Eggs With Hormone

I watched in youtube and heard people said if the egg contains hormone, the egg yolk of a boiled egg will have dark green coating. I am not sure if this is true until i can find one egg which doesn't have the dark green color at all. Perhaps that is the real natural and hormone free egg.

This is an egg from AnXin Pork Shop which claimed their chicken is hormone free.

Thus, the egg is supposed to be hormone free egg.

No wastage, I finished the egg despite the color. I love egg and the smell of boiled egg reminded me when i took train with mother to visit grandma when very small. I always remember the egg was delicious and hearty.

Thanks to LL for sponsoring me this egg! :) I will collect more data from different source.

Sorry for being slow to update my blog. LL did find out later after she cooked the egg with shorter time about 11 mins, she didn't find the dark green color on the egg yolk. But when she cooked another egg for 15 mins, she saw the dark green color on egg yolk. Both eggs were same brand.

This is the picture with 11 mins cooking. Obviously the dark green color is simply due to overcooking. :)

Superior Grade Soy Sauce Additives Free?

Commercial soy sauce is not only made by soy bean. Despite the expected ingredients for making soy sauce like soy bean, I am surprised to find out soy sauce contains the following additives:

1. Monosodium glutamate (MSG): is a salt that is chemically converted into a flavor enhancer. No wonder it tastes so good!
2. Disodium 5-Guanylate: similar to Disodium 5-Inosinate to yield a very savoury or meaty flavor to the food.
3. Disodium 5-Inosinate: is used as a flavor enhancer, in synergy with Monosodium glutamate (MSG) to provide the umami taste.
4. Potassium Sorbate: is used in a wide variety of products due to its role as a preservative and its ease of manufacturing.

The additives info can be found on the teeny-weeny font of the label. I am sure 99.99% of people are missing it and just look at the "superior grade" wording on the label and perceive buying the top grade sauce and use it happily without knowing the facts of the presence of food additives. I do want to give credits for the detailed label on this product.

Please read labels if those ingredients concern you..

Or, can opt for organic soy sauce, which i believe is without additives according to the label. :)

Price: RM 15.90
Weight: 450g
Country of origin: Taiwan

Bentong Ginger Liquor

On Saturday's morning, i found an uncle selling Bentong Ginger and Bentong Ginger Liquor in Raja Uda, Butterworth's morning market.

I bought this Bentong Ginger Liquor for RM 35.

No indicator of weight and percentage of alcohol on the label. After tasting it, i guess the alcohol is more than 10%. First time i tried the ginger liquor, it taste pretty good and warm my body immediately. I think i will like it with cooking, as i don't like strong liquor. It was my intention when buying this to cook something like rice vinegar chicken...haha..

According to the label, no preservative, no artificial coloring or flavor. The seller said no need to keep inside fridge and will not turn bad.  Sediment at the bottom are water-soluble fibres and does not affect consumption.

Notes: I really prefer the bottle to has a label with nutritional content. Please inform me in case is not safe. :P

Country of origin: Bentong, Pahang

Is Organic Molasses Sugar that Good?

Molasses sugar is made during the extraction of sugar from sugarcane and sugar beets.
It can has different color, sweetness and nutritional contents depending on the variety or how much sugar been extracted.

How Molasses is Made
During the sugar making process, juice extracted from sugarcane or sugar beets is boiled down until the sugars crystallize and precipitate out. The syrup left over after crystallization is referred to as molasses.
Typically, sugar cane juice undergoes three cycles of boiling and crystallization to extract as much sugar as possible. With each successive cycle, the left over molasses contains less sugar

Types of Molasses
1. Light molasses:
The molasses is lightest in color, highest sugar content, least viscous texture.
This is syrup left over after the first boiling cycle of sugarcane juice.

Product: Natural Molasses Sugar
Brand: Lohas
Nutrition information (from label)
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon (4 g)
Total fat: 0 g
Calories: 15 g
Carbohydrate: 4 g 
Sugar : 4 g
Sodium: 0 g
Country of origin: Malaysia
Weight: +-900 g
Price: RM 7.50
Notes: This product has no benefits of any minerals or vitamins.

