Cooking Tips and Recipes

Cooking Tips and Recipes

Kuih Seri Muka

SERIMUKA


Ingredients :
Bottom layer :
600 g glutinous rice ~ washed and soak overnight
2 cups thick coconut milk
1 cup thin coconut milk
pandan leaves (can be substitute with pandan paste for aroma)
1 teaspoon salt

Top layer :
5 whole eggs ~ lightly beaten
300 g sugar
3 tablespoons wheat flour (or cake flour)
pandan juice (from 10 pandan leaves) - can be substitute with pandan paste
2 cups thick coconut

A 24 cm sized tray

Method :
1. Drain the glutinous rice. Add in the coconut milk and pandan leaves to the glutinous rice and pour them into the tray.
2. Steam for 20 minutes. Remove tray from steamer and use a fork to stir the rice. Steam again for another 10 minutes.
3. While waiting for the rice, mix all the ingredients for the top layer. (Can either use whisker or a blender )
4. Remove the tray from the steamer and press the cooked rice with the back of a spoon to level it. Stim for another 5 minutes.
5. Remove the tray from the steamer and pour the top layer mixture on top.
6. Steam for 30 minutes.
7. Leave to cool before cutting.

**Tips :
1. Lined the tray with a piece of heat resistance plastic so that it'll be easier to remove the kuih once cooled.

2. Cut the kuih only when it is cooled.

3. Use a plastic knife to cut.

BEST CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Ingredients :
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla essance
3/4 cup buttermilk
* 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method :
1. In a small bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg and vanilla essance until smooth.
3. Alternately whisk in flour mixture and buttermilk, making 3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of buttermilk, beating until bater is smooth. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Scoop bater into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven at 180 celcius for 22 - 27 minutes or until top of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.
5. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Note : To make buttermilk : 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Rose Tart

ROSE TART

Ingredients :
3/4 cup icing sugar 1 cup margarine
1 cup maziena (corn flour)
1 egg yolk enough
flour (I used 1 3/4 cups flour)
Jam
Filling Paper cups

Method :
1. Beat icing sugar and margarine till light and creamy.
2. Add in egg yolk and continue beating.
3. Add corn flour and mix well.
4. Add in flour, a bit at a time till a soft dough is formed.
5. Roll about 3/4 cm (I rolled about 1/2 cm thick) thick and cut using a round cutter.
6. Spread a bit of jam on top and fold into 2.
7. With two folded pieces, join them together to form a flower shape.
8. Put in small papercups and bake till golden brown.

Chinese Food Cooking Tips

Plan to prepare a Chinese cuisine? Are you new to Chinese cooking? Then follow the General Chinese Cooking Principles...

1. Try to vary the meat and vegetables in a dish, so that there is an interesting variety of flavors, textures, and colors. The Chinese believe it is important to find balance and harmony in every aspect of life, including food.
Fresh is best: always use fresh ingredients when possible.
Be sure to have everything prepared before you start cooking: the vegetables washed, drained and cut; the meat cut and marinated; the sauces prepared.

2. Chinese Cooking Equipment:
While you don't absolutely need one, a wok is the one piece of cooking equipment you may want to purchase before you start cooking Chinese food.
While it's nice to own one, you don't need a cleaver to cook Chinese food.Before You Buy a WokBefore You Buy a CleaverStir-frying With a Frying Pan

3. Preparing Vegetables:
Wash green, leafy vegetables ahead of time. This gives them more time to drain so they will not be too wet when you stir-fry.
Place all the cut vegetables on a tray or cooking sheet. That way, you won't forget anything. Just be careful not to mix them up, as cooking times will vary among vegetables.

4. Stir-frying Vegetables:
When stir-frying vegetables, cook the toughest and thickest vegetables for a longer period than the softer, leafy vegetables. Vegetables such as broccoli, carrots, and cabbage need to be cooked longer than bok choy, which in turn is cooked longer than snow peas or bean sprouts.
If you are uncertain in which order to cook vegetables, simply stir-fry them separately. Never overcook.

