Today I got a cold, my mother cooked "Stuffed Bitter-Sweet Gourd in Clear Soup" for me. It makes me better from cold. The bitter gourds or momordica is one of the famous herbs in Thailand. This soup is Bitter-Sweet, let's try it !!!
Ingredients
- 4 cups chicken stock (or water)
- 2 bitter gourds (or momordica)
- 300 grams ground pork
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 coriander roots, finely chopped
- 2 shitake mushrooms, cut into well pieces
- salt (to remove bitter taste from bitter gourd)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- white pepper powder
- 1 tablespoon coriander leaves (garnishing)
Cooking Instructions
1. Clean, and cut the bitter gourds into 2" length pieces. Scoop out the seed and the inside part. Sprinkle the salt on the surface of bitter gourds (inside and outside part) and leave it for 20-30 minutes, then wash them with clean water.
2. In a mixer bowl, add ground pork, garlic, coriander roots, soy sauce (1 tablespoon), oyster sauce (1 teaspoon) and sugar (1 teaspoon). Knead until all ingredients mixed well. Then stuff the ground pork inside the sliced bitter gourd.
3. In a pot with chicken stock, over medium heat, add stuffed bitter gourds, shitake mushrooms, soy sauce (remaining), oyster sauce (remaining) and sugar (remaining). Wait until boiling then turn down the heat to low level. Let simmering about one hour (but the longer time will makes the better taste - my mother left about 2 hours).
4. Transfer the soup to a bowl. Sprinkle over the white pepper powder and fresh coriander, and serve with plenty of jasmine-scented rice.
Stuffed Bitter-Sweet Gourd in Clear Soup
Thai Spicy Grill Pork Salad
This menu like " Ground Pork Salad " posted in my blog before. It's only different in the "Pork Grilled" and "coarsely pork". This dish made from pork with elements of hot spicy, sour flavours and seasoning sauces. The grill pork makes this dish has a good taste, let's try it !!!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup chicken stock
- 200 g top sirloin pork
- 1-2 tablespoons shallot, sliced thin
- 2 tablespoon coriander leaves
- 2 tablespoon mint leaves
- 3-4 tablespoons lime juice
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons roasted rice powder
- 1/2 tablespoon coarsely chilli
Cooking Instructions
1. Grill the pork until medium rare (or as desired). Slice into thin pieces
2. In a boiling pan over high heat with chicken stock, add the meat and cook for 1-2 minutes
3. Then, transfer the meat to a medium bowl, add all of the remaining ingredients into the bowl and stir to combine evering well.
4. Test and adjust seasoning as needed. (I prefer the sour flavour.) Finally, left them into a serving plate and garnish (as pleasure).
Thai Spicy Mixed Vegetable Soup with Shrimps
The shrimps remaining from yesterday, I usd them for "Thai Spicy Mixed Vegetable Soup with Shrimps". This soup will makes you worm in the cool night. There are many herbs in this menu, sweet basil, pepper corns, chilli, and shallots. Try it when you need to feel better from the cool night!!!
Ingredients
- 300 g shrimps, shelled, and deveined
- 1 cup babycorn, sliced
- 1/2 cup mushroom, cut into well pieces
- 1/2 cup sweet basil leaves
- 3 cups chicken stock
Mixer Ingredients (for blending)
- 12 pepper corns
- 5-7 shallots
- 1 tablespoon shrimp paste
- 1/2 cup dried shrimp
- 2 tablespoon fish sauce
Directions:
1. Grind all spice mixture ingredients in a mortar and pound until mixed thoroughly.
2. Heat chicken stock in a pot, then add spice mixture and keep stirring it.
3. When the soup boils again, add fish sauce. Cook for 1-2 minutes, add prawns, and the other vegetables.
4. When vegetables are cooked thoroughly, taste and add fish sauce as desired.
5. Transfer into bowl for serving, have it with hot steamed jasmine-scented rice... It's really good !!!
Cantaloupes or Yellow Lemon Juice
Cantaloupes or Yellow Lemon are highly nutritious and relatively low calorie, they have tons of Vitamins A and C. Enjoy this melon cooler!!! This drinking can make you better from fever !!!
