a colourful diet

We've been encouraged to add colours to our diet. Websites, healthy living magazines... TV programmes... So I decided to make a salad (salads are healthy.. right?) and include the colours red, green, yellow and white. Let's look at each of the colours.

Red: fruits and veggies that are red have lycopenes (think tomatoes) or acanthocyanins. Lycopenes are thought to protect against several types of cancer, especially prostate cancer. Acanthocyanins on the other hand are found in red berries are powerful antioxidants. Beetroot, another beautifully red vegetable has a pigment called betanin which is a betalain pigment, which may also exhibit anticancer activity.

Yellow (and orange) fruits and vegetables are often coloured by natural pigments called carotenoids. Beta carotene in carrots, sweet potatoes and pumpkins are converted to Vitamin A by the body which is good for the eyes and the heart. Citrus fruits (although yellow or orange) are not a good source of Vitamin C but have plenty of Vitamin C, which is good for the immune system and if you eat the pulp, then, fibre as well.

Yellow / Green leafy vegetables are coloured by chlorophyll. They also contain lutein, which is good for prevention of macular degeneration in the eye as well as reducing the risk of cataracts. Good examples are spinach, green peas, mustard greens, avocado.

Dark Green - vegetables such as brocolli, cabbage, kale - cruciferous veges contain the chemicals sulforaphane and isocyanate and they also contain indoles, all of which help ward off cancer by inhibiting carcinogens.

White / Green : leeks, onions, garlic, chives. The onion family contains allicin, which has antitumour properties, other members contain antioxidants such as quercetin.

Now, that's quite a mouthful of information. But most importantly, is to make this all palatable. (which is pretty easy), so here's a colourful tasty salad to perk anyone up during wet days that are Winter trying to become Spring.

Beetroot, Couscous and Feta Salad
Ingredients:
1 medium - large beetroot, boiled in its skin
1 cup couscous, rehydrated with hot water / vege stock and fluffed up
1 small lemon
1 cup feta cheese, cut into 1cm cubes
bunch of greens (we used miner's lettuce from our garden), rocket does very well
generous bunch coriander - roughly chopped
1-2 cloves garlic finely chopped salt pepper
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and ground drizzle of olive oil

Method:
1. peel and cut the cooked beetroot into small 1 cm cubes, keep warm
2. lemon: cut half into thin slivers and juice the remaining half - mix with beetroot
3. toss all ingredients together in large bowl - you can add as much olive oil / lemon juice as you like (I use less oil, just to reduce the calories)

Serve with toasted crusty bread, such as sourdough.

Chinese Radish Cake

Fried Lor Bak Go

Having eaten a rather poor version of "lor bak go" (chinese radish cake) recently at a chinese restaurant that I shall not name, I decided to re-create an old family favourite.

Obtaining the ingredients was not too difficult - there is a reasonably well stocked Asian supermarket about 45min drive away from home. Stepping into this grocery, one is greeted, no, almost assaulted with a heady aroma of dried shrimp, shitake mushrooms, rice, pickled vegetables - a visit to this treasure store of exotic foods always yields a basket full of goodies.

Ingredients for Lor Bak Go

Traditionally eaten during the Lunar New Year celebrations (at least by my family), Lor Bak Go is also a firm fixture on the dim sum menu of many Chinese Restaurants.


The difference between a bad lor bak go and a good one is like chalk and cheese. A bad one is almost always very stodgy, tasteless and has very little radish, much less chinese sausage, shitake mushrooms or shrimp. It also has the consistency of an eraser - rubbery.

Plain rice flour

A good one, on the other had, is light, flavourful and has plenty of shredded radish just about held together by rice flour, interspersed between the strands of radish will be nuggets of scrumptious chinese sausage (lup cheong), bits of fragrant shitake mushrooms and boldly flavoured dried shrimp. It can be eaten just fresh out of the steamer or cut into thick slices and pan fried. I just looooove the crisp brown edges of the fried version. Accompanied by a dollop of chilli jam and thick black soy sauce - absolutely scrumptious !!

So here's my take on Chinese Radish Cake:

Ingredients:
1 large chinese radish (daikon)
about 1kg 1.5 cups rice flour (approx 250g)*
6 dried shitake mushrooms
2 chinese sausages (lup cheong)
1/4 cup dried shrimp, chopped
1 tsp salt 2-3tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper 2 cups water
* this proportion of radish to flour (9:1) makes for a very soft but flavourful cake, a bit difficult to slice and fry. For a slightly firmer cake, add more flour but not more than 4:1.

Method:
1. Rinse and soak the shitake mushrooms.
2. Roughly chop the dried shrimp and cut the sausage into a fine dice. Do the same with the mushrooms once they are rehydrated. Reserve the mushroom water.
3. Grate the daikon (use the large grater - for better texture)
4. Heat oil in a large wok and fry the sausage till brown, then add the shrimp and mushrooms.
5. Add the radish and reserved mushroom water and cook over medium heat for about 5-10min, till the radish is cooked but al dente. Season with salt, pepper and soy sauce. It should not be too salty.
6. Mix the rice flour with about 1 cup of water.
7. Add the rice flour slurry to the hot radish mixture and stir till well mixed - the mixture will get increasing stiff - after about 5 min, turn the heat off.
8. Test fry a tablespoon in a small non stick frying pan. This is to make sure that the mixture is well seasoned and has the right proportions of water and flour. Add more flour or water as necessary to achieve your desired consistency.
9. Pour the mixture into well greased baking trays (this recipe makes 2 loaf tins) and steam for 1 hour.
10. Allow to cool before turning out. The lor bak go can be eaten as is or cut into thick slices and pan fried. For slicing, better results are achieved if the cake is left to firm up overnight in the fridge.

Enjoy!

Gordon Ramsay is totally obnoxious and rude

I love food, I love watching food programs and I love watching programs where people travel and taste food of other cultures. But it was terrible watching Gordon Ramsay and the Great Escape where he went to different places in India, sampling Indian cuisine. He is so rude and obnoxious. He is definitely not open minded when it comes to trying and accepting Indian food. And I thought Zimmerman was bad, Ramsay is worse. Give me Anthony Bourdain anytime.