Very easy simple recipe of steamed fish with sesame oil

Steamed fish fillet is easy to prepare as well as healthy and delicious to eat. Imagine the tender, succulent and delicate flesh of fish that also nurtures us with proteins & Omega 3. Enjoy a piping hot steamed fish with a bowl of steamed rice for a happy breakfast or a heart-and-tummy-warming dinner at your own comfortable home at the fraction of the cost eating outside. Life is beautiful! 



While enjoying your meal, listen to a nice piece of classical music or Chinese orchestra. Perhaps, without TV to minimize the distractions. This savoring moment is indeed a simple happiness.



I also love how the traditional Chinese character for the word fish 魚 (Yu2) looks like a swimming fish. 魚 (Yu2) also sounds like the words for wealth and abundance.



Serving: 1-2
Preparation time: < 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 200 g boneless (if possible) fish fillet (e.g. salmon 三文鱼, snow fish 鳕鱼)
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil* (麻油)
♥ dashes of pepper (胡椒粉), to taste
♥ fresh herbs e.g. parsley 香菜/ cilantro 胡荽叶 / coriander 芫荽, finely chopped (optional)


* For sesame oil, I use Ghee Hiang Baby brand manufactured in Penang, Malaysia, using methods and techniques learned from Fujian, China.

Directions:
1. Boil water in a steamer. 
2. Wash fish fillet thoroughly. Pat dry gently with a kitchen towel.
3. Place the fillet in a non-plastic bowl.
4. Sprinkle sesame oil and pepper on top of the fish.
5. Garnish with herbs.
6. Cover the bowl with a small plate to ensure smaller space of aroma circulation.
7. Once the water in the steamer is boiled, steam the fish for 5 minutes ++ using high heat or until cooked*

* Once cooked, the meat comes off the bone easily with a chopstick.

Tips:

Use fresh fish fillet. If this is not possible,  rub white vinegar on the fish to minimize the fishy smell.

To enhance flavor, you can add soy sauce, ginger, spring onions / scallions, rice wine / DOM as Chinese-style steamed fish recipes often call for.

You can also steam the fish fillet bowl inside a half-cooking rice cooker, so that you save gas / electricity and wash less utensils, as Agnes and Zhen sometimes do. 

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Hong Kong style steamed cod fish & steamed cod with wolfberries, red dates, angelica root by Annie Mok @ Annieliciousfood food. To prevent the fish fillet from sticking to the bottom of the bowl, place ginger / spring onions beneath the fish.
♥ Teochew steamed fish with salted (sour) plums, salted vegetables, tomatoes, chilli by Wifey @ NoobCook. If possible, ask the fishmonger to clean the fish for you. Normally, I buy fish fillet for convenience.  
♥ Chinese steamed fish by Bee Yinn Low @ Rasa Malaysia
♥ Cantonese steamed fish by Namiko Chen @ JustOneCookBook & Leemei Tan @ My Cooking Hut
♥ garlic asparagus fish steamed in the parchment paper in the oven by Elsie Larson and Emma Chapman @ A Beautiful Mess



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140331

celery apple mandarin (CAM) juice

Sometimes, I do snack once in a while. Perhaps it is an easy access to a vending machine selling relatively inexpensive snacks.

An afternoon in this week, my choice was Made-in-Singapore Combe Snack of BBQ Chicken & Cheese flavour, because it has a Healthier Choice Symbol on its packaging.

After enjoying few bites, I read that it contains tartrazine (E102) -  a synthetic lemon yellow azo dye - which is banned in Norway and Austria.

***

In the evening, Garima and Mohan gave me a bowl of chocolate ice cream. How can we resist such a delicious treat?

***

At the end of the day, what I want next is to detox and cleanse my body. How is about a glass of refreshing celery apple mandarin (CAM) juice?



A lot of fiber... tastes refreshingly sweet salty 



Serving: 200 ml (for 1 person)
Preparation time: 3 + 2 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 1 green Granny Smith apple (青苹果), peeled & cored
♥ 1 Mandarin Murcott (茂谷柑), peeled & deseeded
♥ 2 stalks celery (芹菜)
♥ 1 tbsp honey(蜜糖)
♥ 100 ml boiled ginger water OR 1 tsp minced ginger (姜) + water

Directions:
1. Soak celery with vinegared-salted water* for a minimum of 2. 10 minutes to remove pesticides, if any. Rinse and dry.
3. Squeeze Mandarin.
4. Blend apple, Mandarin juice, celery, ginger until smooth.
5. Stir in honey. Enjoy!

