FODMAP diet
Meals for homeless – poached chicken with oyster sauce (FODMAP friendly)
This is a simple and delicious meal with whole chicken(s) and a few other ingredients – oyster sauce, sesame oil, ginger, shallot and corn flour. For a FODMAP friendly recipe, use only green part of the shallot.
Here are the easy steps:
Bacon and cucumber stir fry (gluten free, FODMAP friendly)
I made a quick meal of cucumbers and bacon in 15 minutes.
I sliced the cucumbers and bacon. In a frying pan I drizzled a little oil and added the bacon pieces. I pan fried the bacon until nearly crispy, then added the cucumbers. A few stirs, added a little sugar and white pepper. And we have a big bowl of tasty veggie and yummy bacon for dinner.
Beef with Asian dipping sauce (FODMAP friendly, gluten free)
I grilled some Angus rump steak and served it with an Asian dipping sauce. A lovely meal to share with friends.
Here are the easy steps:
Read the rest of this entry »Chicken feet and corporate greed
“The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries”. Winston Churchill.
I thought of corporate greed.
They share their goals and visions loud and proud – the best interest of shareholders. They sack as many workers as possible, and take the fat and bones out of the operation until it is on the verge of collapse. This enables them to harvest bonus, and enjoy big fat golden handshakes when the real situation unfolds.
Does it have to be like that? Why can’t corporations work for the best interest of all stakeholders including their customers and employees?
Corporate greed reminds me of chicken feet – skin and bone, tasty, yet unfulfilling as a meal. If a worker is struggling to feed his family and put a roof over their heads – is this meal a blessing or misery?
Cooking method is as follows:
Read the rest of this entry »Beef flank stew (牛腩) with Asian spices and soy sauce, my memory of the hawker stall on the ‘Poetry Book Road’ ( FODMAP friendly)
When I was a little girl, I walked to the primary school each day. I ate breakfast along the way. I had a ten cents allowance for two plain steamed buns each morning.
I walked down a street commonly known as the ‘Poetry Book Road’. For many years, the street was renamed as the ‘Red Book Road’ in honor of Chairman Mao’s red book of quotations.
At the end of the street, there was a tiny hawker stall selling beef flank and pig intestines. In winters, the hot steam rose from her big pots. The aroma of soy, star anise and clove lingered in the air, mouth-watering and irresistible. The stall operator was a middle age woman, short, chubby and never smiled. She had a pair of gigantic scissors that made loud ‘chop chop chop’ sound. When she received an order, she cut some small pieces off a larger piece, skillfully threading them to a bamboo stick without touching them with her hands. A stick with 3 pieces of juicy, fatty and heart-warming meat cost 10 cents. It was a difficult decision for a little girl – spending the 10 cents on a meat stick and be hungry for the rest of the morning, or two plain buns. I took some deep breaths (the aroma was so good) and nibbled on the tasteless buns.
Now I remembered, the two buns never filled me up anyway. At school I sat next to a boy whose name was ‘Bin’. We enjoyed a few laughs as our stomachs rumbled at the exact same moment.
I cooked beef flank many times over the past many years. It always brought back memories of the hawker stall on the Poetry Book Road.
Recipe is as follows: Read the rest of this entry »
Fried duck eggs, with green shallot and dark soy sauce (FODMAP friendly, gluten free option)
An Italian man at my husband’s work keeps a few ducks in his back yard. He gave us some fresh eggs last week. The eggs reminded me a $20 fried egg dish I had at a posh Asian restaurant, garnished with plenty of green shallot and dark soy sauce.
‘I can cook that’, I said to myself. It was easy, I cracked an egg, shallow fried it in hot oil with some green shallot (scallion); then transferred the egg to a plate, splashed a little dark soy sauce on top. It looked colorful and delicious.
* Use the green part of the scallion for a FODMAP friendly version; use a gluten free soy sauce for a gluten free option.
Pork spare rib stew with miso, ginger and wine 味噌排骨 (low FODMAP, gluten free)
On WeChat my ex high school mates were chatting about not having time to cook dinners. Really? I thought, surely a few equipment could help.
In addition to a standard kitchen, I have a double garage filled with cooking equipment – a pressure cooker, a rice cooker, a waffle maker, a table top multi-use grill, a mixer, a blender, a Tiger magic thermal pot, a 16 liter thermal pot, a five deck steamer pot, a 3-deck electric mini steamer, 3 electric frying pans, a portable induction cook top, 2 electric bain-maries and countless pots, cake tins and serving plates. Cooking a quick dinner is a breeze.
Before I continue on, I’d like to declare that I am not a hoarder. I run the Asian food stall each year for the school fete and I always contribute a bundle towards special event bakes. Hence I have accumulated so much useful equipment over the years.
Tonight I cooked a quick dinner with my pressure cooker. In the morning, I put some rice in the rice cooker and switch on the timer. I then spent 10 minutes browning the pork spare rib pieces, added carrot, potato chili, ginger and white wine. I turned the pressure cooker on high pressure 30 minutes. When I got home, dinner was ready and warm.
Easy peasy.
Recipe is as follow:
