Poison in our Foods : Maleic Acid

  

In June 2013, Taiwan’s Food and Drug Administration found maleic acid in tapioca pearls produced by Taiwanese company Sunright Foods Corporation.   Soon afterwards, Singapore’s Agri-food and Veterinary Authority too found maleic acid in 11 starch-based products from Taiwan.  Malaysian Health Ministry followed suit by suspending the import of the 11 products.

Tapioca pearls are used in the popular bubble tea drink ( 珍珠奶茶 ), which too originated from Taiwan.

Maleic acid  顺丁烯二酸 (马来酸) is not an approved additive used in manufacturing food products.  Long term consumption of high levels of maleic acid may caused kidney damage.  However, occasional intake of maleic acid at a low dosage is not dangerous.  Industrial maleic acid can cause skin irritation and sensitization, as well as severe eye damage.

Maleic acid is a colourless crystalline, soluble in water and moderately toxic.  It is used as a detergent in surface cleaning, sizing agents in textile industry, photographical chemicals for quite-photo processing, making maleate salts in pharmaceutical industry, dying auxiliary, as an oil and fat preservative, and for hot melt adhesives.  In addition, it is also used to manufacture polyester resins, pesticides, tartaric acid, succinic acid, and DL-malic acid.

龟苓膏 之 龟板

龟苓膏是以龟板、土茯苓、甘草等中药材制成凝固的膏狀传统药用食品。

龟板又名龟甲、神屋，即 tortoise shell，是龟鱉目動物的甲殼(主要為腹甲) 。龟板是中药材一种，龟苓膏的主要材料。性寒味甘。把龟板熬成固体胶块，叫做龟板胶，含动物膠原、脂肪、角蛋白、18種胺基酸、鈣、磷、鋅等。功效為滋補腎陰、補腎；提高白血球數量，增強免疫力。主治頭痛、暈眩、手足震顫、惊悸失眠及月经过多等。

正統龟苓膏是以受保护动物金钱龟制成。但因金钱龟為受保护动物，以其制成龟苓膏价钱昂貴且违法，因此現時大多数生产商的龟苓膏普遍以平胸龟、草龟、泥龟等代替，甚或根本沒龟的成分。

制龟苓膏的龟板原自：

三线闭壳龟（Cuora trifasciata），又稱金钱龟、金頭龟、

红肚龟。主要分佈在中国福建、广东、广西、海南、香港等地，寮国和越南。

三线闭壳龟是目前中国国家二級保护动物，养殖三線闭壳龟需经批准，而非法捕猎三线闭壳龟、将之作为药、食品的成份來宣传等行为亦属违法。香港也将三线闭壳龟列入保护动物。而且也是国际濒临絕種野生动植物国际貿易公约（CITES）附录II品种。

平胸龟（Plathstemon megacephalum），别名大头平胸

龟、大头龟、鹰嘴龟、鹰龟。主要分佈在中国安徽、重庆、福建、广东、广西、海南、浙江、江苏、湖南等，老挝、緬甸、泰國和越南的高地溪流。是淡水龟中最特殊的一种，头不能缩入壳内，其性情凶猛，属一级保护物种。在中國的雲南、湖南、海南已列入保護動物，廣東省重點保護陸生野生動物名錄中的物種。香港也将平胸龟列入保护动物。而且也是国际《濒临絕種野生动植物国际貿易公约》（CITES）附录II品种。

由於龟甲與体色上的差異，大头龟可分為五個亞种:

· 中国大头龟 P. megacephalum megalorcephalum－分佈於中國南部

· 泰国大头龟 P. megacephalum vogeli－分佈於泰國西北部

· 緬甸大头龟 P. megacephalum peguense－分佈於泰國南部至緬甸

· 越南大头龟 P. megacephalum shiui－分佈於越南北部

· 云南大头龟 P. megacephalum tristernalis－分佈於雲南

草龟（Chinemys reevesii），又名烏龜、中华草龟、金龟、

珍珠龜、金线龟、墨龟、泥龟、水龟、山龟、臭青龜、长寿龟等。主要分佈在中國、日本、韓國、台灣及香港。

草龟被世界自然保護聯盟列為瀕危，牠們受到過度捕猎所威胁。而對香港及中國大陸而言，草龟因有人工繁殖的市場，而令市面有大量的草龟提供給飼養者。

泥龜（Dermatemys mawii），主要分佈在中美洲由墨西哥至

洪都拉斯較大的河流及湖泊。

泥龜被世界自然保護聯盟列（IUCN）為極危，故受到《瀕危野生動植物種國際貿易公約》（CITES）附錄二的保護，禁止出口。

Cari Makan @ Serdang - 辣汤•花雕鸡

权记 

Restoran Kien Kee

辣汤·花雕鸡 专卖店

辣汤             RM10

花雕鸡          RM10

醉虾（小）   RM38

醉鸡（小）   RM28

醉腰（小）   RM28

菜心/生菜（大）     RM10

菜心/生菜（小）     RM6

葱油豆腐（大）      RM9

葱油豆腐（小）      RM5

营业时间

9:30am – 3:00pm & 6:00pm-9:00pm

星期一休息

Milk Products - A Processing Chart

No Carrot in Carrot Cake

  

Daikon, or white radish is Raphanus sativus var longipinnatus, a mild-flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish with a wide variety.

Radish, Raphanus sativus, is its European counterpart.  Radishes too have numerous varieties, mostly red.

Names

The name ‘daikon’ derives from the Japanese大根, meaning ‘large root’.  Despite its Japanese-associated name, it was originated from continental Asia.