2. Dark molasses:
The molasses is darker and more viscous, contain less sugar.
This is the byproduct of the second boiling cycle of sugarcane.

3. Black strap molasses:
The molasses is very dark,least sugar and has the highest concentration of vitamins and mineral.
This is the final byproduct of the third boiling cycle in the sugar making process.
Tips: High content of iron and concentrated vitamins and minerals.

Product: Wholesome Sweeteners Organic Molasses
Nutrition information (from label)
Serving Size: 1 tablespoon (22g)
Total fat: 0 g
Potassium: 730 mg (20%)
Calcium: 115 mg (10%)
Carbohydrate: 14 mg (4%)
Sugar : 10 g
Iron: 15 g
Magnesium: 8 g
Vitamin B6: 10 g
Sodium: 0 g
Country of origin: Paraguay
Weight: 472 ml
Price: RM 27.90
Unsulplhured, organic, Fair Trade and Kosher Certified. Guarantee fair price paid direct to the farmer who grow sugar cane.

Sulfured vs unsulphured Molasses
Sulfured molasses refers to molasses that has been treated with sulfur dioxide as a preservative. Generally, only young sugarcane requires this treatment. Therefore, molasses made from mature sugarcane is often unsulphured. Unsulphured molasses may have a lighter, cleaner sugar flavor.                                                

Uses of molasses:
1. Baking, Cooking
2. Brown sugar- is produced by combining refined white sugar with roughly 5% molasses.

No everyone like blackstrap molasses due to its taste. Traditional way of taking it is to mix hot water with molasses and drink it when is warm. TIPS: The best blackstrap to buy is organic and unsulphured molasses.

Do read the label to compare the nutritional content before buying as they are not cheap!

Reference:
http://globalhealthsupplies.net/the-hair-benefits-of-blackstrap-molasses-%E2%80%A2-improved-growth-and-color/

Bentong Ginger or Ayer Itam Ginger?

How to choose good ginger? Bentong ginger or Ayer Itam ginger?

As far as i know, there are the different types of ginger can be found in markets
1. Bentong ginger - grown in the hillside land in Pahang. 1kg RM20-RM27. I found this in Raja Uda, Butterworth, morning market. The ginger is really spicy. The ginger with lighter color is the top quality Bentong ginger (RM27 per kg) grown in the higher altitude compared to the darker ginger inside the box according to the seller. It is sold in one whole piece.

.
2. Ayer Itam ginger - grown in the hillside in Ayer Itam, Penang. This type of ginger very common in the markets in Penang. 1kg RM10. From Chowrasta Market in Penang.

3. Thailand ginger
4. China ginger

Ginger is commonly used among Chinese in cooking and has various benefits:
1. Get rid of excess wind inside stomach
2. Slow down or prevent growth of cancer cell
3. Effective to treat motion sickness
4. Anti-inflamatory agent
and the following:

Tips: No need to remove the skin of ginger when cooking as the skin has cooling effect to balance the heating effect of ginger itself. Wash the skin clean is enough. Best time to take ginger is morning.

Ginger with good quality:
1. strong ginger smell
2. more spicy
3. thinner skin. Can use finger to rub off the ginger skin when washing.
4. less fibre
5. can last long and retain water inside for a month

Why local ginger?
I do not want to take risk with china ginger due to the fact knowing the farmers always overuse illegal pesticides and the land are highly contaminated. So i am ok with any local ginger.

Ginger farmers using toxic pesticide
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1231442/shandong-farmers-overusing-toxic-pesticide-ginger-report-finds
And this issue is not just recently found but also happened back in 2007.
Latest China Scare: Don't Eat the Ginger
http://www.wnd.com/2007/07/42816/

Aldicarb - branded in China as Shennongdan - is a highly poisonous carbamate pesticide that the Ministry of Agriculture says can be only used on cotton, tobacco, peanuts, roses and sweet potatoes, albeit under strict controls. 

                                                                          Ginger plant

References:
http://www.bentongginger.com/products.html
http://bentong-ginger.blogspot.com/

Graham Flour

Graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour named after Sylvester Graham.
It is slightly coarser grind than whole wheat flour.