Ingredients
- 3-4 ripe cantaloupes (yellow melon)
- 1 tablespoon suger
- 1/2 cup ice
- 1 cup boiled water
- 1/2 teaspoon pinch salt
Directions
- Peel and seed cantaloupes and cut into 2-inch chunks.
- Mix all of the ingredients in the blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Add pinch of salt - as your taste.
- Chill until ready to serve.
Carrot Juice
One of energy herb drinking is " Carrot Juice ", I think carrot is very easy to find in the market. You can make and take it everyday!!!
Carrot juice has a number of health benefits. The carrot provides what is certainly the most important basic juice. The yellow color is due to carotene. Another name for this form of carotene, the transform, is pro vitamin A. Many authors write that carrots contain a lot of vitamin A. This is not actually true; what the carrot does contain is the pro vitamin. That means a substance that is converted by the body into the vitamin itself.
Healths Benefits of Carrot Juice
Carrot juice plays the most important part in an infant's supply of vitamin A. When carrot juice is consumed jointly with milk, the utilization of carotene as vitamin A is considerably increased. A carrot and milk juice is the ideal vitamin A source for infants and can in no case lead 10 the risk of the child having too much A.
Carrots are widely used. Indeed it is estimated that in Germany carrots account for 10% of the total vegetable consumption. From the carrot juice point of view, the varieties to be employed are ideally those with the most carotene. It is fortunate that the pro vitamin is strongly colored for this means that so long as you use good colored carrots they are likely to be the best nutritionally speaking too.
As a general rule, early carrots are pale and low in carotene. Because carotene is not water soluble, but is fat soluble, there is not a very great deterioration in the vitamin content on storage.
Nursing mothers are well advised, for the sake of the quality of their milk, to take carrot juice throughout lactation. When the baby is on its way it is good sense not only to drink the juice but also to nibble a carrot when you feel hungry. For although a good sized one will provide your minimum requirement of vitamin A, 7oz (200g) of carrot contain only 50 calories, which cannot be considered to be a fattening snack.
The carrot is recorded as being used in medicine by the early Greeks and has been cherished ever since. Its juice is one of the most delicious and healthful, and alone or in combinations should be in every daily diet providing, as it does, the essential vitamin A, without the saturated fats with which this vitamin is associated in eggs and butter.
Ingredients
- 1 cup carrot, cut into inch piece
- 1 teblespoons of lemon juice
- 1 cup boiling water
- 3 tablespoons sugar (up to your taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 glass of dried ice
Cooking Instructions
- Using a blender, mix the ingredients together. Blend all of mixers about 4-5 minutes.
Ref : www.streetdirectory.com
Strawberry Juice
To make the energy and fresh, I like to take " Strawberry Juice " in the morning. For this drinking, the honey was used because it has a number of health benefits more than sugar.
Researchers are discovering the natural health benefits of strawberries. This powerful red fruit packs a nutritional punch: Vitamin C, Folate and Potassium.
Strawberry Facts: The average strawberry has 200 tiny black seeds. Each of these tiny black seeds contain Omega 3 fatty acid.
Ingredients
200 g fresh strawberry fruit
1/4 cup of Yogurt (I prefer natural Yogurt)
2-3 tablespoons of honey
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup water
Cooking Instructions
- Using a blender, mix the ingredients together. You can use suger instead of honey, but I think honey is better. Honey has a number of health benefits more than sugar.
Tips : If you want to get the energy from " Strawberry Juice " in the afternoon, serve it with the ice. It's very good !!!
Ref : www.orchardofhealth.com
Shrimps Fruit Salad
I'm on diet, one of my menu today is " Shrimps Fruit Salad ". In addition, this food high in antioxidants in these fruit salad recipes have been proven to slow down the aging process, prevent and even reverse cancer and heart disease and strengthen the immune system. It's very easy to do, let's go...