5. Tofu (Bean Curd):
For stir-frying or deep-frying, use firm or extra-firm tofu. Firm tofu will keep its shape and not fall apart in the wok.
Drain the tofu before using, as this allows it to absorb the other flavors in the dish.

6. Meat and Fish:
Always marinate fresh meat.
If a marinade calls for cornstarch, add it last. It will act as a binder.
Always cut beef across the grain. This helps make it more tender.
Cut the meat into uniform pieces so that it will cook more evenly.
When cooking meat or poultry, make sure that the wok is very hot before adding the food.
If preparing stir-fried meat and vegetables, stir-fry the meat first and set it aside. Usually you will return it to the wok with a sauce during the final stages of cooking.

7. Cooking With Oil:
When adding oil for stir-frying, drizzle the oil down the sides of the wok.
When deep-frying, to tell if the oil is hot enough, simply stick a chopstick in the wok. When the oil sizzles all around it, you can begin adding the food.

8. Sauce and Seasoning Tips:
Always use fresh ginger, not powdered.
If desired, use sugar as a substitute for MSG (Monosodium Glutamate).
The formula for mixing cornstarch and water is 1 to 2 or 1 to 4: for example, 1 tablespoon of cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water.
Don’t use more cornstarch than called for in the recipe

9. Rice:
For best results when cooking rice, use long grain rice.
When making fried rice, use cold cooked rice, preferably at least one day old.

Finally, remember that, in the immortal words of one of my favorite cooking teachers: "the two most important things about Chinese cooking are a hot stove and a sharp knife."

The Miracle of Green Tea

Is any other food or drink reported to have as many health benefits as green tea?

The Chinese have known about the medicinal benefits of green tea since ancient times, using it to treat everything from headaches to depression.
In her book Green Tea: The Natural Secret for a Healthier Life, Nadine Taylor states that green tea has been used as a medicine in China for at least 4,000 years.

Today, scientific research in both Asia and the west is providing hard evidence for the health benefits long associated with drinking green tea. For example, in 1994 the Journal of the National Cancer Institute published the results of an epidemiological study indicating that drinking green tea reduced the risk of esophageal cancer in Chinese men and women by nearly sixty percent. University of Purdue researchers recently concluded that a compound in green tea inhibits the growth of cancer cells. There is also research indicating that drinking green tea lowers total cholesterol levels, as well as improving the ratio of good (HDL) cholesterol to bad (LDL) cholesterol.
To sum up, here are just a few medical conditions in which drinking green tea is reputed to be helpful:
cancer ; rheumatoid arthritis ; high cholesterol levels ; cardiovascular disease ; infection ; impaired immune function

What makes green tea so special?
The secret of green tea lies in the fact it is rich in catechin polyphenols, particularly epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG). EGCG is a powerful anti-oxidant: besides inhibiting the growth of cancer cells, it kills cancer cells without harming healthy tissue. It has also been effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, and inhibiting the abnormal formation of blood clots. The latter takes on added importance when you consider that thrombosis (the formation of abnormal blood clots) is the leading cause of heart attacks and stroke.

Links are being made between the effects of drinking green tea and the "French Paradox." For years, researchers were puzzled by the fact that, despite consuming a diet rich in fat, the French have a lower incidence of heart disease than Americans. The answer was found to lie in red wine, which contains resveratrol, a polyphenol that limits the negative effects of smoking and a fatty diet. In a 1997 study, researchers from the University of Kansas determined that EGCG is twice as powerful as resveratrol, which may explain why the rate of heart disease among Japanese men is quite low, even though approximately seventy-five percent are smokers.

Why don't other Chinese teas have similar health-giving properties? Green, oolong, and black teas all come from the leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant. What sets green tea apart is the way it is processed. Green tea leaves are steamed, which prevents the EGCG compound from being oxidized. By contrast, black and oolong tea leaves are made from fermented leaves, which results in the EGCG being converted into other compounds that are not nearly as effective in preventing and fighting various diseases.

Other Benefits
New evidence is emerging that green tea can even help dieters. In November, 1999, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published the results of a study at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Researchers found that men who were given a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those given only caffeine or a placebo.
Green tea can even help prevent tooth decay! Just as its bacteria-destroying abilities can help prevent food poisoning, it can also kill the bacteria that causes dental plaque. Meanwhile, skin preparations containing green tea - from deodorants to creams - are starting to appear on the market.