*Vinegared-salted water: 100 ml vinegar, 1 tbsp salt, 200 ml water.



Other recipes that I love:
♥ cucumber apple celery ginger juice
♥ homemade sprays for fruits and vegetables
♥ Green Apple Ice Pop with lime, sugar & cinnamon stick
♥ yogurt salad with green apple accompanied by onion, Japanese cucumber, carrot, nuts (e.g. walnut / pistachio / peanut)

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140328

Star anise & DOM for braised sea cucumber recipe

Star anise, shaped like an eight-pointed star, is the fruit of a small evergreen tree native to southwest China.



Scientifically known as Illicium verum, star anise contains anethole - a derivative of aromatic phenylpropene.

Anethole has potential antimicrobial properties against bacteria, yeast, and fungi. In large quantities, anethole is slightly toxic, so please consume star anise moderately.

Star anise is commonly used in diverse cuisines, including Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Vietnamese ones.

Star anise is an ingredient of the traditional Chinese / Peranakan five-spice powder.

Indonesian rendang curry, Indian meals of Briyani / biryani and masala chai also use star anise.

Warm in nature, star anise has been used to relieve  rheumatism and cold.

Star anise also contains shikimic acid, a precursor compound for the anti-influenza drug oseltamivir, popularly known as Tamiflu, manufactured by Roche.

♥♥♥

DOM Bénédictine (法国廊酒) is a Made-in-France medicinal herbal liqueur beverage (1) developed in 1510 in a Benedictine monastery in Abbey of Fécamp, Normandy, France, and later (2) rediscovered by Alexandre Le Grand in 1863. 


DOM stands for "Deo Optimo Maximo" ("To God, most good, most great") and is a commonly used abbreviation at the beginning of documents of the Benedictine Order. Aspiring like the highly dedicated manual & intellectual work of the Benedictine monks for God, we sincerely hope to produce delicious and nutritious meals with optimum and maximum love for our loved ones.

While the exact recipe of this 40%-alcohol liqueur is a closely guarded secret hitherto, we know that it is distilled in antique hammered copper pot stills and aged in oak barrels for four months. 

Nowadays, the ingredients include 27 ingredients. The list includes herbs and spices such as angelica, hyssop, juniper, myrrh, saffron, aloe, arnica & cinnamon.

When I just delivered baby Ren, I was given several bottles of DOM. The generations of our parents and grandparents believe that luxurious DOM helps mothers to recover from childbirth, especially during confinement. Thank you for such a gift with over 500 years of tradition! 

♥♥♥

Sea cucumber is rich in proteins and minerals. Eating sea cucumber helps in strengthening the kidneys, relieving dehydration and nourishing blood. Sea cucumber is also often consumed post-surgery to aid wound healing.

We are grateful for the gift of sea cucumber from Zhen and Emerald brand scallops (products of Canada) from Agnes & Francis. Thank you!



Servings: 3-4
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 10 + 60 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 1 sea cucumber (海参), washed & cut into bite chunks
♥ 3 scallops (带子)
♥ 4 shitake mushrooms (香菇), quartered
♥ 2 tbsp meat (肉), minced
♥ 25g lily flowers (金针花), washed & soaked in warm water for > 30 minutes
♥ 50g bean curd skin / bean stick ( 腐竹), washed, soaked in warm water, rinsed & cut into bite-size
♥ 5 cloves garlic (蒜头)
♥ 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (kecap manis)
♥ 1 knob ginger (姜), minced
♥ 1 tbsp olive oil (橄榄油)
♥ 1 tbsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ white pepper powder (白胡椒粉), to taste
♥ 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder (桂皮粉)
♥ 2 star anise (八角)
♥ 1 tsp DOM Bénédictine
♥ 350 ml water

Directions:
1. Soak frozen pre-cleaned sea cucumber, scallop, dried mushrooms in room temperature water. Soak bean stick & lily flowers with warm water. Blanch meat.  
2. Wash, squeeze, cut mushrooms. Massage mushrooms with sesame oil.
3. Strain meat dry and mix with garlic & ginger.
4. Heat non-stick frying pan with olive oil.
5. Sauté garlic, ginger, mushrooms, meat over high heat until fragrant.
6. Add scallops, DOM, cinnamon, star anise, dark soy sauce over medium heat until scallops turn slightly golden brown at their edges.
7. Add & sauté bean stick & lily flowers.
8. Add and spread sea cucumber on the pan, add water to cover sea cucumber.
9. After water is boiling, turn heat to low and simmer for 60 minutes or until sea cucumber turn chewy. Stir occasionally. Ensure that sea cucumber is covered with liquid, else top up some water.