Dressing Ingredients:
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Salad Ingredients:
200 g shrimps, shelled and deveined
1 apple, cut into the inch piece
1 banana, sliced thin
1 kiwi fruit, sliced
10 grapes
1/4 pineapple, cut into the inch piece
3 large strawberries-sliced
Directions:
1. Combine all dressing ingredients in small bowl with wire whisk. Cover, and refrigerate 3 to 4 hours.
2. In a boiling pan over high heat with about 2-3 cups of water, add the shrimps and cook for 1-2 minutes, tossing often to break up the shrimps and cook.
3. Then, transfer the shrimps to a medium bowl, leaving most of the liquid behide.
4. Combine the shrimps, fruits and dressing in the bowl, toss lightly.
5. To serve, place the mixture on platter, arrange shripms on top.
Banana Blossom Spicy Salad (Yam Hua Plee)
Last week, I talked about banana. Most of it's parts can be used - including banana blossom. Banana Blossom or Hua Plee is Thai herb that can heal "Peptic Ulcer".
" Yam Hua Plee " is one of easy recipe that my grandmother always cook for me...
Banana Blossom - Thai name is " Hua Plee " - Also called banana flowers and banana blossoms, these are in fact the tender hearts of unopened banana flowers, which have been stripped of their purple petals. They are available fresh in some Asian markets and also canned or dried. Fresh banana buds discolour rapidly once they are sliced or shredded, so should be brushed with lemon juice to prevent this. Banana buds are used in northern Thailand to make a tasty, squash soup. They are also a popular salad ingredient, tasting rather like artichokes.
Ingredients :
- Banana blossom 1 each
- Pork, thin sliced and steamed 100 grams
- Peanuts, coarsely ground roasted 1/4 cup
- Coconut, grated and roasted 1/2 cup
- Garlic, sliced and fried 3 tablespoons
- Shallots, sliced and fried 2 tablespoons
- Fresh red chili pepper, finely shredded 1 each
Dressing Ingredients :
- Dried chilies, roasted and ground 2 each
- Garlic, roasted and ground 1 tablespoon
- Shallots, roasted and ground 2 tablespoons
- Palm sugar, 3 tablespoons
- Fish sauce, 3-4 tablespoons
- Tamarind juice, 1 cup
Dressing directions:
Mix all the ingredients together. Bring to boil on a medium heat, stir constantly until the texture is richer, and remove from the heat.
Directions:
1. Remove the hard parts of banana blossom, cut it into two pieces, rub in lemon juice, cut a spine out , slice and soak its flesh in lemon juice before cooking.
2. Place the sliced banana blossom and pork in a mixing bowl. Add dressing and stir lightly. Add roasted grated coconut, coarsely ground roasted peanuts, fried sliced shallots, and fried sliced garlic.
3. Spoon the salad onto a plate, top with fried sliced shallots and red chili peppers. Serve with cha-plu leaves and other garnish (as pleasure).
Correct Characteristics of Yam Hua Plee:
- Banana blossoms used for cooking this dish must be crisp and not dark in color.
- Yam Dip must be well mixed with banana blossom flesh.
- This dish must not be watery but taste mild.
Cooking Tips:
- Only fresh banana blossoms should be used, finely sliced, soaked in water mixed with lime juice, and placed in a strainer until water leftover is removed before being brought for cooking.
- Ingredients in Yam Dip must be finely ground. The dip must be cooked until rich.
- Fruits can be used in place of banana blossoms.
Eating Culture:
- Yam is one of major dishes in the main meal which fulfills nutritional value and promotes the taste of other dishes in the main course.
- It can be served either as the first course or with the main meal.
How to Serve:
Spoon the salad onto a plate, top with fried sliced shallots and red chili peppers. Serve with cha-plu leaves and other garnish (as pleasure). Serve either as the first course or with the main meal for eating with rice.
Ref : http://agriculturethai.wordpress.com, and http://www.horapa.com
