清炒苋菜

据幼儿园的老师说，苋菜是 James  可以接受的叶菜之一。条件是不可太长、太老。

所以要买苋菜苗，还要且细。味要够，却不可重。

不好伺候吧？！

苋菜当归粥 Bayam DāngGuī Porridge

红叶苋菜洗净，备用。

两杯白米，洗净。加半煲清水，武火煮滚，改文火煲。加入鸡肉或猪肉碎、当归片，再煲一小时。

后加入红叶苋菜，再煲十分钟。加盐调味。

注 : 苋菜不可久煲。长时间加热将破坏红色素，导致失色。

当归苋菜汤

苋菜，江鱼仔洗净备用。

蒜头剁碎，爆香。微炒江鱼仔，加入一大碗水或高汤。

下数片当归，小火微熬数分至出味。加苋菜，微滚。

食盐、味精调味即可。

上汤苋菜

ingredient :

苋菜 Bayam ( Amaranthus sp )

参须 American ginseng ( Panax quenquefolius )

玉竹 Angular Soloman's-seal ( Polygonatum odoratum )

白芍 Chinese peony ( Paeonia lactiflora )

枸杞 Wolfberry ( Lycium barbarum )

鸡肉 Chicken  ( Gallus gallus domesticus )

Method :

Cut the chicken into small cubes, blanch it.

Put in all the herbs and chicken into a pot, simmer till cooked.

Lastly, blanch the bayam in the soup for few minutes.

Add salt to taste.

Serve hot.

上汤苋菜 Chinese Spinach Soup

First, saute some mince garlic. 

Add in generous portion of water, bring to boil.  Add in anchovies, and sliced American ginseng 泡参( Panax quinquifolius ).  Simmer with Chinese wolfberries 枸杞( pronounced gouqi in pinyin  ) ( Lycium barbarium ) till the American ginseng‘s flavour is out. 

Normally, Chinese angelica 当归 is used ( Angelica sinensis ), instead of American ginseng.   I had no choice but to use American ginseng because after I finish prepared all the ingredients, I realized that there are no more Chinese angelica left in the fridge.  

Remove the anchovies.  Add in a few slice of chicken breast / lean pork.

Add in Chinese spinach 苋菜 ( pronounced xiancai in pinyin ) ( Amaranthus dubius ). Bring to boil.

Add in salt to taste.

Spinach is not Bayam

Bayam ( in Malay language ) is of the genus Amaranthus, of the family Amaranthaceae.  There are about 60 species of Amaranthus, valued as leaf vegetables, cereals, and ornamentals, and several considered as weeds.  A. dubius is widely consumed as greens in S.E.Asia. 

The word 'Amaranth' comes from the Greek ἀμάραντος (amarantos), "unfading" or "never-fading (flower)".

Amaranthus dubius（ synonym Amaranthus mangostanus）Amaranth greens, also called Chinese spinach 苋菜  ( pinyin: xiàncài ) is an annual flowering plants, grows up to 120cm in height.  It has both green ( Bayam hijau ) and red ( Bayam merah ) varieties, as well as some with mixed colours.  Green variety of A. dubius is practically undistinguishable from A. viridis.

Amaranth greens are a very good source of vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin B6, vitamin C, riboflavin, folate, calcium iron, magnesium, phosphosur, potassium, zinc, copper and manganese.   However their moderatelly high content of oxalic acid can inhibit the absorption of calcium and zinc, and thus people with kidney disorder, gout, or rheumatoid arthritis should be more cautious consuming bayam.

Reheating cooked bayam is discouraged, particularly for consumption by small children, as the nitrates in the leaves can be converted to nitrites, similarly to spinach.

Spinach ( Spinacia oleracea ) is an edible flowering plant from the family Amaranthaceae too.  It is native to central and southwestern Asia.  Spinach is an annual plant, capable to grow up to 30cm in height.

The English word spinach' dates to 1530 and is from espinache (Fr. épinard), from O.Prov. espinarc, which perhaps is via Catalan espinac, from Andalusian Arabic asbinakh , from Arabic es-sabaanikh (السبانخ), from Persian aspanakh, meaning roughly "green hand".

Spinach is thought to have originated in ancient Persia. Arab traders carried spinach into India, and then the plant was introduced into ancient China, where it was known as "Persian vegetable" (波斯菜, 菠菜).   It is loosely named bayam in Malay, which leads to confusion to distinguish a spinach and a bayam.

Spinach is rich in vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese,  folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium omega-3 fatty acids etc.

The cartoon character Popeye the Sailor is potrayed as having a strong affinity for spinach, becoming physically stronger after consuming it.   This portrayal was based on faulty calculation of the iron content by a German scientist E. von Wolf who misplaced a decimal point in an 1870 measurement of the spinach’s iron content, leading to an iron value 10 times higher than its should have been.  This faulty measurement was not notice until the 1930s.