Tips:
♥ Zhen's advice not to overcook the sea cucumbers as they will dissolve into gel-like texture.
♥ The alcohol content of DOM has evaporated during the cooking process so I also enjoy this nutritious dish while breastfeeding.
♥ This dish can be frozen (for ~3 days) / kept in a fridge (until next day) and served with fast-cooking noodles to prepare for a #5minutemeal breakfast.


With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140328

easy ginger milk agar pudding with pistachio nuts

Perhaps our simple humble kitchen can be nicknamed as midnight kitchen, because I often use it around midnight hours.

Last night, I prepared a surprise dessert for Candida, who loves ginger a lot.



A mini jar of ginger milk agar pudding with pistachio nuts (姜撞奶布丁配开心果) makes a lovely heart warming dessert for an afternoon tea break.



Pistachio ... always brings back a happy memory of savoring delicious pistachio-flavored gelato in Italy! 



Servings: 12
Preparation & cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 10g agar / seaweed powder*
♥ 1 large knob (2 oz) ginger (姜), chopped
♥ 110g (4 oz) sugar (糖 )
♥ 500ml water, filtered if possible
♥ 500ml fresh milk (鲜奶)
♥ 4 tbsp pistachio nuts (开心果), chopped
♥ 2 tbsp peanuts (花生), chopped

* I bought Swallow Globe brand agar.

Directions:
1. Boil ginger & sugar with water. Strain to remove ginger remnants.
2. In a pot, add agar powder to milk & bring to boil. Add ginger water & stir gently until each ingredient dissolves evenly.
3. While hot, immediately pour ginger milk agar mixture into container(s) of choice. You can use jars, mugs, bowls, or lovely-shaped molds.
4. Garnish with nuts. If you want the nuts to stay on the top surface only, wait for 5 minutes before gently dropping the nuts. Alternatively, to create bilayers of nuts wrapping the milk agar pudding, you can pre-garnish the bottom part of jars with nuts.
5. Once the temperature drops to room temperature, keep in fridge. Serve chilled.



Tips:
♥ Buy non-colored agar powder. If you want to color it, use natural ingredients such as beetroot (red/pink) or spinach (green).
♥ If you prefer softer texture, may I suggest ginger milk curd with egg white?

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

Bonus! a ministory

It is fun to imagine the bilayers of nuts like the phospholipid bilayers that form membranes in our cells.

The nuts are like the hydrophilic phosphate heads that point out to the exterior on either side of the bilayer; the ginger milk agar pudding is like the hydrophobic tails that point in to the core of the bilayer.

A difference between nutty ginger milk agar pudding and phospholipid bilayers is that the former is static once it solidifies, whereas the latter is dynamic and dancing continuously in our cells.  

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140327

easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs

Meatballs, also known as bakso in Indonesian, often bring back happy memories. A childhood song "Abang tukang bakso, mari mari sini, aku mau beli. Abang tukang bakso, cepat donk kemari, sudah tak tahan lagi" - echoes in my mind.

It literally means "meatballs seller brother, please come, please come here, I wanna buy! Meatball seller brother! Please come her quick, I cannot hold it anymore!"

A bowl of bakso was sold for Rp200 and later Rp500 when I was a primary school student! Today, a US$ is ~ about Rp11,400.

Listening to the song sung by Melisa inspired me to design a simple breakfast of easy zucchini soup with lotus root meatballs / 夏南瓜莲藕肉圆汤.



Serving: 1-2
Preparation time: 5* + 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes

* I mix the meat ball ingredients the night before.

Ingredients:
♥ 1 zucchini (夏南瓜), sliced
♥ 1 tsp anchovies (凤尾鱼)
♥ 1 tsp wolfberries / Goji berries (枸杞子), washed & soaked
♥ 1 tbsp parsley (香菜), chopped
♥ 300 ml water, (水) filtered if possible
for meat balls / meat coins:
♥ 1 tbsp meat (肉), grounded & blanched
♥ 3 tbsp sweet potato flour (薯粉)
♥ 1 tsp lotus root powder (莲藕粉)
♥ 1 tsp oat (燕麦)
♥ 2 cloves garlic (大蒜), minced
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 0.5 tsp pepper (胡椒粉), grounded
♥ 0.5 tsp sugar (糖)
♥ 0.5 tsp light soy sauce / kecap asin


Directions:
1. Mix ingredients for meat balls in a bowl. Leave in a fridge overnight to marinade or you can use it immediately.
2. Boil anchovies in a pot of water.
3. Shape meat mixture into balls & dump into the anchovies stock when it boils.
4. Add zucchini & wolfberries.
5. Once cooked, turn off the heat & add parsley. Enjoy!