Wiki:
Graham despised the discarding of nutrients and bleaching with alum and chlorine involved in making white flour and white bread, and believed that using all of the grain (without adding chemicals) in the milling of flour and baking of bread, was a remedy for the poor health of his fellow Americans during changes in diet brought on by the Industrial Revolution.

Great:
1. Perfect to mix with flour in making bread, pao and mantou.
2. Graham flour gives very nice texture and natural aroma. You will know what i mean when you take out the freshly baked bread from oven and the entire house is full with that wonderful aroma!
3. Graham flour is unrefined and unbleached.
4. It can give hearty full effects.

Weigh: 1 KG (Tips: Buy less if don't use it frequently as need to store in fridge)
Price: RM 8.20
Where to buy: Sunshine Trading
63,Siam Road.10400 Penang.
Tel: 04-2298701
Business hour: 8.30 am-6.00 pm

Specially thanks to my good friend LL whom introduced this flour to me!

Organic Homemade Roselle Jam

The Rosselle is known as the Rossella or Rosella fruit in Australia. Our corn farmer, Hee has recently harvested his Rosselle in his corn farm and made jam for us. Jam is red and abit sour.

Jam Recipe:
1. Cook Rosselle buds with 30% water.
2. Constantly stir it until they become soften.
3. Excess water can be used to make beverage.
4. The soften fibers used as jam.
Tips: Only add sugar after turn off the heat as sugar can become toxic while boiling.

Roselle is used in traditional medicine as treatment for hypertension and urinary tract infection but to date still lack of sufficient evidence to measure it efficacy. The anthocyanins are antioxidant nutrients found in red fruits. They help to prevent aging and degenerative diseases.

Spread the jam on a home made bread, what a wonderful Monday's breakfast!

Breakfast @ Mugshot Cafe in Chulia Street, Penang

On Merdeka day's morning, i was thinking to have something different for breakfast. Something not oily and not too filling. Like a bagel? I was kinda excited as never had bagel here but recently a friend of mine mentioned this Mugshot Cafe is famous for their bagels. The cafe is next to the Rainforest Bakery.

This cafe has a simple menu, all you can see on this wall are what available to order. Three categories of foods: yogurt, drinks and bagels.

Order and pay at the counter. Waiter will serve the food when ready.

Bagel with cream cheese. RM5. Freshly toasted before served, soft and very crunchy. Delicious!!
I heard their bakery is preservative free.

Cappuccino. RM10.

Homemade yogurt with mango and walnut. RM10.  The white color yogurt is a bit sour and cheesy (not sure why..). Don't expect it similar to the yogurt from supermarket as it is not sweet at all. Only the mango cubes were sweet, to me it was perfect combination with walnut and yogurt.

The corner where yogurt made and stored inside fridge.

Interesting painting on the wall.

I enjoyed the bagel most. It is not chewy and hard like what i had before.

Address: 302, Lebuh Chulia, George Town, Penang.

Tel: 012-405 6276

Business hours: Daily, 8a-9p

Vege Box From Terra Farm

I got my first vege box from Terra Farm!
So far i tasted the Choy Sum which is quite skinny compared to those from market. Both the leafs and stems were abit soft.  I thought maybe it was due to the vege not stored in fridge before i picked them up. But after I stir fried the Choy Sum with garlic, the color of the Choy Sum was even more fresh green. I never saw such green color on Choy Sum before. It was very crunchy and sweet too until i forgot to take photo! haha.. I love it!! I think i will love the rest too!

Second vege box. Oops.....i put the pumpkin aside and forgot to include it in the picture.
Tips: Pumpkin skin is edible and nutritious. Organic pumpkin has softer skin somehow. I just steamed it and smashed it. Getting them ready for pumpkin bread. Yay!

Size: 2kg (RM 26)
Type of vegetables: 6
Pick up day: Monday
Pick up time: Depends on the pick up location. For Bukit Jambul, i can pick up after 1p. Pick up after work is fine also.

