya Glutinous Rice Cake). The pulut tai tai is eaten with kaya spread (egg custard jam). Bunga telang roots have unique medicinal properties. It can help to alleviate the symptoms’ of stress and depression. The roots can also be used to cure whopping cough! I planted some seed that my mom gave me in my backyard and they do grow very fast. This creeper plant grew all over my fence and also on my neighbours’ rather quickly. It was growing too fast and one day I over trimmed it and the plant died. Recently I discovered there were new plants growing healthily at the back alley of my house. The seeds must have dropped there! Due to its’ resemblance to the human female genital, the bunga telang is scientifically known as Clitoria. I wonder what was in the botanist mind when he/ she named this flower!

Steamed Groundnuts (Arachis Hypogaea, kacang tanah)

Steamed groundnuts and .....................................groundnut plants in my backyard!

Freshly harvested groundnuts are sweet if eaten raw on the spot. However the natural flavours would slowly dissipate as the harvested nuts aged. Have you ever thought of why we call this great little snack food groundnuts? Actually after pollination, the stalk of the yellow flowers would extend and bury itself in the ground. Then the groundnuts would form inside the soil, hence the name ‘groundnut’. Groundnut plants are used in nitrogen fixation, a process where groundnut plants are planted to enrich the soil with nitrogen. Other types of plant normally used up all the nitrogen in the soil. Nitrogen is an important compound that plant uses in protein formation. Do you know that China is the biggest producer of groundnuts in the world? My wifey bought a bag of fresh groundnuts from the wet market, knowing that it is one of my favourite snacks. They look really succulent and sweet. After cleaning the groundnuts, we rub some salt on them. We put it in the steamer for 45 minutes. Surprisingly the peanut (seeds) inside was tender after being steamed for such a short period. Anyway, we finished eating them so fast once it was cooked. I am going to buy more next week! Mmmmm, I wonder if there is any other ways to cook these fresh groundnuts.

Various Hybrids of Hibiscus (Bunga Raya) at Kek Lok Si Temple (极乐寺, 極樂寺) Ayer Itam, Penang

Hibiscus grows well in tropical countries around the world. There over 200 species of hibiscus around the world, some are product of cross pollination. The most common species of hibiscus in our country is the Hibiscus Rosa Sinensis. The trumpet shaped hibiscus flowers can be used as one of the ingredients in herbal teas. These hibiscus teas can be used to reduce high blood pressure, while some species of hibiscus can be made into food dye. Roselle in my previous post belongs to the same Genus as common hibiscus. Roselle is used in making drinks, jam or as a vegetable. I was lucky enough to be at the famous Penang Kek Lok Si Pagoda during this year’s Chinese New Year. They have wide varieties of hibiscus plant in the compound of the original pagoda and most of the plants are blooming. The myriad of colourful hibiscus flowers in the pagoda garden was a sight to behold. I took the opportunity to snap as many photos as possible. The short afternoon shower added extra special effects to my photos; it was very captivating to see tiny water droplets clinging on to the surface of hibiscus flowers petals. Here are some of the hibiscus photos I took at Kek Lok Si Temple in Ayer Itam, Penang. Which one do you think is the nicest?

Related Post :

1) http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-roselle-drink.html

Edible Plants, Fruits and Herbs in a Foodie’s Garden

These are some the plants that I have growing in the small garden at my house. I like to cultivate herbs and other plants that I can use in my cooking. Sometimes it can very troublesome to look for these herbs or plants in the market; most of the time they are not available or already sold out.

My friend, Amy gave me this Lychee (Laichi, Scientific Name, Litchi Chinensis) tree. I have planted it in a large pot because I don’t want to expose it to too much sunlight which might kill it. It was growing real slow, so recently I added some growth enhancement fertilizer and it grew new leaves immediately. Hopefully I can get it to produce some fruits when the plant matures.

