Fruits and vegetables in purple colour are high in anti-oxidant and also rich in anthocyanin. Anthocyanins are flavenoid compounds responsible for the beautiful bright purple flesh. Anthocyanins in purple sweet potatoes exhibited memory enhancing effects, which may be associated with its antioxidant properties. Cooking the purple sweet potato increases anthocyanin content by 150% over raw samples.
Purple sweet potatoes rank high in nutritional value along with the orange sweet potato. Purple sweet potatoes are a high source of antioxidants from anthocyanins and polyphenolic compounds. They are also a good source of dietary fiber, calcium, iron & complex carbohydrate. Purple sweet potatoes are also very low in fat & sodium.
Reference from hereI found these Japanese Purple Sweet potatoes while I was doing my groceries shopping. The desire of eating them had come to my mind and I thought it would be great if I can coax my son to eat these sweet potatoes on its own. At the same time, I can add variety of food colors in my son's diet too. Since, purple sweet potatoes have so much of nutrition, it will be a healthy snack for the whole family. You won't resist something that is sweet, juicy and full of nutrients in it, agree?
To my surprised, my family loved them to bits. These purple sweet potatoes are so sweet, appetizing and refreshing especially eat it while warm. I prepared them in the simplest and easiest way, just dumped them in the boiling water and boil until soft and cooked. I want to eat them in the most natural way. The result is superb, we finished all of them in no time. Meanwhile, you can make them into sweet potatoes soup, bake them or add them in the kid's porridge. It is such a versatile and nutritious ingredient, just impose some of your creativity. Enjoy!
 Ingredients:
4 pieces medium-sized Japanese Purple Sweet Potatoes
Boiling water
Method:
1. Rinsed and clean purple sweet potatoes.
2. Boil a pot of water, make sure it is sufficient to cover the sweet potatoes, about 1 inch above the sweet potatoes.
3. Add in sweet potatoes, boil with high heat for approx. 15 mins or the skin begin to crack open.
4. Use a skewer or chopstick to insert in the thickest part of the sweet potato, if it goes in and comes out easily, it is cooked.
5. Drain, let cool a little. Cut or break in into 2 portions. Peel away skins. Serve while warm. Enjoy!
Note:
• Make sure the water covers all the sweet potatoes.
• The boiling time depends on the size of the sweet potatoes. If the sweet potatoes are bigger in size, it may need more time and water to boil.
• The sweet potatoes are cooked when the skins starting to crack open and it is soft when you touch it. You may need to use your judgement in this. |
Chicken fingers are my family favourite but I don't prefer those commercial or frozen chicken fingers for my growing up kid and my family. My 5 year old son is a big fan of chicken fingers and he even requested me to cook some for him to bring to pre-school. Well, I have tried many ways of making home-cooked chicken fingers but none of them satisfied me, until I got this "mix & match" lemon chicken fingers recipe. This recipe only required simple ingredients and short cooking time.
Since my son and I love the lemony taste, adding lemon juice into the chicken fingers, it is simply scrumptious! Do you think so? You wouldn't resist the smell of pan-fried chicken fingers with fragrant lemony taste. I would stand in front of the cooking stove and wait for these hot from pan lemon chicken fingers to pop into my mouth! *grin*. The chicken fingers are tender & soft inside with golden brown outside. You just need some simple tricks!
Besides, these fingers are homemade and it is much more healthier compared to those frozen ones. You can also pack these savoury lemony chicken fingers as bento to bring to work or school. I enjoy wrapping them with salad leaves, roll up and pop into my mouth. Simply delicious! Oh yes! I love salad wrap with fillings!
Check out my post on SALAD WRAP! *haha...* If you like chicken fingers with lemony taste, try this!
Since Father's Day is around the corner, I would like to wish all fathers around the world, a happy jolly Father's Day! May be this chicken fingers could be a great treat for your dearest hubby or daddy? Happy Father's Day!
 Source: Own modification
Serves 8 chicken strips (you may double up the quantity if you want more chicken fingers)
Ingredients:
2 pcs boneless & skinless chicken breast meat / 8 chicken fillets
Juice from 1 lemon
3 - 4 tbsp Premium Light Soy Sauce
1 egg, beaten
Corn flour for coating
Olive oil
Dash of pepper
Salad & julienned lemon rind for garnishing
Method:
1. Rinse chicken breasts meat, cut off any excess fat on the chicken meat. Pat dry and put them in a plastic bag/zip-lock bag. Flatten the bag. (refer note no. 1)
2. Pound the meat gently with the meat tenderizer mallet or back of the knife. (refer note no. 3)
2. Cut chicken meat into 8 strips. (refer to note no. 2 if you are using chicken fillets)
3. Marinate chicken meat with premium light soy sauce, pepper and 3 - 4 tbsps of lemon juice.
4. Transfer to the zip-lock bag or air tight container and marinate in the fridge for 30 mins.
5. Meanwhile, beat egg in a plate with 2 - 3 tbsps of lemon juice. Set aside.
6. Prepare corn flour in a plate for coating. Set aside.
7. Remove chicken meat from fridge and rest at room temperature for 5 mins. Drain off extra marinating liquid.
8. Heat up 3 - 4 tbsps olive oil in a frying pan, dip chicken strips/pieces in the egg mixture then to corn flour. One strip by one strip.
