No-Frills Recipes ... cooking, baking & excerpts on travel

The weather here in Ipoh has gone crazy!  It's super hot these days and so humid.  You don't need to pay to have a sauna bath for you're getting it free everyday literally sweating in your home with all the fans on full blast.  Yes, what about having the air-conditioner on full day.  Good thinking but watch it, our national electricity supplier is going to raise their rates with effect from July, good timing for them!  I cooked this porridge to combat the weather and to cool our system ..... Ginkgo nut and beancurd porridge. Ginkgo is mainly used as a memory and concentration enhancer, helps to reverse memory loss!  Also supposed to relieve hangovers, coughs and asthma and although is has a high starch content, it's low in fat.  As for nutrients, they are are excellent source of phosphorous, potassium, copper, thiamin and niacin.

Porridge ~ Congee ...... another comfort food that invokes feelings of nostalgia especially of our childhood.  Perfect for this hot, humid weather!  

Lazy bones at work again!  This is another popular one-dish meal which I'm sure most of the readers know how to whip up in a jiffy ........ Chicken Porridge or Congee.

This is the porridge that my late mum used to cook for us whenever we complained of gum pain or any of my siblings had their tooth extracted, or during hot, humid weather.  This is to help 'lower the fire in our body',  (cool down our body heat), so she used to say. And it is usually accompanied by freshly made Yau Char Kway or Chinese Donut,(so often seen in Hongkong movies),  either cut and sprinkled on top of the porridge, as a garnishing  Or just separate it, dunk in, slurp, and chew away,  ..................  Recipe for Salted Egg & Meat Porridge Ingredients : 200 gm lean pork, diced 1 Salted Egg 1/2 cup Rice 2 Tablespoons Quaker instant Oats - soak in 4 Tablespoons of hot water 4 cups water Yau Char Kway/Chinese Donut Spring Onions and Pepper for garnishing Salt to taste Sesame oil - optional Method : Dice the lean meat and marinate with 1 teasp salt, set aside. Boil the rice with the 4 cups of water in a rice cooker...

My parents' generation would not want to eat this meal too often because they had been surviving on this during the Japanese occupation of the then Malaya from late 1941 to 1945. Due to the severe food shortage and rationing, they had to live on sweet potatoes, but then again sweet potatoes also have their dosage of goodness and nutrients too. Incidentally, this is among one of the favourites of my other half. Here's an excerpt on the nutrients of sweet potatoes, taken from World's Healthiest Foods' site. Sweet potatoes offer a host of nutrients and an impressive array of antioxidants. They taste delicious, are easy to prepare and can be used in a variety of dishes. Not only are they a more concentrated source of vitamin C, but they are also an excellent source of vitamin A. To keep the sweet potatoes looking fresh, you should cook them immediately after peeling and/or cutting them since the flesh darkens upon contact with air. If that's not possible, place ...

Cooked this delicious 'One-Pot' meal for lunch today, quick, easy and nutritious too.