Harmful Effects?
To date, the only negative side effect reported from drinking green tea is insomnia due to the fact that it contains caffeine. However, green tea contains less caffeine than coffee: there are approximately thirty to sixty mg. of caffeine in six - eight ounces of tea, compared to over one-hundred mg. in eight ounces of coffee.

How much Green Tea should you drink?
There are as many answers to this question as there are researchers investigating the natural properties of green tea. For example, Herbs for Health magazine cites a Japanese report stating that men who drank ten cups of green tea per day stayed cancer-free for three years longer than men who drank less than three cups a day (there are approximately 240 - 320 mg of polyphenols in three cups of green tea). Meanwhile, a study by Cleveland's Western Reserve University concluded that drinking four or more cups of green tea per day could help prevent rheumatoid arthritis, or reduce symptoms in individuals already suffering from the disease. And Japanese scientists at the Saitama Cancer Research Institute discovered that there were fewer recurrances of breast cancer, and the disease spread less quickly, in women with a history of drinking five cups or more of green tea daily.
It gets more confusing. A University of California study on the cancer-preventative qualities of green tea concluded that you could probably attain the desired level of polyphenols by drinking merely two cups per day. On the other hand, a company selling a green tea capsule formula insists that ten cups per day are necessary to reap the maximum benefits.
How can you make sense of these conflicting claims? Given all the evidence, it is probably safe to plan on drinking four to five cups of green tea per daily. If you're a real devotee, by all means drink more; but whether or not you'll derive added health benefits remains to be determined by further research.

How to Brew a Cup of Green Tea
Producing the perfect cup of green tea is a tricky process. If not handled properly, those same polyphenols that provide health benefits can ruin the flavor, making the tea taste "gassy." It's particularly important not to overbrew. While it's best to follow the manufacturer's instructions for each variety of green tea, here are some general instructions:
Use one tea bag, or 2 - 4 grams of tea,* per cup.
Fill a kettle with cold water and bring to a boil.
After unplugging the kettle, allow it to stand for up to 3 minutes.
Pour the heated water over the tea bag or tea, and allow it to steep for up to 3 minutes. If using a tea bag, remove the bag.
Allow the tea to cool for three more minutes.
*One to two teaspoons, depending on the variety of green tea you are brewing.

**Courtesy of About.com

Foods For Healthy Skin - Beauty Tips

Want truly fabulous skin? Glowing, vibrant, and, yes, younger-looking skin? Make sure you're putting foods for healthy skin on your plate.

Low-Fat Dairy Products.
One the most important components of skin health is vitamin A. One of the best places to get it is low-fat dairy products. In fact, experts say that the health of our skin cells is dependent on dietary vitamin A.
Nutrition expert Liz Lipski, PhD, CCN, says it's doubly important to eat A-rich dairy foods if you have either diabetes or a thyroid condition.

The A in dairy products, she says is "true A," so everyone's skin can use it.
Lipski says low-fat yogurt is not only high in vitamin A, but also acidophilus, the "live" bacteria that is good for intestinal health. Turns out, it may also have an impact on the skin.
"Anything that helps keep digestion normal, any live bacteria or enzymes, is also going to be reflected in healthy-looking skin," says Lipski.

Blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and plums.
The common link between these four foods is their high antioxidant content. In a study recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, these four fruits weighed in with the highest "total antioxidant capacity" of any food. The benefits of these foods for healthy skin are plentiful.
"Free radicals -- like the kind formed from sun exposure -- damage the membrane of skin cells, potentially allowing damage to the DNA of that cell," says Heller. The antioxidants and other phytochemicals in these fruits can protect the cell, she says, so there is less chance for damage.
"When you help protect the cells from damage and disintegration, you also guard against premature aging. In this respect, these fruits may very well help keep your skin younger looking longer," says Heller.
According to the new study, other fruits and vegetables with a "high antioxidant capacity" include artichokes, beans (the study cited black, red, and pinto), prunes, and pecans.

