Barley Drink 薏米水

Job’s Tears 薏米 ( also known as 薏苡仁、苡仁、薏仁、白薏仁, coixseed ) are grains of Coix lacryma-jobi  ( 川谷、薏苡) of the family Poaceae native to East Asia.     

Job’s Tears are misleadingly, sold as Chinese pearl barley in Asian markets, despite the fact that they are not the same genus as barley ( Hordeum vulgare )

There are 2 varieties grown : Coix lacryma-jobi var. lacryma with hard shelled pseudocarps which are very hard, pearly white, oval structures used as beads for making rosaries, necklaces, etc ; and Coix lacryma-jobi var ma-yuen which are used as cereal and for its medical properties in parts of Asia.

In Chinese culture, Job’s Tears is commonly cooked in sweetened water and consumed for its ‘cooling’ property. 

Many like to cook it with a specialty bean curd, which is cooked till it disintegrated into whitish colloid, similar to soy milk.  I tried to cook this before, but the bean curd seems impossible to break apart. 

I like it simple : with sweetened winter melon, blended and served chilled with a slice of lemon.

雪糕

雪糕 是许多人的最爱。有人偏爱Häagen-Dazs 等名牌货。所谓名牌，贵之。

其实，好吃与否，并不在乎山珍海味。心情好，Wall’s 也一样好吃！

不过，雪糕淋上 Bicerin di Gianduiotto Liqueur…淡淡的兰香味，滑滑的榛子巧克力，隐隐的咖啡味，可爱的牛奶味。集各色色香香味味于一口口冰冰的雪糕，赞！

Bicerine (mean ‘small glass’ in Piedmontese) is a traditional hot drink native to Turin, Italy.  It is made of espresso, drinking chocolate and whole milk served layered in a small rounded glass.

Gianduiotto is a Piedmontese chocolate, also a specialty of Turin.   Gianduiotti are produced from paste of sugar, cocoa and hazelnut.

The combination of Bicerine and Gianduiotto, is Vincenzi Bicerin di Gianduiotto Liqueur.

http://www.bicerinuk.com/New%20Web/index.htm

Manggo Salad

Shred an unripe manggo, season with fish sauce, little bit of sugar and light soy sauce…

sprinkle some chilli flakes, crushed roasted peanut, sesame seed …

and voila ! A mouth-watering, appetising, delicious manggo salad .

Green Bean Soup 绿豆汤

Mung beans, are commonly used in Chinese cuisine, especially in desserts and cookies.  They are called 绿豆, which literally means ‘green bean’.  It is actually seeds of Vigna radiata.

绿豆汤 is sweetened green bean soup savoured by the Chinese as a dessert, served hot or chilled.  It is believed to have ‘cooling’ property.

It is often cooked with pearl tapioca, flavored with pandan leaves.  The Malay tends to adds coconut milk into the broth to make it more creamy.

I myself like it to be more watery ( less bean, more water ), blended and served chilled, especially during hot days.

罗汉果

罗汉果 ( pronounced luo han guo in Mandarin, literary means ‘monk’s fruit’ ) is the dried fruit of Siraitia grosvenorii, an herbaceous perennial vine native to Sourthern China and Northern Thailand.   S. grovenorii also know as Momordica grosvenorii, or Thladiantha grosvenorii.

The other species of genus Siraitia are : S. siamensis, S. sikkimensis, S. silomaradjae, and S. taiwaniana.

The fruit is prized for its sweetness, often use for medicinal purpose and as a sweetener.   The sweet taste of 罗汉果 comes mainly from the mogrosides, a group of triterpene-glycosides.  Pure mogroside is about 300 times sweeter than sugar.

Dried 罗汉果 is widely available in Chinese shops or pharmacies.  It is the main ingredients of tongsui of ‘cooling effect', that is, as remedies for hot weather, fever, or other dysfunctions traditionally associated with heat.  

Nasi Goreng Belacan 虾酱炒饭

Nasi Goreng Belacan
( shrimp paste fried rice )

must have ingredients :

1. rice ( duh ! )

2. belacan paste

3. dried prawn, pounded

4. fresh chili

garnish :

1. carrot, diced

2. onion, diced
3. sweet corn
4. green peas

optional ingredients :

1. fresh prawn, skinned

2. broccoli, bite size

3. yardlong bean, cut

Method :

Just stir it !

Papaya Soup - Experimental Cooking

I bought 2 unripe papayas last week, hoping they would ripen in a few days.  But they started to develop lesions before managed to ripe.   ( … better not buy unripe papaya anymore )

I had no choice but to cut it premature.  The semi-ripe papayas are somehow too bland for any tongue.

So… instead of torturing myself with tasteless papayas, I throw in into a pot with some minced chicken and some 2liters of H₂O.  After simmer for a while, and a pinch of salt and MSG,  voilà !  Papaya soup for dinner !