Other size of the vege box:
3.5 kg box (RM 40)
5 kg box (RM 55)

Contacts to order vege box:
http://www.terrafarm.com.my/2012/08/blog-post.html

Despite the price increase of the vege box few months ago, i still think it is worth for the quality. Every time i pick up the vege box, i am feeling excited what is inside. Recently someone told me that eat what i dislike (refer to vege) will make me healthy. I think of my vege box and i know i am committing to it....

Do You Know Commercial Bread Does Not Grow Mold?

Do you remember when was the last time you saw mold on bread? Can't remember right?

Probably you thought you have finished the bread before the expiry date to notice it. In fact, the commercial bread even after the expiry date still do not grow any mold due to the preservative added.

I didn't mean to waste food but i experimented with a bun.

Ten days after the expiry date the bun still not having any mold.

 

When i bought the bread it was having five days to expire.

Compared to the home baked bread, on the 4th days(counting from the day the bread was baked), i can start to see some mold even though kept inside container at room temperature. This photo was taken after seven days.

Other than the cheese on top, the white color cotton-like on the surface are mold.  The only way to preserve a home made bread is to store in the freezer. Steam it when want to eat.

Calcium propionate (along with propionic acid and sodium propionate) or preservative 282 is used as a preservative in bread and other baked good to extend the shelf life of loaves.It is mold inhibitor.

Bad about preservative:
1. Irritability, restlessness, inattention and sleep disturbance in some children may be caused by a preservative in healthy foods consumed daily. People generally thought bread is healthy food.
2. Calcium propionate has been studied extensively for toxicity and as a potential cancer-causing agent in the laboratory.
3. Calcium and sodium propionate have the potential to permanently damage stomach lining by exacerbating gastritis and inducing severe ulcers
4. Calcium propionate, like all forms of propionic acids, is linked to migraine headaches.
5. Calcium propionate is also used in dried fruits, dairy products and fruit juice.

My preferences:
1. Buy bread without additives or preservative from the nearest bakery shop. Example:
Continental Bakery
33 Nagore Road, 10050 Penang
Tel: 04-2283814
Business Hours: 10am-7pm
2. Get a bread maker, make my own bread.

Gardenia bread claims no artificial, synthetic or unnatural preservatives. Gardenia has replaced calcium propionate with natural ingredients such as raisin juice concentrate and vinegar. Is the juice concentrate and vinegar really natural?

I don't know need to eat how many commercial breads to get the bad impacts. But knowing the fact that commercial bread doesn't grow mold, i really prefer making my own bread as i don't need any additives or preservatives to bake a soft and delicious loaf.

Maize Flour

Starch based products from Taiwan was recently found contain maleic acid.
The Agri-Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (AVA) tested 66 starch-based products from Taiwan and found maleic acid in 11 of them. Long term consumption of high levels of maleic acid can cause kidney damage.

Chinese use alot of starch or corn flour to thicken the gravy during cooking.
The normal corn flour from market is white color. Not sure why, my guess is they have gone thru whitening process.

I found this maize flour from an organic shop which has light yellow color.

The word maize derives from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant, maiz, known in some English-speaking countries as corn.

Great:
1. Thickening agent in cooking.

2. Combine with gluten rich flour to make bread. Replace 5% to 10% of High protein bread flour with maize flour. It gives beautiful natural light yellow color to the bread and very mild stickiness when eating.
Maize flour is gluten free. Bread flour/high protein flour is high in gluten protein.

Price: RM5.90
Weight: 500g
Country of origin: Australia
Certification: HACCP certified, Certified Biogro Organic.
Where to buy: Organic Farmer Choice
215-1-10, Jalan Bukit Gambir, Bukit Jambul, Bayan Lepas (near Vistana Hotel)
Tel: 604-646 1008
Business hour: Mon-Sat 10am-7pm,closed Sunday.

HACCP: The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, is a system of safety in food production and pharmaceuticals. The system is used by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture to ensure safe procedures and products.

BioGro: New Zealand'sleading organic certified. The trademark is owned by the New Zealand Biological Procedures and Consumers Society (NZBPCS), which is a not for profit, incorporated society and registered charity - an industry and consumer organisation supported by its members and directed by a board of councillors.