Salmon, Walnuts, Canola Oil, and Flax Seed.

These seemingly unrelated foods all deliver essential fatty acids, and thus are key foods for healthy skin.
"Essential fatty acids are responsible for healthy cell membranes, which is not only what act as barriers to harmful things but also as the passageway for nutrients to cross in and out and for waste products to get in and out of the cell," says Ann Yelmokas McDermott, PhD, a nutritionist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Boston.
Because it is the cell membrane that also holds water in, the stronger that barrier is the better your cells can hold moisture. And that means plumper, younger looking skin.
Also, says Heller, the same inflammatory process that can harm our arteries and cause heart disease can harm skin cells. Essential fatty acids can offer protection to both.
The best-known essential fatty acids are omega 3 and omega 6, which must be in balance for good health (and good skin). Though we all seem to get enough omega 6, Heller says many people lack omega 3s. Fish, walnut, and flax seed oil are among the best sources.

Healthy Oils.

These contain more than essential fatty acids. Eating good-quality oils helps keep skin lubricated and keeps it looking and feeling healthier overall.Which oils are the right oils for healthy skin? Lipski says those labeled cold pressed, expeller processed, or extra virgin are the ones to look for.
"When an oil is commercially processed, the first thing they do is add solvents and raise them to really high temperatures, then put it though five or six processes. Important nutrients are lost," says Lipski.
By comparison, she says when oils are prepared by the cold-press or expeller process, or, in the case of olive oil, are extra virgin, preparation involves only pressing, heating, and bottling.
"You get all the nutrients that are not only good for your skin, but good for your body," says Lipski.
Since any fat, even a healthy one, is high in calories, experts remind us that we don't need more than about two tablespoons a day.

Whole-wheat bread, muffins, and cereals; turkey, tuna and brazil nuts.

The mineral selenium connects all these foods for healthy skin. Experts say selenium plays a key role in the health of skin cells. Some studies show that even skin damaged by the sun may suffer fewer consequences if selenium levels are high.
For instance, in two clinical trials, researchers at Edinburgh University showed that when levels of selenium were high, skin cells were less likely to suffer the kind of oxidative damage that can increase the risk of cancer. The results were published in 2003 in both the British Journal of Dermatology and the journal Clinical and Experimental Dermatology. And a group of French researchers found that oral doses of selenium, along with copper, vitamin E and vitamin A could prevent sunburn cell formation in human skin.
What's more, Lipsky says that filling up on whole-grain products leaves less room for the "white" foods that are a worse choice for skin health. These include white-flour items (bread, cake and pasta), sugar, and white rice. All can affect insulin levels and cause inflammation that may ultimately be linked to skin break outs.

Green Tea.

This beverage deserves a category all its own in any article about foods for healthy skin. The skin-health properties in this beneficial drink just can't be beat.
"It has anti-inflammatory properties, and it's protective to the cell membrane. It may even help prevent or reduce the risk of skin cancer," says Lipski.
Indeed, a study published recently in the Archives of Dermatology shows that whether taken orally or applied to the skin, green tea can reduce the risk of damage from ultraviolet light (such as the burning rays of the sun), and thus reduce the risk of skin cancer.
Heller adds that the polyphenols in green tea have anti-inflammatory properties that may also be beneficial to skin health overall.

Water.

While the exact amount you should drink each day varies, no one disputes the role good hydration plays in keeping skin looking healthy and even young. When that hydration comes from pure, clean water -- not liquids such as soda or even soup -- experts say skin cells rejoice.
"It is my belief that our skin needs at least a half gallon of good clean water -- that's about eight glasses -- every day," says Lipski.
While any good, clean water will keep your body and your skin hydrated, Lipski says hard water, the kind high in minerals, is especially good. Using water softeners to de-mineralize drinking water may reduce some of the potentially helpful effects.
"A water softener may help your plumbing, but it's hard water that is better for your health," she says.
In addition to keeping cells hydrated, water helps cells move nutrients in and toxins out, which Lipski says automatically leaves skin looking better.
She adds that when we're properly hydrated, we also sweat more efficiently. Doing so helps keep skin clean and clear as well.