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140327

braised sea cucumber mushroom recipe

Sea cucumber is rich in proteins and minerals. Eating sea cucumber helps in strengthening the kidneys, relieving dehydration and nourishing blood. Sea cucumber is also often consumed post-surgery to aid wound healing.

♥♥♥

Mushrooms take up a lot of fat as they cook so it is best to use butter / extra virgin oil / pure sesame oil for sauteing / frying.



To get dry and non-soggy cooked  mushrooms using a frying pan, use a moderately high heat so that as mushrooms shrink their water evaporates and they don't stew in their own juice.



Shitake mushrooms are among a variety of tree mushrooms. While button mushrooms can be quickly fried, we need to cook shitake mushrooms thoroughly.



♥♥♥

I enthusiastically try a recipe of braise mushroom sea cucumber modified from Zhen's one.  She advices not to overcook the sea cucumbers as they will dissolve into gel-like texture.



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 2 + 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 10 dried shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
♥ 1 sea cucumber, washed, and cut into bite chunks
♥ 5 cloves garlic, pressed
♥ 2 tbsp sesame oil
♥ 1 tsp sugar
♥ 2 tbsp sweet soy sauce (kecap manis)
♥ cilantro, to taste

Directions:
1. Soak frozen sea cucumber and dried mushrooms.
2. Wash, squeeze, slice mushrooms. Massage mushrooms with sesame oil, sugar, and garlic.
3. Heat non-stick frying pan and sautee mushrooms over high heat until fragrant.
4. Add and spread sea cucumber on the pan, add water to cover sea cucumber.
5. After water is boiling, turn heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until sea cucumber turn chewy. Stir occasionally.
6. Garnish with cilantro.



Tips:
♥  If you use fresh mushrooms, use as soon as possible after purchase.
♥ To ensure thorough cleansing of mushroom, invert and run water down their umbrellas.
♥ Initially, I wanted to buy oyster sauce. Reading the ingredients of oyster sauce sold raised a concern that many of them contains (MSG).
♥ Peiling Goh, in her book Falling in love with confinement, suggests that we can substitute oyster sauce with black bean paste.



Other recipes that I love:
♥ stewed pork ribs with sea cucumber @ Cook with Kathy
♥ braised sea cucumber with fish maw casserole @ The Jane Channel
♥ braised mushroom with sea cucumber using slow cooker @ The Cuisine Paradise by Ellena Guan
♥ braised pork knuckles with sea cucumber @ Nasi Lemak Lover by Sonia
♥ stewed sea cucumber and pork ribs  @ More than a Mile by Hsia Lei

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140321*

* Happy birthday Yanfeng!

easy arrabbiata pasta recipe

This morning, we enjoyed a breakfast of pasta arrabbiata, followed by a tiramisu dessert, so that we can stay hot and alert for the entire day!



Since this recipe uses chillies & peppers, it had been named Arrabbiata", which literally means "angry" in Italian.

"Anger is a letter short of danger."

It is okay to be angry at particular things (e.g. unacceptable situations / people's behaviors) - after all we are human beings with emotions, but please do not let our anger prolong inside us, harming ourselves & others.

After this meal, let us convert the heat (anger) inside us into positive energy to transform our lives! 



Servings: 2
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 150g dried penne pasta (意大利面)
♥ 4 ripe tomatoes (番茄), chopped or blended*
♥ 4 cloves garlic (蒜头), thinly sliced
♥ 1 red onion (洋葱), finely chopped
♥ 2 tbsp olive oil (橄榄油)
♥ 6 black olives (黑橄榄), sliced into rings
♥ 1 slice cheese (芝士)
♥ 2 tbsp fresh parsley (香菜), finely chopped
♥ 0.5 tsp black pepper (黑胡椒)
♥ chilli (红辣椒), to taste

* To save time, you can quarter your tomatoes and blend them.

Directions:
1. Boil pasta in salted water until al dente.
2. While pasta is hot, add cheeese in between pasta to partly melt it. This is an alternative of coating the pasta with olive oil to prevent them from sticking to each other.
3. Sautee onion, garlic with pre-heated olive oil in a frying pan.
4. Add tomatoes, olives, pepper to the pan. Stir.
5. Simmer the sauce.
6. Turn off the heat, add pasta & parsley into the pan & toss.

If this recipe takes slightly too long to prepare, please visit our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140320

easy red yeast rice soup recipe by Zhen

The first time I learned about red yeast rice (红曲米) was from Zhen, who refers to it as angkak or anka. Red yeast rice is produced when rice is fermented with a red yeast strain (红曲菌) scientifically known as Monascus purpureus.