9. Pan fry chicken strips batch by batch each sides for 2 - 3 mins or until chicken is golden brown in low fire. (refer note no.4)
10. Transfer to kitchen paper towels to absorb excessive oil.
11. Arrange on a place with salad and garnish with julienned lemon rind. Serve while warm.
Note:
1. If you do not have a plastic bag, you may use bakery paper or parchment paper to cover the chicken.
2. If you are using chicken fillets, you don't have to pound them or cut them into strips because they are already in strip form.
3. Make sure you pound the chicken breasts meat gently for not ripping the meat into shred.
4. Make sure you pan fry in low fire to get a nice golden brown colour & cooked, because you don't want the chicken to be burnt on the outside and raw on the inside.
5. Add extra lemon juice if you prefer more lemony taste.
6. Make sure the light soy sauce is sufficient to cover the chicken meat for marinate.
7. You may serve chicken fingers with mayonnaise or lemon sauce. |
If you follow some of my previous posts, you could have noticed that I am a lemon grass & spices lover. I love its fragrant smell to bits and those dishes with lemon grass & spices are my all time favourite. One of my recent posts using lemon grass in the
Iced lemon grass green tea recipe, gives you a glass of tea full of fragrant and goodness.
Since I have plenty of lemon grass laying in my fridge, I chanced upon another wonderful recipe from The Malaysian Women's Weekly FoodBook Issue 2 - Cooking Made Simple. Thus, I can make good use of my lemon grass and at the same time savour this Baba & Nyonya dish. If you would like to read more about Baba & Nyonya
(the Malaysian peranakan) story,
you may hop over here with a sweet treat.If you would like to try some Baba & Nyonya (peranakan) dish, the dish is definitely your choice. It is easy to prepare and the taste is simply delicious with a bowl of hot steamed rice. Moreover, this dish is suitable for the whole family including children. It is so simple to cook up Asian dishes for any feast! Enjoy!
Some other dishes with lemon grass to match:Assam Fish (Hot & sour fish)Mee Siam (spicy & sour vermicelli)Turmeric Fragrant Butter RicePan-grilled Lemongrass Chicken
 Source: Recipe adapted & modified from The Malaysian Women's Weekly FoodBook Issue 2 - Cooking Made Simple
Serves 5
Main Ingredients:
750g Chicken drumsticks, chopped into pieces or leave whole (marinated with 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp sugar and 1 tsp sesame oil for 15 mins) - I used Chicken thigh with drumsticks
150 - 200ml Water
2 tbsps Sunflower oil
2 stalks Lemon grass (about 7 - 8 cm), bruised
Sliced red chilli & spring onion for garnishing
Ingredients A:
3 big-sized shallots, chopped
5 cm young ginger, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
Ingredients B:
1.5 tbsps Coriander powder (Ketumbar Powder)
1 tbsp preserved bean paste (taucu)
1/2 tsp white peppercorns, pounded coarsely
1 tbsp each of oyster sauce, light soy sauce & dark soy sauce (refer Note below)
1/2 tsp sugar
Method:
1. Heat oil in a wok over medium fire. When hot, stir-fry lemon grass and ingredients A for 3 mins.
2. Add ingredients B, stir-frying briefly until fragrant.
3. Add marinated chicken, mix well and add water. Bring to a boil. You may need to adjust the amount of water accordingly.
4. Lower fire and simmer until chicken is tender and gravy thicken, about 20 - 25 mins.
5. Garnish with sliced red chilli & spring onion (scallion). Serve hot with rice.
Note:
• Adjust the amount of water according and simmer until gravy is thicken.
• Add 1 - 2 stalks more of lemon grass if you prefer a stronger taste.
• I find that 1 tbsp of dark soy sauce makes the chicken too dark in colour. Reduce the dark soy sauce to 1/2 tbsp if you prefer a lighter tone of chicken.
• Preserved bean paste (taucu) can be found in the Asian market.
* More info about Baba & Nyonya food here |
As a working mom, planning a quick and easy home-cooked meal for dinner everyday is indeed a dedicated assignment to complete. I would say, it didn't come easy! I need to plan ahead or bookmark some quick and simple yet wholesome meals for the last minute rescue in the kitchen... *LOL* It's no joke when you need to cook up a dinner spontaneously, especially after a tiring working day. (Hands up, Mommy)!
Hence, I need to inspect my fridge and do a stock check very often to come up with simple and quick dishes for the emergency call. *LOL*. This is one of those quick and easy dishes in the list. I have some prawns, left over capsicum & some ready-made fish paste wrapped with vegetables in hand. Thus, stir-frying all of them with some seasonings or sauce provide you a practical home-cooked meal. Isn't it good? It is perfect for busy working mum like me during peak-hours! *wink*
 Ingredients:
10pcs Fish paste wrapped with vegetables (use for steamboat)
10 pcs Large prawns, removed shells and veins
1/4 Green capsicum, sliced thinly
2 cloves Garlic, minced
Sunflower oil
Seasoning:
1 tsp Tapioca/Corn flour
3 tbsps Water
Dash of Salt & pepper
1 tbsp Rice wine (Shao Xing wine)
Method:
1. Marinade prawns with some sugar & pepper. Set aside.
2. Heat up oil, saute garlic until fragrant.
3. Add in capsicum, stir fry for a minute.
4. Add in prawns, stir fry for another minute or until prawns turn pink.
5. Add the fish paste. Stir fry for 2 mins. Add seasoning and mix well.
6. Leave for a minute and dish up. Serve while hot. |
