PoLL (1) ReSuLt

The result of the polling "When you're eating Spaghetti, what do you add more?" is:

Grated cheese 70%
Tomato sauce 20%
Garlic powder 20%
Chilli sauce 50%

As for me, when I'm eating Spaghetti, I always add more grated cheese and tomato sauce... mm yummmm ^-^

Thanks for polling! =)

Anymore polling ideas??

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Chicken Soup With Red Koji (Angkak)

I love Chicken Soup with angkak ="D
Especially when it's still hot. Having it in this cool weather is perfect!
What makes it special is not only the taste, but also the health benefits of this meal.

Actually angkak started in China a very long time ago, usually used as medicine.
In some countries angkak is known with different names, such as : beni-koji, hong qu, hung-chu, monascus, red koji, red leaven, red yeast rice, xue zhi kang, dan zhi tai. In China, zhi tai means angkak in a form of dry flour, and xue zhi means angkak that's been extracted with alcohol.
Angkak was first made in China under the Ming Dinasty. Since then, angkak was used as food and also medicine. It was said that angkak can be used as medinice for digestion and blood circulation.
Countries like Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Hongkong are producing angkak to be used as natural food coloring. Based on toxicity test, the pygmen in angkak is safe enough to be used in food. It actually can reduce the use of nitrite to fix the red color in processed meats such as sausages and ham. It also can hamper the growth of patogen bacterials in food.

Some researches have prooved that angkak is beneficial in reducing the number of fat in our body and also reducing cholesterols in our blood.

The chinese people usually pour the angkak into a boiling water and drink it as medicine. But I don't find it comfortable haha. So, its best to cook it along with the food we like. The benefits won't be lessen. Along with the chicken it can be a very healthy diet meal. If you want to reduce your fat, its best not to eat any fried food. Eat boiled food or steamed food. Here, we will boil the chicken along with dried bean curd sheets ("kembang tahu").


So with the chicken, tofu and angkak, its a great mix of healthy diet food. High in protein, reducing your cholesterol and fat.

So this is how we make the Chicken Soup with Angkak

Ingredients:
1 medium size chicken (cut it in small pieces)
1 pack of dried bean curd sheets (soak them in warm water until they are soft, cut 10cm long each)
1/2 table spoon of angkak (smashed them with a spoon =p)
1/4 tea spoon of ground pepper
1/2 table spoon of salt
2 tea spoon of salty soy sauce
1 tea spoon of sugar
1 leek (cut into thin slices)
2,5 litre of water

How to make:
Boil the chicken until the meats are soft. Add the spices : smashed angkak, ground pepper, salt, sugar and salty soy sauce. Boil them a little bit more to let the spices penetrate inside the meat. Add in the dried bean curd sheets and leek. Cook for a little more while and it's done.

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ChEaP STeAk

Tonight my parents and I and also my nephew, Terrence, had dinner near the place where I give a private tutor. This restaurant makes a very cheap steak which you will be surprised. I should of brought a camera with me to take a picture of how the steaks look like. There are not many steaks variety, I could mention you, there are chicken mushroom, chicken blackpepper, tuna mushroom, shrimp mushroom, sirloin steak, and some few others that I don't remember. What makes these steaks are so cheap is that the meats are covered with flour and then fried. Sorry if you can't get the imagination... I should take pictures of them next time I eat there again. Well for an empty stomach, they really stuffed it with not going to make our wallet dry hehe ="p Oh about the price... they are in ranged between IDR 8,500 - IDR 14,500...!!!!

Surprised???? Haha. With American dollar, you can eat steak for about a dollar!

Tell me how much can you buy a plate of steak in your place?

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SnAcK TiMe

You know I used to like to have snacks. I had snacks when I was reading. I had snacks when I was watching tv. I had snacks when I was playing games. I had snacks when I was chatting and gossiping. I had snacks at the classroom, behind my lecturers back haha... I love it when I had the chance to have a snack. What kind of snacks? Any kinds of chips, my favorite! I could eat 2 packs of chips in 30 minutes. Thats because I ate 3-5 chips at a time. And it got me too much weight... I guess it happens to most of us. I tried to solve the problem by eating just 1 chip at a time, eating it slower than usual.... but I seemed to always want more amount in my mouth. Maybe because the chips are thin eventhough it makes them crunchier. I thought, "Maybe I need a thicker but crunchy snacks, with smaller size..." Why did I think like that? Because a smaller and thicker one would keep my mouth busy before I take the next piece.... hmm... isn't it a good idea? ="D

A couple of days ago, my sister bought this small packed of snack. It was just exactly like I wanted.. and needed. They are crunchy, small, and thick! I found out that they are Fried Maccaronies! I don't know if you ever eat one... but my sister said, "You just knew it know?! We have these for ages!" Well... hehehe... I just thought that maccaroni is only used for pasta, but fried?!

So, I tried to look up how to make ones. Apparantly it's easy! ="p

Fried Maccaronies

Ingredients:

500gr of maccaroni

2,5 litre of water

salt as desired

1 tablespoon of butter

cooking oil

How to make:
1. Boil the water, add salt and butter.
2. Boil the maccaroni for about 10 minutes.... or until the maccaronies are double in size.
3. Strain and drain the boiled maccaronies.
4. Dry the maccaronies under the sun for about 2-4 hours. If the sun is bright, 2 hours is ok. But if you want it more quick, you can use the oven for about 10-15 minutes at 120C... or until the shape and color looks like when the maccaronies before boiled.
5. After the drying, fry the maccaronies in cooking oil until they form brownish color.
6. After the frying, you can spead the maccaronies with cheese powder or chilli powder.

Yayyy.... now I have a safe and fun snacks ^_^

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