Chinese people, especially in Fujian province, have been consuming red yeast rice to revitalize blood, reduce cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.



The red yeast strain produces statins, that can lower cholesterol. The statins include lovastatin - which is  extracted, formulated & marketed by Merck as Mevacor for reducing cholesterol and risk of cardiovascular disease. 

These statins work by blocking action of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase, which is involved in cholesterol synthesis.

Since red yeast rice appears to be beneficial to our health, how is about enjoying a bowl of warm red yeast rice soup to begin our (cool) day? This red yeast soup is clear and relatively bland, so it can make a gentle starter to a more flavorful main course. 

In Singapore, I could not find red yeast rice in NTUC Fairprice but have purchased it from a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) hall / shop.



Baby Ren enjoys ginger-flavored pink milk mixed with red yeast rice soup.



Servings: 3
Preparation time: ~ 5 minutes
Cooking time: 65 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 1 tsp red yeast rice (红曲米)
♥ 8 red dates (红枣), pitted & soaked
♥ 2 thin slices ginger (姜)
♥ 200g meat (骨) & bone (肉), e.g. pork ribs (排骨)
♥ 1 liter water (过滤水), filtered if possible

Directions:
1. Wash and soak red yeast rice in water. Re-wash and drain.
2. Blanch bones and meats in boiling water for ~5 minutes. 3. Drain and wash.
4. Add all ingredients into a pot of boiling water.
5. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour.

Tips:
♥ Get red yeast rice from a reputable source to prevent exposure to toxic and carcinogenic Sudan Red G.
♥ For (potential) medicinal use of red yeast rice, please consult your doctor. In this post, we are merely sharing a food recipe.



Other recipes that I love:
♥ Red Yeast Rice Congee with Sweet Potato @ Chinese Cuisine Food by EchoMe
♥ Ang Kak and Ginger Chicken Soup @ Daily Cooking Quest by Anita Jacobson
♥ Char Siu duck @ Indonesia Eats by Pepy Nasution
♥ Home-Made Chinese Red Rice Wine （Foo Chow Ang Jiu) @ A Taste of Memories - Echo's Kitchen
♥ misua with red yeast rice @ What To Cook today by Marvellina



Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
201403

very easy aglio olio recipe

Aglio olio is one of favorite meals of baby Ren and his Daddy. Hearing the words aglio olio reminds me on Olivia - Popeye's girlfriend.

If possible, cook fresh and eat immediately. Equally important, using fresh ingredients from garlic to herbs will ensure delicious aglio olio.

This very easy to prepare #5minutemeal recipe in its most basic form calls for garlic (aglio) and oil (olio). It is okay if you are missing 1 or 2 ingredients listed below, as long as you have the garlic and oil.



Our Asian-flavored aglio olio also uses sesame oil. Perhaps, it is the sesame oil that gives our home-cooked version its uniqueness seldom found in Italy or Italian restaurants.

For sesame oil, I use Ghee Hiang Baby brand manufactured in Penang, Malaysia, using methods and techniques learned from Fujian, China.

Ghee Hiang does not sponsor me any. Although the price is slightly more expensive than other brands of sesame oil sold in Singapore NTUC Fairprice, I have since fallen in love with the fragrance and aroma since my first confinement after the birth of baby Ren.
 



Serving:1
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 70g dried spaghetti pasta (意大利面)
♥ 5 cloves garlic (蒜头), thinly sliced
♥ 1/4 onion (洋葱), finely chopped
♥ 1 tsp anchovies (ikan bilis / ikan teri)
♥ 1 tsp dried shrimp (虾米), finely chopped
♥ 1 red chilli (红辣椒), cut into fine rings (optional)
♥ 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (橄榄油)
♥ 1 tsp sesame oil (麻油)
♥ 1 tbsp fresh parsley (香菜), finely chopped
♥ pepper (胡椒粉) to taste

Directions:
1. Boil pasta in salted water until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, wash and mince garlic, onion, dried shrimps.
3. Heat olive oil on a frying pan.
4. Sautee garlic, onion, chili, dried shrimps, anchovies.
5. Over low heat (or no heat), add pasta, sesame oil, herbs, pepper. Mix well so every strain of spaghetti looks glossy.



If you have extra time, you can consider any of these optional ingredients:
♥ prawns, boiled
♥ scallops, pan-grilled
♥ fish, pan-grilled
♥ mushrooms, sauteed 
♥ vegetables
♥ fresh (recommended) / dried herbs (basil, oregono, thyme)




After savoring home cooked aglio olio, how is about few bites of tiramisu as a dessert?



