During our gathering at Riverfront park, Jessica made some Malaysian fruit rojak which was gobbled up in a jiffy. I have wanted to make it at home but have been procrastinating it until a recent groceries shopping trip with Ben and he reminded me about it.

Ingredients

The most crucial ingredient in making the Malaysian style fruit salad is the Sambal Rojak.The fruit salad dressing is made up of sugar, water, starch, soy bean, prawn extract, glucose syrup, tapioca thickener, sesame seed, garlic, chili powder, salt and caramel.The Sambal Rojak can be found in many groceries stores which carry South East Asian products.

To add extra kick to it, I also added some belacan chili powder. You may substitute this with sambal oelek from Indonesia.

The Thai chili adds extra spiciness to the salad.

I also added some honey to sweeten and liquefy the salad dressing.

The most common fruit used are pineapple, jicama and cucumber. I could not find jicama during that groceries shopping trip, so I substituted it with Asian pear and apple.Other popular ingredients include youtiou (fried dough) and tofu puff.

Click on the link below for the instructions.

continue reading "Fruit Rojak"

Angela made two chicken dishes in the Caring Place Community Kitchen.  This is the first dish which is Chicken Jelly Fish Salad. This is a cold salad.  It’s great as an appetizer.

Angela marinated a chicken breast with salt and pepper and steam the chicken breast for 30 minutes or until it’s cook.  Then she shredded the chicken breast into thin strips.

The other main ingredient in this dish is the instant jelly fish which can be purchased from many Chinese groceries stores.  The jelly fish is ready to eat.

Angela seasoned the chicken and jelly fish with sesame oil, chicken seasoning (optional) and sar geong fern (a kind ground ginger seasoning).  Angela also garnishes the dish with cilantro and toasted sesame seeds.

The Chicken Jelly Fish Salad has a very distinctive flavour from the sar geong fern. The jelly fish gives the dish a very nice crunch.

Nanzaro loves jelly fish and I will certainly make this for him.

Minoo made this nutritious and healthy Black Bean and Corn Salsa in the Caring Place community kitchen. This recipe is recommended by the Richmond Health Department’s community nutritionist.

This Black Bean and Corn Salsa is an excellent source of folic acid and fiber. You can make this into a meal by wrapping it up in a flat bread and top it off with some seasoned yogurt. This salad is delicious on grilled chicken or fish.

Ingredients

Salad:

• 1 540ml tin black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 341ml tin corn kernels, drained
• 1 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped green or red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped onion or green onion
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons vinegar (balsamic, wine vinegar, lemon or lime juice)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (canola, olive, corn, etc)
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt, black pepper

Instructions

Cut, chop and dice all the ingredients accordingly.

Prepare the dressing in a small bowl by whisking all the dressing ingredients together, until blended.

In a large bowl combine the salad ingredients and pour dressing over the salad. Toss to mix.If you would like to bring this salad for a party, keep the dressing separately until they are ready to be consumed.

Here some tips and options for making this salad:

• no hot sauce - try some red pepper flakes, or finely chop hot pepper
• no fresh parsley - use 2 teaspoons dried parsley, or substitute with cilantro, basil, mint, thyme or oregano
• no bell peppers - try chopping up some celery, zucchini, fennel or carrot
• canned tomatoes will also work when you don’t have fresh ones
• for a hearty meal, add 2 cups of cooked rice, quinoa or bulgur (you’ll have to add more dressing)
• some tasty additions to try:

• toss in some crunchy tortilla chips just before serving
• toss in some sliced olives, or chopped avocado
• crumble some feta cheese on top
• fold in chopped mango for a tropical flavor

Minoo, thank you for sharing such a nutritious recipe.

The Arctic Surf Clams is great as an appetizer. It is best served cold. You can buy frozen, ready cooked Arctic Surf Clams from Asian Supermarket like T&T in Vancouver.

Ingredients

• 1 package of Frozen Arctic Surf Clams
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 2 tablespoons chopped coriander leaves
• 1 to 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon vinegar
• juice from 1/2 lemon

Instructions

The Arctic Surf Clams have to be washed thoroughly as there may be sand in them. In order to do that, cut the clams into halves and rub away any sands in them. Rinse with cold drinking water and pat dry them. The Arctic Surf Clams can be cut into strips if you prefer. Chill the Arctic Surf Clams in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

To make the sauce, combine together the sesame oil, Bonito seasonings, sugar, vinegar and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the chilled Arctic Surf Clams and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle the dish with Bonito Rice seasoning or toasted sesame seeds. You may serve the Arctic Surf Clams with a Garlic Soy Sauce.

The Arctic Surf Clams is great to be served in summer. I love the sesame oil and coriander fragrance which permeates the dish.

Jean’s second recipe is a very healthy Apple Cabbage Coleslaw. The apples gives the regular cabbage coleslaw a nice contrast of colour and flavour.

There are only four ingredients in this recipe.

• 1 medium head of cabbage, shredded finely using a food processor
• 4 red apples, cut into small bite size pieces (leave the skin on)
• 4 to 5 sticks of celery, dice
• 1 bottle (or more) Coleslaw dressing depending on your liking.

Mix all the the chopped ingredients with the coleslaw dressing and you have a very tasty salad. This salad keeps well in the refrigerator for a few days.

The Apple Cabbage Coleslaw is good for a light lunch and great to bring along for a gathering.

Jean, thank you for sharing the recipes and the nutritional values of apple and cabbage which contains antioxidants and vitamins that keeps the doctor away.