One fine day, I came across jatjuk 잣죽 at Maangchi’s website. What else? I quickly added it to my to-try list. Jatjuk 잣죽 means pine nut porridge. Jat 잣 is pine nut while juk 죽 is porridge. And yes, porridge in Cantonese is chuk/juk. It immediately got me wondering about its taste (combination of pine nuts & rice is new to me). Hmm… 🤔 What kind of experience will it evoke? Are you curious too? Keep on reading.
Jatjuk 잣죽 or pine nut porridge is comfort food. It’ll warm you inside out.
A couple of years ago, I made baesuk 배숙 to help clear an oncoming cold. Safe to said that I was as healthy as a pear 🍐 after that. This amazing steamed concoction has been in my mind ever since then. I never make it again until now that is and I can assure you I will be making it more frequently. Baesuk 배숙 is not only eaten for curing a cold but a wonderful dessert as well.
According to Maangchi, baesuk 배숙 has two types; steamed whole pear and cooked pair punch. Obviously, in this recipe case, 배숙 is referring to steamed whole pear. 배 is pear and 숙 suk means cooked. Baesuk is also known as baejjim 배찜 whereby 찜 jjim means steamed.
Baesuk 배숙 is 짱 jjang! 👍 Must try yo.
Have you heard of green dragon vegetables before? I’ve never heard of this vegetable, not until perhaps over a decade ago when it makes its appearance at the wet markets, supermarkets and Chinese restaurants. Green dragon vegetable is a direct literal translation of 青龍菜. It is called qing long cai in Mandarin and cheng loong choy in Cantonese. From what I’d gathered around the internet, green dragon vegetables (and yellow chives) are actually Chinese chives but grown using different techniques. Chinese chives, also known as garlic chives or 韭菜 or jiu cai (Mandarin) or gau choy (Cantonese) or ku chai (Hokkien) has flat green leaves.
The technique of growing green dragon vegetables actually borrows from yellow chives [韭黃 or jiu huang (Mandarin) or gau wong (Cantonese)]. To produce yellow chives (flat yellowish-whitish leaves due to lack of chlorophyll), the Chinese chives are covered totally without any sunlight. To grow Chinese chives into green dragon vegetables which have flat light green leaves, the chives are covered with thick nets to limit the sunlight. As a result of limiting the sunlight, the green dragon vegetable has fewer fibers, is tenderer and is very mild. It has its own distinctive fragrance when cooked.
I very very rarely cook green dragon vegetables even though I love them. Whenever I saw them at the market or supermarket, my mind will go into this stingy state which resulted in me not buying any in the end. How stingy? This stingy: “Aiyo, it’s expensive. Skip” or “RM5+ for so few strands/one vegetable? Why not spend the RM5+ on two/three different vegetables instead.” Well, recently I decided to spend more on good things that I like. But what do you know? A few weeks back, I found green dragon vegetables at Tesco (now Lotus’s) selling at RM2.99 @ 100g. Whooooo, win!
This dish is a result of it.
Stir-fried green dragon vegetables with prawns & white crab mushrooms is amazing. Give it a try!
You know what? I haven’t cook tofu for quite a long while. I tried not to consume too many soy products due to them being estrogen dominant. Hence, a very long pause. Recently, I started cooking with soy again but only on occasion. Since I bought an organic and non-GMO smooth tofu during my latest grocery run, the occasion to eat it is now!
This smooth tofu with meat floss and century egg recipe is very simple. It’s a no-heat side dish, meaning you don’t have to heat it up except for making fried shallots and fried shallot oil. Once you have the ingredients ready, putting it together is a breeze. This is a wonderful recipe for those who are always busy or out of idea on what to cook.
Smooth tofu with meat floss & century egg is pleasing to the eyes and packs a salty, savory and smooth taste and texture.
Allow me to introduce you to a REAL superfood. No, it’s not spirulina, moringa or acai berries. Personally, I don’t believe in these. The real superfood I’m talking about is just right in front of us. One that we eat on a regular basis. It’s an egg. 🥚 Precisely, what I really mean is raw egg!
I know what you’re thinking because I had the same school of thoughts previously. That raw egg is disgusting and slimy… ewwwwwww and what if I get bacterial infection/stomach discomfort of some sort by eating it raw? For the past 3 years, I’ve been drinking this superfood concoction of raw eggs banana smoothie without any ill effects while at the same time I’d ~3 or 4 rounds of food poisoning from outside’s cooked food. I think this speaks for itself.
Why raw eggs is a superfood in my book? Egg contains protein, fats, vitamins, enzymes, etc that is bioavailable in its raw and unadulterated form. Upon ingestion, the fat-soluble nutrients are absorbed by the cells instantly for building, regeneration and healing.
Raw eggs banana smoothie is nutrient-dense and delicious!