Other recipes that I also love:
♥ Wiffy's prawn aglio olio (using prawn stock) @ Noobcook
♥ Jun's dried shrimp sambal @ Indochine Kitchen

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140316

Almost thick satay sauce for bread spread recipe

Good morning lovely people! Let us enjoy bread spread inspired by satay sauce, that tastes wonderful accompanying toasted bread. 

This recipe is easy and fast to prepare, hence ideal for a quick breakfast in the morning.

Traditional satay sauce takes more efforts and time to prepare. Its ingredients include roasted peanuts, sweet soy sauce (kecap manis), sugar, salt, oil, tamarind, red chilli, garlic, shallot, lemon grass, galangal / ginger, coriander / cilantro.

To prepare almost thick satay sauce for bread spread, we can use mainly peanut butter with red onion. 

Originated from the the Aztecs who ground roasted peanuts into a paste, peanut butter is a good source of proteins. It has been used as an ingredient to fight malnutrition in famine stricken countries.



Picky eaters - who are not allergic to peanut - can enjoy bread and cookies with peanut butter too.  Decorate with raisins to create crawling ants in a row. If your little ones love Teddy Bear (so does baby Ren!), create a face of Bear using banana slices and blueberries on top of peanut butter-spreaded wheat bread.

Since we are currently living in Singapore, I use locally made Spread Talk Creamy Peanut Butter produced by Sing Kee Kaya, that I bought from NTUC Fairprice. The ingredients include roasted peanuts, vegetable oil, sugar & salt. Thus, I no need to add any other ingredients to give salty flavor*. The label also indicates
♥ No cholesterol
♥ No preservatives
♥ No trans fat

Sometimes, I also add 1/2 slice of cheese to each bread. The cheese will give an additional salty taste.

Servings: 2
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:
♥ 4 slices 5-grain bread (五谷面包)
♥ 1 tsp peanut butter (花生酱)
♥ 1 tsp honey (蜜糖)
♥ 1 red onion, finely chopped (红洋葱)

Directions:
1. Pan-toast* bread slices over low heat. Cover the pan with a lid.
2. Mix peanut butter, honey, red onion.
3. Spread on bread.
4. Keep bread on the pan until ready to eat.

You can also use bread toaster. I prefer our bread to be not too brown yet slightly crispy at the edges.

Tips:
♥ I prefer to use red onion / purple onion to white onion for the high flavonoids content of the former. Studies reveal that flavonoids have potential anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. (PMID: 19381780)
♥ While we love this almost thick satay sauce paste for our bread, we try to consume it moderately, perhaps at most once a week. We enjoy eating diversely, as the saying goes, "diversity spices up life!"

Check also our other #5minutemeal recipes.

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140317

easy apple pear soup recipe

Fruits like apple and pear are suitable to cook clear and refreshing soup, especially for hot summer or dry spell (kemarau) such as an extreme one that we had in Singapore in February-March 2014. It is the driest one since 1869 for Singapore!

The apple pear soup (苹果雪梨汤) is good to soothe throat and clear phlegm.



Snow pear is known for its cooling and thirst-quenching properties.

The benefits of apple have been epitomized in a saying that "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

 ***

Ministory 1:

Once, a little girl shared to me that she dislikes apples because Snow White died after having a bite of a poisonous apple. I was inspired by how her mother, instead of lecturing her on the goodness of apples and forcing her to eat apples, asked the little girl a thought-provoking question.

"Darling, do you think the Prince will be allowed to kiss Snow White if she has not eaten the apple?"

"If there is no kiss from the Prince, do you feel that Snow White will immediately fall in love to the Prince once she opens her eyes?"

While it is essential to guide our children to be prudent - not to accept food from a stranger without an approval of parents / teachers, I found that it is also equally meaningful to reflect if our past encounters are blessings in disguise. What do you think?




♥♥♥


Ministory 2:

A man whom I have been greatly grateful to is Sir Isaac Newton,  an English physicist, mathematician and great thinker.

On a windy afternoon in a colorful autumn, Newton walked at a beautiful garden. * Taking a rest under an apple tree, Newton saw a ripen apple fell to the ground.

He did not reach out to eat the crunchy red apple, as what some of us might do. However, his mind was searching for the possible explanations why apple always fall perpendicularly to the ground.

"Why not fall sideways? Why not upwards?"

