Stir Fried Manicai (Star Gooseberry) with Salted Egg

I came across Kelly Siew's Manicai recipe at Sarawak Food Fest - Sept 2012.  

In Hokkien, we call it Manicai. Whereas, in English it is called star gooseberry or sweet leaf and in Malaysia it is cangkuk manis, sayur manis, pucuk manis or cekur manis. I like Manicai but all these while I didn't know that any excess amount of Manicai juice is bad for our lungs due to a chemical called alkaloid papaverine. Guess what? I have been cooking Manicai without squeezing out all the juice!

So, this is my first 'squeezed' Manicai and I cooked it with dried shrimps and salted egg. Thanks Kelly!

Do give it a try if you like this dish :)

Ingredients :

- 1 bunch of manicai
(washed and roughly tear the leaves with hand. Then, add salt and leave aside for few minutes. Squeeze all the juice out with hand. Lastly, rinse and squeeze again).

- 3 eggs - whipped
- 1 salted egg
- 1 tablespoon of dried shrimps
- garlic
- Soy sauce
- cooking oil

Method :
1) Heat enough oil in a wok and saute garlic and dried shrimps until aromatic.

2) Stir in manicai and cook for about a minute. Add some water if it looks too dry.

3) Make a well in the middle and add beaten eggs in and wait for it to set. Stir and mix well.

4) Add salted egg on top and let it set. Then add water if it is too dry. I prefer it to be a bit moist. Lastly, stir in the soy sauce to taste.

5) Stir and mix well and serve hot.

This dish is full of fibre and it is indeed delicious.... :)

Healing Miracle for Burns

A young man sprinkling his lawn and bushes with pesticides wanted to check the contents of the barrel to see how much pesticide remained in it. He raised the cover and lit his lighter; the vapours ignited and engulfed him. He jumped from his truck, screaming. His neighbour came out of her house with a dozen eggs and a bowl yelling, "Bring me some more eggs!"

She broke them, separating the whites from the yolks.

The neighbour woman helped her to apply the whites onto the young man's face.

When the ambulance arrived and the EMTs saw the young man, they asked who had done this. Everyone pointed to the lady in charge.

They congratulated her and said, "You have saved his face."

By the end of the summer, the young man brought the lady a bouquet of roses to thank her. His face was like a baby's skin.

Keep in mind this treatment of burns is being included in teaching beginner fireman. First Aid consists of first spraying cold water on the affected area until the heat is reduced which stops the continued burning of all layers of the skin. Then, spread the egg whites onto the affected area.

One woman burned a large part of her hand with boiling water. In spite of the pain, she ran cold tap water on her hand, separated 2 egg whites from the yolks, beat them slightly and dipped her hand in the solution. The whites then dried and formed a protective layer. She later learned that the egg white is a natural collagen and continued during at least one hour to apply layer upon layer of beaten egg white. By afternoon she no longer felt any pain and the next day there was hardly a trace of the burn. 10 days later, no trace was left at all and her skin had regained its normal colour. The burned area was totally regenerated thanks to the collagen in the egg whites, a placenta full of vitamins.

Since this information could be helpful to everyone, won't you please share it with your loved ones?

Stir Fried Malabar Spinach with Salted Egg

Malabar spinach is in fact not related to spinach! The leaves and stems of Malabar Spinach is purplish-red or green. It has fleshy and thick leaves. When cooked, it is slightly slippery. I used to cook this veggie quite often as my girls like it. It is simple and easy to prepare; be it a stir-fry or a simple vegetable soup. No matter how you cook it, it is still tasty!

Here is one of my Malabar Spinach recipes which I stir fried it with salted egg. Hope you like it!!

Ingredients :

- a bunch of Malabar Spinach - washed

- 1 salted egg - whipped;  yolk, cut into small pieces 

-  garlic - crushed

- 1/2 cup of water

- soy sauce - to taste

- Cooking oil

Method :
1) Heat cooking oil in a wok at medium high heat. Add garlic and saute till fragrant.

2) Add malabar spinach and give it a quick stir. Add water and continue to stir another minute.

3) Add salted egg and let it simmer for a while. When the egg is set, add soy sauce and mix well. (Take note that you should adjust the soy sauce accordingly as sometimes the salted egg can be quite salty. As for me, I did not add any salt to it as I have added bamboo salt into my soy sauce).

4) Remove from the heat and serve at once.

 Hope you like this simple recipe.  Enjoy!!