Shirataki Noodles

Shirataki (shee-rah-TAH-kee) noodles are thin, low carb, chewy, and translucent traditional Japanese noodles. They are also sometimes called konnyaku noodles. Shirataki noodles are thinner than wheat noodles, do not break as easily, and have a different texture. They are mostly composed of a dietary fiber called glucomannan and contain very few calories and carbohydrates (sometimes even zero). They do not have much flavor by themselves, but absorb flavors well from other ingredients. Shirataki noodles are made from Konjac flour, which comes from the roots of the yam-like Konjac plant grown in Japan and China.

Shirataki noodles are packaged "wet", that is, you purchase them pre-packaged in liquid, and they are ready-to-eat out of the package. You can prepare them by rinsing the noodles first, then boiling them briefly or running them under hot water, then combining them with other dishes, or adding things like tofu, garlic, spinach, or soy sauce to enhance the flavor.

To sum up, it tastes like Tung Hoon and can be added into soups. It is a remedy for weight watchers who cannot stop eating!

* Can be found in Sakuraya Fish Market and NTUC Finest.

Prawn noodle soup (Serves 3)

Pork ribs 250gm

1 small crab ~ 400gm

Prawns 250gm

1 handful of ikan bilis

1 handful of soy beans

2 cloves of garlic

1 slice of ginger

1 litre of water

1 teaspoon of pepper

1 star aniseed

salt and soy sauce to taste

Scald pork ribs and prawns with hot water and add to boiling water with all the ingredients. Once the prawns are cooked, remove and peel. Fry the shells with some garlic and scallions until crispy and golden. Add the fried shells back to the soup and brew for 1hr. Add noodles and vegetables and serve with fried scallions and prawns.

Hokkien Seafood soup (Serves 3)

2 chicken bone

Clams 1kg

1 small crab ~ 400gm

1 small sweet potatoes

1 dozen meatballs

1 handful of ikan bilis

1 handful of soy beans

1 tablespoon of Hua Tiao Wine

2 cloves of garlic

1 slice of ginger

1 teaspoon of pepper

Salt and soy sauce to taste

Boil the chicken bone, crab, ikan bilis, soy beans, garlic, ginger and clams. Remove clams when cooked. Brew for 1hr and add meatballs, sweet potatoes, vegetables and all seasoning. Once cooked, add noodles and serve with clams and fried scallions.

Carrot cake

Ingredients

A:

Radish 500gm

1 carrot

1 chinese sausage

5 dried shiitake mushroom

4 tablespoons of dried shrimps

4 scallions

2 cloves of garlic

Salt, pepper, soy sauce, sesame oil to taste

B:

Rice flour 300gm

Tapioca flour 30gm (2 tablespoon)

Water 500ml (more water = softer cake)

3 tablespoon of sugar

Salt to taste

Soak mushroom and slice. Thinly slice the chinese sausage and scallions. Pound the dried shrimps lightly and julienne the carrot and radish. Fry the minced garlic with the scallions and dried shrimps until golden and add the sausages and mushrooms to fry until fragrant. Add the radish and carrot with seasoning to fry with high heat until soft and dry. Mix ingredient B and pour the flour mixture to mix with ingredient A without heat. Pour everything into a 4x4 inch tray and steam for 30 - 35 mins. Let the cake cool before cutting into serving size to fry.

My Baby is now a Toddler!

Tsk tsk tsk! It has been such a long time since I updated my blog. So much has happened and I do not think that I can write everything here!

Since I started work in June, time just flies past in a blinking of an eye. Anais has put on some weight finally as she no longer throws up. Despite taking slightly more solids, her milk intake has cut down drastically. She does not like to drink milk and i takes her forever to finish like a 100ml each time. Now the only way to make sure that she is taking enough nutrients, we put in a lot of stuff in her porridge. Tofu and yoghurt is her next best replacement for milk. To complicate things, Anais do not like sweet tasting food, so feeding her cereal in the morning is a torture.

Currently, I am making carrot cakes to fry with eggs for her breakfast and I will be attempting to make quiche next week. After which, I will need to think very hard for the next recipe to try... until her molars grow out to chew the tougher food.

Other than her eating adventure, we have also enrolled her to Shichida Method. It is a way of learning that encourages the stimulation of the right brain so that they can have faster and higher memory and think more creatively. Moreover, they also believe in extrasensory perception (ESP) which allows children to predict and guess an unknown. Sounds pretty spooky! Nevertheless, I've attended a few sessions with her and have the following conclusion.

- Flashing of any flash cards fast enough will capture the attention of a child and such practice may help to improve the photographic memory. It is only a hypothesis that needs to be confirmed through more literature review.

- ESP has always been coined as pseudo science but my observation is that the activity may not be training ESP per se but teaching the child to read very fine body language and understand the little body signs from an individual to predict the correct answer. Such skills may develop the EQ of a child as they become sensitive and aware of the people they interact with.

- As long as the learning environment is fun and the child feels loved, she will always enjoy learning.

Thus far, Anais has been enjoying herself in class and I have been learning form the class the different games to play with her and the activities that we can do at home to stimulate her senses. The Shichida Method is a fun class to attend and it helps the child to bond very well with her parent. However, the 'Parent Education Course' hosted by Khoo is a waste of time in my opinion as she have no scientific evidence about 80% of the things she says. The miracle stories shared by her is one in a million with so many students that she has, the probability is pretty high. End of the day, do not harbor too high an expectation for your child. Just have fun and enjoy growing up with them!