After meandering, thinking, and pondering, Newton explains:

"Every object draws every other object toward it.
The more matter an object contains the harder it draws. The nearer an object is to another the harder it draws.
The harder an object draws other objects, the heavier it is said to be.
The earth is many millions of times heavier than an apple;
so it draws the apple toward it millions and millions of times harder than the apple can draw the other way."

Thanks to a humble event that nature offered Newton a glimpse of (the falling of an apple), Newton described the effect of gravity and defined the law of universal gravitation.


* I remember the excitement of seeing the descendants of the Newton's apple tree at Cambridge University Botanic Garden!

♥♥♥

Chinese almond kernels (南北杏）can strengthen our respiratory systems. Before I left to live in England, Agnes lovingly packed me some Chinese almond kernels to make soups. Thank you! I'm blessed.

Serving: 3
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 65 minutes



Ingredients:
♥ 1 apple (苹果), peeled, cored & quartered
♥ 1 snow pear (雪梨), peeled, cored & quartered
♥ 1 honey date ((蜜枣）, washed
♥ 8 red dates ((红枣）, washed & pitted
♥ 1 tbsp dried scallops (干贝)
♥ 1 tbsp Chinese almond kernels (南北杏）
♥ 200g meat (骨) & bone (肉), e.g. pork ribs
♥ 1 liter water

Directions:
1. Blanch bones and meats in boiling water for ~5 minutes. Drain and wash. 
2. Add all ingredients to boiled water.
3. Simmer over low heat for 1 hour.



Enjoy this soup with our other #5minutemeal recipes, that are fast and easy to prepare.

Other recipes that I love:
♥ Fong's Kitchen Journal also uses dried figs as an ingredient.
♥ Snow pear soup recipe @ Nobcook & the tips on not to over consume bitter almond (北杏).

With love,
ServicefromHeart
20140315

Postcards from Parkview Square Singapore (百威广场, 新加坡)

Standing tall and firm along North Bridge Road in the Downtown of Singapore, Parkview Square - a commercial building designed by James Adams Design and DP Architects - houses offices and embassies.

Opposite to the Raffles Hospital (private), Parkview Square is referred to as 'Gotham City building' (of Batman) locally. The design is of the classic Art Deco style, which is characterized by rich colors, bold geometric shapes, and lavish ornamentation.




A friendly taxi driver uncle* shared with me in Chinese Mandarin, that he remembers the Parkview Square well because of the statues of bony men holding up heavy things. Can you see them in the picture above?

* We call men who are older than us 'uncle' in Singapore or Malaysia.

In his words, "they look very struggling, perhaps they represent Life." He finished in accepting yet optimistic tone, "We struggle in lives."

***

The lift from street level to the square level was locked. I took an escalator up without realizing that I would need to go down few steps of staircase. A Cantonese-accented lady in an elegant above-knee dress helped me to carry baby Ren and his pram down. I am grateful to my heroine of the day!



At the plaza before entering the building, a signature crane sculpture is ready to fly towards the direction of Mainland China. The graceful golden crane - a symbol of wealth bringer - is supported by a pedestal with a Chinese poem that goes

黄鹤楼

故国旧有黄鹤楼
北望神州几千秋
黄鹤展翅飞万里
伟哉狮城见鹤楼

Yellow Crane Tower

In my old country once stood a Yellow Crane Tower
how many autumns have I gazed north, homewards?
A yellow crane spreads its wings to fly ten thousand miles
Alas! In the Lion City I see a Crane Tower!

This home-longing poem reminds us on a poem by Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty:

黄鹤楼送孟浩然之广陵

故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。
孤帆远影碧空尽，唯见长江天际流。


Sending Meng Haoran Off at Yellow Crane Tower to Yangzhou

My old friend bids farewell to me at Yellow Crane Tower,
he is going down to Yangzhou in the third month of spring misty blooms.
The image of his lonely sail fades into a jade-green void of sky;
now all I see is the mighty Yangztze River flowing to the horizon.

Note: Guanglin (广陵) is the classic name for Yangzhou (扬州).




Plato, Lincoln, Churchill, Sun Yat-Sen, Newton, Chopin, and Dali (standing tall in bronze statues) welcome everyone at the plaza. Physically dead yet spiritually alive in souls whom they have inspired over generations, I tried to introduce baby Ren to them but the noon sun was perhaps too strong for us.



Built at a cost of SGD$87.93 million and completed in 2002, rents of offices in Parkview Square (D07) cost tenants ~ SGD$8 psf (hence beyond  6 digits of monthly rents for a unit greater than 12,500 sqft / 1160 sqm) as of March 2014 (CommercialGuru). 

The interior of the lobby is also opulently decorated in the classic Art Deco style like a Western palace.