This Indonesian Avocado (Scientific Name, Persea Americana) plant was given to me by Amy too. Unfortunately, it wilted when I added too much fertilizer to the soil. Maybe I will try to plant another one again. Avocado has real creamy texture and I love to eat them with sweetened condensed milk. Avocado leaves contain persin, a toxic fatty acid. The bark and many parts of the tree is poisonous too. Therefore be careful if you have this plant at home; this poisonous substance can kill cat, dogs, goats, cattle, rabbit and horses. Some birds can die if they consume the Avocado fruits.

These are sweet potatoes (Pucuk Ubi, Scientific Name, Ipomoea batatas) leaves and are commonly stir fried with garlic. The young leaves are very crunchy and nice. This is a common meal taken by Viet Cong guerillas when they were hiding in the famous Cu Chi Tunnel in Ho Chi Minh City while fighting the US Army during the Vietnam War. I have cut away all these plant because it was growing to fast (too bushy) and even produced some starchy sweet potato tubers.

I planted this pineapple (Scientific name, Ananas Comosus) tree from one of the ripe pineapple that I bought. I am not sure if this plant will bear any fruits but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Pineapples are great addition to dessert and drinks. I love to eat curry cooked with pineapple. Thailand is one of the leading countries in pineapple production; in fact South East Asian countries occupy the top spots in the pineapple producing list.

This is a Taiwanese custard apple (Buah Nona, Scientific Name, Annona Reticulata) tree. It is really tall and skinny, just like me but have not bear any fruits yet. I was told that the fruit is sweet and quite large in size. Look like I have to add more fertilizer to make it flower and bear fruits. I was told that the leaves of custard apple can be used to fight cancers and tumours.

I think this is a ciku (Sapodilla, Scientific Name; Manilkara zapota) tree that I planted from the seed. Well, I have to just wait and see what type of fruits it will bear when it start to flower.

I have some ginger (Scientific name, Zingiber Officinale) sitting far too long in my fridge and has grown some green leaves. Therefore I planted it in my backyard. I am not sure whether it will grow well and produce lots of ginger tuber. I have to wait and see. Apart from being commonly used in cooking, the ginger also has many medicinal properties. It is widely used to alleviate the symptoms of common cold.

Serai (lemongrass, Scientific Name, Cymbopogon citratus) is one of the common plants seen in many places in Malaysia. It is the most widely used ingredients in Malaysian and Asian cooking. Lemon grass oil has anti fungal properties and it is also commonly used as insect repellent. Based on a latest research, it was found that citral, a chemical found in lemongrass is effective in killing malignant cancer cells. I have seen sick dogs chewing on the lemongrass leaves and got well after that. Maybe there are other medicinal properties in lemongrass that we have yet to discover.

Whenever I have old shallots that have started growing roots, I will plant them in my garden. I will harvest the spring onions when they mature and used them to cook spring onion chicken dish.

Pandan leaves or Screwpines (Scientific Name, Pandanus amaryllifolius) are widely used to enhance the aroma in dessert and many dishes in many countries across the South East Asia. Gai ob bai toey (Pandan Chicken) is a Thai dish which the chicken is wrapped in pandan leaves and then deep fried. The colour and aroma from the pandan leaves juice are important ingredients in the famous Malaysian Chendol. Apart from being a common ingredients in food, the pandan leaves can also be used to repel cockroaches.

The Chinese called this Muat Chaw (Hokkien Name). It is suppose to be a ‘clean’ plant and some Chinese people would bring along som of the leaves with them whenever they attend a funeral. The common species of Muat Chaw would have fruits that can stick to one’s clothes. However this particular species of Muat Chaw in my garden produced beans and you can see the fully grown pods in the picture. My ex-maid told me that the beans are edible and this plant is very common in Muara Cawang, Indonesia.

