Parents World Nov - Dec 2009 Issue

Finally got my copy of Nov - Dec issue of Parents World. A few weeks ago, I heard from Daniel (the editor) that Angelina Jolie will be on the cover page and some fabulous updates will incorporate in this upcoming issue. So I was really very excited and eagerly looking forward to get my copy. If you are a Fan of Angelina Jolie, then you sure will want to grab a copy of this to read more about her and her family life :)

In this issue, they share a lot of interesting and useful information i.e. Best of the Best Enrichment & Learning Schools for busy mum like us. It actually gives us some guidelines on what each enrichment school provides and help us to make the right choice for our child to attend their classes during coming school holiday. There about 20 over pages on the top enrichment schools in town and some discount vouchers will be given to Parents World Readers too..... :)

Other than choosing the best enrichment school for your kids, you can also read about the WILD & WET land at Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. Tips on taking charge of your child's health and what are the area to look for. You can also find some interesting read up on "Household Tips - Clean well with toothpaste", "Planned & Unplanned C-Section" and etc......

Lastly, you can also take a glimpse on some of my recipes contribution at "Dish Up Your Own" page. From stir-fry, oven bake to steaming dish...... these are some of the easy to whip-up recipes that can satisfy you and your family tastebuds.

Double-Boiled LingZhi Soup

It has being a long time since the last time I made this "Ling Zhi - 灵芝" Soup. We used to have this at least once a month which is recommend by the Chinese physician. You can even make this soup in different version by manipulate with the ingredients as per your preference.

Lingzhi (Ganoderma lucidum) is a woody mushroom highly regarded in traditional medicine and is widely consumed in the belief that it promotes health and longevity, lowers the risk of cancer and heart disease and boosts the immune system. So in the double-boiled version of mine, I used the above ingredients such as Red Dates, Dried Longan, Wolfberries, Honey Dates, Hard-boiled Egg and Ling Zhi Slices.

Red Date (红枣): It is a blood tonic, that can be widely used with other ingredients to nourish the body.

Dried Longan (桂圆肉): It influences the heart and spleen channels. Calms the spirit, nourishes the blood and strengthens the spleen. Commonly used to treat heart palpitations, insomnia, forgetfulness, worrisome tendencies and overwork.

Wolfberries (枸杞子): It strengthens body and bones, supplements kidneys and energy, nurses liver and clarifies eyes. It also cultivates energy and aids yang bodies moistness lungs and stops coughing. Other than use it as a soup ingredient, it can be used as a condiment in frying dishes or used to make tea. Choose Qizi which are full and with bright colour.

Ingredients: (Serves 2)
5g Ling Zhi Slices
10g Dried Longan
5g Wolfberries
8 - 10 Big Red Dates
Honey Dates (金丝蜜枣)
2 Hard-boiled Egg, removed shell
800ml Water
1 Knot of Pandan Leave, optional

Method:
1. Place the uncooked eggs in a small saucepan and bring to boil, then simmer for about 5 -7 minutes, remove from pan, rinse and peel off the shell then set aside.
2. Rinse all the herbs ingredients then place them (except the wolfberries) in the pot of boiling water (800ml) and simmer together with the pandan leave for about 3 minutes.
3. Add in the eggs and bring to boil again then transfer the mixture to a ceramic pot.
4. As usual, I always place the ceramic pot into the slow-cooker and cook on Auto for about 2 hours. (you can take a look a the sample HERE)
3. Add in the wolfberries at the very last 30 minutes of cooking time.

Note:
~ You can replace the hard-boiled eggs to a few quail eggs if you prefer a small portion.
~ If you find the taste a bit too bitter for your linking, you can add some rock sugar to sweet it.


Nothing is more heartwarming then a bowl of homemade soup after a long day of work. And during this flu bugs season, it good that you can whip up something simple and yet good for your healthy. You can consume this soup either before bedtime or in the morning and serve it as breakfast. The nature of this soup will taste a bit bitter due to the adding of Ling Zhi so do not overdose it in the ingredients portion. The adding of the hard-boiled egg also add extra protein to this soup.

Korean Cuisine @ Suntec City Foodcourt

Today we are around Suntec City, Carrefour to get some groceries. As it is around lunch time, we decided to stop by at the basement foodcourt which is nearer to Carrefour for a quick bite. After eying around the various food stalls, we settle for the Saba fish meal (鲭鱼) set. Some people also called this Saba Fish, "Mackerel" in English.

Other than the Saba Fish, this set also comes with a small portion of Kimchi, fried spicy Anchovies (ikan bilis) and a bowl of Miso soup(with some Wakame in it).

Bibimbap is a very common and yet popular Korean dish which also refer to as "Mixed Rice". It is usually a bowl of warm white rice top with seasoned vegetables, meat such as beef/chicken, chilli pepper paste(gochujang) and a fried egg. Sometime, they will sprinkler some extra sesame seeds to enhance the fragrance. And the traditional way to eat this dish is to stir all the ingredients together thoroughly before eating.

Overall this stall serves an above average standard of Korean Food which is at a more lower price compare to some Korean Restaurant. So do give this stall a try if you are happen to be in that area :)

Dian Xiao Er @ AMK Hub

Dian Xiao Er has about 9 branches located through out all parts of Singapore Major Shopping Mall. From the name "Dian Xiao Er - 店小二", you will know that this is a Traditional Chinese Food restaurants that serves Asian delights. Today, we will share with you two of their signature dish at one of their branch at Ang Mo Kio Hub.

When you ask around about this place, most of the customers will relate the restaurant as an ancient China teahouse. This is because almost all their furniture and layout are made of wood. As you can see, they even have their own unique menu book that look like those "Secret Manual Menu".

From the list of items in the menu, we select this Dang Gui Roasted Duck, the flavour of the herbs is pleasant and not overpowering for those who don't take Chinese herbs. According to their write-up, duck meat has a nutritional that surprises most people. Lean Duck has 25% more protein than other poultry, high in vitamin B and Vitamin E. Mum was surprised to find the gravy in this dish as she comments that the gravy will actually soften the crispness of the roast duck skin. But after all, if you order rice and other side dishes, this herbal gravy goes well with rice.

Actually my aim was to try out their new dish "Claypot Bee Hoon With Chinese Wine". I was attracted by the advertisement and write-up shown outside the restaurant as so compare to the usual Vermicelli Crab/Been Hoon Crab, this dish actually use Frog legs and River King Prawns to enhance the sweetness and flavour of this dish. According to the description, they also add in some top grade rice wine to obtain a flavourful golden broth. Overall, the flavour of the broth was great as you can taste the light and fragrant sweetness from the prawn and rice wine.

But when it comes to dessert time, we are a bit of disappointed with the choice that we ordered. We have this "Double-boiled Ginseng Hashima" which is serve in a normal plastic bowl which I thought was a wrong order. It was kind of diluted and with some Hashima(or maybe mashed jelly), two slices of ginseng and 1 red date which cost S$5+. I guess this is not a suitable place for after meal dessert............ :p