I discovered moong dal (mung bean, 绿豆) through my Indian friend who introduced me to Indian cuisine some time ago. The husk of moong dal is green in colour, but the bean itself is yellow after de-husking.  It is commonly used by Chinese in making dessert (such as green bean soup and sweetened green bean paste). Amongst all the beans and lentils, split moong dal is the easiest to cook as it do not need pre-soaking...

Lately I have tried out many recipes from Annabel KarmelN1 Family Cookbook magazines (spring and summer editions) in my cooking. I love its wide selection of kid-friendly recipes which are both simple to follow and wholesome. Also, the required ingredients and seasonings are quite basic and easily found in the supermarkets. Besides that, the recipes include many fun and healthy ideas suitable for all ages...

  My son doesn’t like rice so much. What upsets me is that he always quick to finish eating his dishes but takes his time to labour over his rice even though I only gave him six to seven spoonfuls.  His usual excuse is he is already full. To circumvent such an unhealthy habit, I only allow him to have two third of his allocated dishes to be finished with the rice. If he finishes, he gets the rest. He...

  My guest and I got acquainted through a parenting forum 4 years ago. Like me, she also has a son of the same age. We share many common interests and chat online almost everyday with our never-ending topics. It was through her encouragement that I got started on blogging. She is my personal advisor in cooking, baking, and a handy solver for my problems with Adobe Photoshop and highly complicated html...

  Over the past two months, Singapore and Malaysia are hit by dry spell with no sign of abating anytime soon. Although it’s usually hot this time of the year, but it’s particularly bad this year. The weather is extremely hot and humid. I could feel the heat penetrating my skin when I went out to fetch my son from school at noon. Even walking under the shades along the pedestrian walkway,...

I brought my laptop with me during my recent holiday break in KL hoping to “squeeze” in some time to update my food blog. In the end, I decided to give my laptop a holiday break too. LOL! Now that the holiday is over, it’s time to crank up my “engine” again and get back to my daily routine. I seriously MISSED the blogging world and can’t wait to share with you all the great recipes I tried and tested...

  My first experience in tasting stir-fry udon was at a Chinese restaurant many years ago. After trying it out, I got hooked on udon, especially this stir-fry version even until now. But I never expect my son to also enjoy eating this fat and chewy noodle as much as I do. In fact, udon is his first choice among all Japanese noodles (such as somen, soba and ramen) on the menu at a Japanese restaurant when...

Asparagus (卢笋）tops my list of premium vegetables. There are two common varieties that I can find in the local market, all imported, from Thailand and Australia respectively. If I were given a choice, I prefer the ones from Australia for its better taste. However, its price can stretch my weekly budget. Hence, I would normally buy them only when they are in season when prices can drop by half. Otherwise,...

  Mushrooms provide a lot of nature’s hidden treasures. Amongst them are anti-oxidants, B-vitamins, copper, phosphorus, potassium and vitamin D. For further reading, please refer to this link. It is also featured as one of the new superfoods for women in the July 2009 issue of Health Magazine.   Over the past one year, I am finding more and more variety of fresh mushrooms being sold at supermarkets...

  Some people avoid eggs because of its cholesterol content. However, one must also not forget that eggs also contain important nutritional contents like protein, iron, minerals and B vitamins. All you need to do is to plan your diet accordingly and be mindful of the cholesterol in egg and other food you eat every day. Limit your egg intake to 3-4 eggs per week. For me, it’s important to have everything...