Perhaps one day we would be able to have a sip of coffee or wine at the Divine Wine Extraordinaire bar of Divine Society but now I am inspired to re-visit the Art Nouveau works by Mucha.

***

Address: 600, North Bridge Road, 188778 Singapore.



From Bugis MRT, the fastest way to reach Parkview Square is through walking the side of Raffles Hospital.

Other travel posts that I love:
♥ Leonard Ng's Yellow Crane Tower @ Rainy Blue Dawn
♥ Jotterboard's visit to the Divine Wine Extraordinaire bar of Divine Society @ Parkview Square
♥ our #travelxp posts

Postcards from St George's Church, Tanglin, Singapore (圣乔治教堂，新加坡)

Discovering St George's Church - while walking to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - was a pleasure to me. The Romanesque red bricks captured my attention and I made a mental note to visit this simply beautiful church.

当走向外交部的时候, 我很高兴发现圣乔治教堂。 它的罗马式红砖捕获了我的注意，我在心里记下访问这个简单美丽的教堂。

圣乔治教堂外，三角梅 (九重葛花) 点缀 宁静的环境。
 

Numerous strollers parked outside the church made me wondered if there was a service going on for babies and toddlers. Perhaps mothers' pray-together session.

许多婴儿车 停在教堂外。



The church was quiet and empty. It offers peaceful moments for a visitor like me.
 
这座教堂很安静。可能为了像我这样的游客, 提供宁静的时刻。


Walking down the open arched windows of the east side aisle, a middle age man politely inquired me, "are you here for the Japanese fellowship?"

走在东侧通道的开放式拱形窗户，一个中年男人有礼貌地问我，“你在这里参加日本的团契？”

"No, I happened to pass by here. Just visiting," I replied with a smile.

“不，我碰巧路过这里，只要访问，”我微笑着回答。 



Built for the British troops quartered at Tanglin Barracks, St George’s was constructed between 1910 and 1913 from materials imported from England.

专为驻扎在Tanglin军营的英军，圣乔治是1910年和1913年之间从英国进口的材料建造。

St George's church was gazetted as a monument on 10 November 1978.

1978年11月10日,圣乔治教堂被宪报公布为丰碑。






The timber roof trusses of St. George's Church are so England to me.

 圣乔治教堂的木材屋架给我的感解是如此英格兰风味。



Without air-conditioning, the high ceiling offers huge space to breathe, especially in humid Singapore.

虽然没有空调，高天花板提供了巨大的空间让我们呼吸，尤其是在热和潮湿新加坡。



Beneath the pews, the soft knee-protecting pillows, each uniquely decorated, brought our imaginations to years and decades of prayers said while kneeling on them.

下方的长椅，保护膝枕，独特的装饰。

我们想像几年和几十年跪在枕身上的祷告。

“Illumine the darkness of my intellect with a ray of Thy heavenly light and inflame my heart with the fire of Thy divine love.”

Beautiful white wooden windows adorning the red brick wall of this barn-shaped church. The beauty of simplicity.

美丽的白色木窗装饰这个谷仓形教堂的红砖墙。简约之美。

  

Curious about the books and publications. In St George's newsletter (March/April 2014 issue 20), Sam Blakey introduces a book Raising Children in a Digital Age by Bex Lewis. I added the book into my to-read list simply because I want to focus on making the internet a positive experience for our children.

At the back of the church, I saw many children playing inside glass-covered hall. The voices of two tall women conversing in British English sounded very familiar during a period of my life. Happy Filipino maids were chatting at a corner.

在教堂的后面，我看见许多孩子玩玻璃覆盖的大厅里面玩。

两个高大的女人以英式英语聊天。

在一个角落里,菲佣在快乐地聊天。

The visit reminded me on England, the people and beautiful churches there. In particular, OLEM with its adjacent kindergarten. Little children in red sweater playing and running around are beautiful memories imprinted on my mind.

这次参观使我想起英格兰，那里的人们和美丽的教堂。特别是，OLEM与其相邻的幼儿园。穿着红色的毛衣 的小孩子们正在跑来跑去。美丽的回忆印在我的脑海里。

Before I left, I waived "Bye" to the middle age man, who was sweeping the church floor.

在我离开之前，我向那中年男子挥手“再见” 。




Address: Saint George's Church, 44 Minden Road, Singapore 248816

Fee: free
Website: www.stgeorges.org.sg

Other travel posts that I love:
♥ Jazz Carols for all @ St. George's Church (which I first learned through Sassy Mama)
♥ Stephanie Ho's faith stops @ St George's Church
♥ our #travelxp posts