Tag: healthy

The joy of a big family and old-world charm

Happy together:  Lam Foong with her Lai family in their Tronoh hometown in Perak for reunion on Chinese New Year.
Photos by Lai Jen Weng
By Foong Pek Yee
Jan 29, 2023.
At 89, Lam Foong is a picture of  joy and hope.
She keeps herself healthy and happy  by being active and productive daily.
A typical day for her is tending to her garden where she grows a variety of vegetables like potato leaves, long beans, egg plant, spring onion and hairy gourd.
Labour of love:  Lam Foong in her vegetable garden.
And what makes her most happy is she will have  home grow vegetables for her  children and grandchildren when they visit her.
A mother of seven , Lam who is a good cook,  has  plans all year round to cook for her family during festive or holiday season – Chinese New Year, Ching Ming, Mid Autumn Festival , school holidays and public holidays – when her children and grandchildren from Kuala Lumpur and Ipoh will go to their Tronoh hometown to spend time together.
During this Chinese New Year (CNY) their ancestral home saw more than  40 family members of three generations gathered over three days, from new year eve, for the celebration.
Auspicious: Lam Foong’s Chinese New Year specialties for reunion dinner.
The Cantonese pronunciation for  prawns ( ha ) and fish (Yu)  which rhymes with laughter and abundance respectively  are must -have for  festive celebration.
While Lam is a good cook, her children help her in the kitchen and run errands  – a family still steeped in the fine Chinese tradition.
For Lam, preparations for the celebration starts months ahead, from planning the menu, booking the ingredients and planting vegetables.
She also makes sure her children have her home cooked specialties like pork belly and yam and home grow vegetables to bring along when they return to their respective home after the celebration.

Green and fresh : Potato leaves is among Lam Foong’s favourite vegetables.

Beautiful day:  A bird perched on a branch of a rambutan tree in Lam Foong’s garden.

Lam Foong loves to stay in Tronoh while enjoying occasional visits to her children in Kuala Lumpur.

And equally important is she continues to lead and enjoy a healthy and happy lifestyle and the old-world charm.

Korean peanut banchan

Banchan or Korean side dish is a must have for Korean meals.
Some Koreans say having several types of banchan at each meal is good for health, and that everybody also gets to have their favourite banchan.
Banchan is certainly appetizing besides adding  a variety of nutrients to enhance the main dish.
This peanut banchan for instance can be added to porridge.
It also makes a healthy  snack on its own.
Ingredients
Half cup of peanuts
Half cup of water
Quarter teaspoon salt.
Quarter teaspoon pepper.
Half teaspoon soy sauce (to taste)
Method
1. Put all the ingredients in a pot and bring it to a boil.
2. Simmer for about 35 minutes and ready to serve.
Note:  Put the remainder in the fridge, preferably finished it within three days – By Foong Pek Yee

Korean seaweed soup

Korean culture: The soup bowl must be placed on our right hand side.
Ingredients:
2 gm seaweed (wakame)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6  pieces  dried  Shitake mushroom
2 cups water.
Seasoning:
Half teaspoon salt,  one teaspoon sesame oil, one teaspoon  roasted sesame seeds and two teaspoons  soy sauce.
Method:
1. Soak seaweed in water for 30 minutes, rinse and cut into bite size.
2. Wash mushrooms.
3. In a pot, put seaweed, mushrooms, garlic and 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.
4. Simmer for one hour.
5. Add seasoning and ready to serve.
Adventure:   Add a pinch of pepper and chilli powder (gojugaru) for a stronger taste.
Seaweed soup is highly nutritious. Korean mothers take it during confinement.
And Koreans have seaweed soup for their birthday- By Foong Pek Yee. 2 Jan, 2022