‘Uncle, can I have some karuvepalli leaves’, my previous cute Indian neighbour kids used to come knocking at my gate for permission to take some of the curry leaves (Scientific Name, Murraya Koenigii) from my garden. It is actually not easy to cultivate and keep this plant healthy. I have managed to keep two plants that I took from my auntie’s house alive and well for quite some time. The leaves are used to enhance the aroma of curry dishes. It is a must in Indian cooking! The flowers of the tree are white and fragrant. The berries are edible but the seeds are poisonous.

Bird eye chilli is a must have for those who love spicy food. In Thailand it is found in virtually every dish. Due to its’ small size the Malay name of this type of chilli is known as cili padi (rice chili). Don’t let its’ size fool you, bird eye chilli is very spicy! I have seen some common bulbul bird feeding on my ripe bird eye chilli. Wow, this bird must be a chilli fan like me!

Nasi ulam is one of my favourite dishes and cekur leaves (Scientific Name, Kaempferia galanga) is the main ingredients in it. The cekur is also known as kencur, aromatic ginger or sand ginger or resurrection lily. Cekur rhizomes have earthy flavour and it is used in Nyonya salty/sweet chang (dumpling). The cukur rhizomes are effective for treatment of dog roundworm, Epstein Barr virus inhibitor, to kill mosquito’s larvae and as mosquito repellent.

The peanut (Scientific Name, Arachis Hypogea), a legume plant is actually the native to South America. Nitrogen in soil is often depleted by other plants. Peanut plants are used to put Nitrogen back into the soil, a process known as Nitrogen Fixation. Nitrogen is a very important nutrient for plants. Peanuts are used in many dishes such as in our famous Satay sauce and also as garnish for Nasi Lemak.

Sayur manis (Scientific name, Sauropus Androgynus) is also known as katuk or star gooseberry. The Chinese often call this Mani Cai and it is used to garnish Pan Mee. True to its’ name, Sayur Manis (sweet) has loads of natural sweetness in it. I like to stir fry sayur manis with eggs. This tasty vegetable can be planted using matured stems and it grows real quick. Although it is one of the few plants that contains Vitamin K, over consumption may lead to lung damage due to high concentration of alkaloid papaverine. However, papaverine is sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction. So, you get to choose....lung damage or better sex life....he he he!

Basil (Scientific name, Ocimum Basilicum) has a strong and pungent smell. It is widely used in Italian cooking, eg in Pesto, a green Italian oil and herb sauce. There are many variety of basil such as Lemon Basil, Thai Basil, Sweet Basil, Holy Basil and African Blue. Overcooking will destroy basil flavour so it is best eaten raw or added at the last moment. Basil and Oregano contain large amounts of E-beta-caryophyllene (BCP). BCP is effective in treating inflammatory bowel diseases and arthritis by blocking chemicals in the body that cause inflammation.

Kaffir lime (Scientific Name, Citrus Hystrix) leaf is the main ingredients that gave the famous Thai Tomyam Kung its’ distinct aroma. Apart from that, it is also used in Malaysian dishes such as Rendang Daging and Nyonya Otak-Otak. The kaffir lime fruit has bumpy outer skin and ‘kafer’ is actually a German name for bug. This is how this lime tree got its’ name. My daughter loves to use the fruit from my kaffir lime tree to wash her hair. The leaves from kaffir lime tree is said to be beneficial to our digestive system.

Daun Kadok (Scientific Name, Piper Sarmentosum) looks like betel leaves. It is widely used in Malaysian Nyonya dishes such as otak-otak and perut ikan. In Thai cooking it is the main ingredient for Mieng Kam, (a starter dish consist of dried prawns, peanut, toasted coconut, shallots, chilli and fish sauce) in which daun kadok is used as a wrapper. The roots of daun kadok can be chewed to stop toothache.

This is Andrographis Paniculata Nees (Snake Herb, Hempedu Bumi) tree. I have posted about the medicinal benefits of this plant at http://peteformation.blogspot.com/2008/10/herbal-cure-for-warts-andrographis.html