The Chinese called it 蘿蔔‘luóbó’ (Cantonese) or 菜头‘càitóu’ (Hokkien), literally mean ‘vegetable head’.  However, both the name 蘿蔔and 菜头 also referred to carrot, thus create some confusion between daikon and carrot.  To clear the air, daikon is differentiated by calling it 白蘿蔔 ‘white luóbó’ or 白菜头 ‘white càitóu’ ;  while carrot is 紅蘿蔔‘red luóbó’ or 紅菜头‘red càitóu’. 

Nevertheless, carrot is not related to daikon.   Carrot is the root of Daucus carota, a member of Apiaceae family; while daikon is of Brassicaceae family.

The Malay name ‘lobak’ is apparently derived from Chinese ‘luóbó’.

In English, it is generally called white radish, Oriental radish, Japanese radish, Chinese radish, or Korean radish.

Culinary use

In Chinese cuisine,  蘿蔔糕‘luóbó-gāo’ or  菜头馃‘càitóu-guǒ’ is made with daikon.  

( Yet still,  蘿蔔糕 or  菜头馃 is erroneously called ‘carrot cake’.  So, don’t complaint if you can’t find carrot in your ‘carrot cake’. ) 

It is also made into 菜脯, a pickled daikon.  Other than that, it is most commonly eaten cooked in soup or stewed.

橄榄 Canarium album

橄榄 ( 学名：Canarium album Raeusch )，也称为白榄、山榄(广西、广东)、青果、谏果、忠果(古称)、黄榄(云南金平)、红榄、青子(广东)、南威，是橄榄科橄榄属 ( Burseraceae ) 植物。

产地

橄榄原产于中国南方，广东、广西、福建、台湾、浙江、四川等省份均有出产。

闽南、潮汕等地人民过去好食槟榔 （Areca catechu ），但到了清末，渐以橄榄代之。

福建省是中国橄榄产量最高的省份，著名品种有惠圆、檀香等。广东潮汕地区也是橄榄的传统产区，其中以澄海南溪橄榄、潮阳金玉三捻橄榄、潮安铁铺橄榄、揭西凤湖橄榄等品种最为闻名。

古书记载

东汉 · 杨孚《异物志》：

橄榄生南海浦屿间。树高丈余。其实如枣，二月有花生，至八月乃熟，甚香。橄榄木高硕难采，以盐擦木身，则其实自落。

三国 · 万震《南州异物志》：

闽、广诸郡及缘海浦屿间皆有之。树高丈余，叶似榉柳。二月开花，八月成实，状如长枣，两头尖，青色。核亦两头尖而有棱，核内有三层，层中有肉可食。

唐 · 刘恂《岭表录异》：

橄榄树，身耸，枝皆高数尺，其子深秋方熟。闽中尤重此味。云咀之香口，胜含鸡舌香。饮汁，解酒毒。有野生者，子繁树峻，不可梯缘，但刻其根下方寸许，纳盐于其中，一夕子皆自落。树枝节上生脂膏如桃胶，南人采之，和其皮叶煎之，调如黑汤，谓之橄榄糖。用泥船损，干后坚于胶漆，著水益干耳。

用途

橄榄果实味清香微苦而带甜味，常作为水果食用。可生食，或者泡水喝，也可制成蜜饯、干果，或将成熟鲜果以甘草、蜂蜜或糖汁腌制成甘草橄榄。

未成熟的橄榄较苦涩，将其切段后与腌制好的芥菜叶一起加食油熬煮，称为橄榄菜，是潮汕地区知名的佐餐小食，尤以汕头市下蓬、外砂等地所产为出名。

营养价值

橄榄果肉含有丰富的营养物，鲜食有益人体健康，特别是含钙较多，对儿童骨骼发育有帮助。

果实含蛋白质1.2％，脂肪1.09％，碳水化物12％，钙0.204％，磷0.046％，铁0.0014％，抗坏血酸0.02％。种子含挥发油7～8％，以及香树脂醇等。

食疗功效

性平，味甘、酸。    

功能主治：清热，利咽，生津，解毒。用于咽喉肿痛、咳嗽、烦渴、鱼蟹中毒。

Asam Jawa

Asam Jawa ( Tamarind )  is the Tamarindus indica.  Despite its name, it was not originated from Jawa or India.  It is a leguminous tree indigenous to the tropical Africa.  It reached South Asia most likely prior to the Common Era.  Today, it is widely distributed throughout Africa, South Asia, South East Asia, Southern China,  Northern Australia and even Central America.

In South East Asia, it has became an important ingredient in Malay and Indian cuisine.

The acidic pulp of ripe fruit is used in cooking various type of curry ( kari ), most fish dishes ( ikan masak asam, ikan masam manis, ikan masam pedas ),  etc.  It is said that Asam Jawa is capable to reduce the fishy smell of fish.  The pulps are easily found in hypermarkets, supermarkets or wet markets, usually sold in packages with or without the seeds.

The sweet variety is eaten fresh, or made into juice.   Fresh Asam Jawa can be easily found in markets and roadside stalls in Terengganu, Kelantan and Thailand.

As a child, we had candied Asam Jawa as snack.  The pulp was coated in fine sugar and wrapped individually in transparent plastic sheets.  It has been a while since I see the snack being sold in stalls or grocery stores.  

According to my colleague of Indian descendent, as a child he learned to count with the aid of the seeds of Asam Jawa ( In Tamil, it is called puli ).