mycookerygarden

A friend had posted pictures of her nasi ulam dish in Penang. The power of suggestion! http://www.foodcanon.com/2016/02/nasi-ulam-it-is-really-simpler-than-you.html So, I tweaked the recipe a little to use what I could put together easily. Rice (basmati) Hae bee hiam (spicy dried shrimp sambal, made by my sister during Chinese New Year) Cucumber Onions The mix of herbs: - Kaffir lime leaves - Mint - Thai basil - Lemongrass As the rice was cooking, I cut all the herbs finely, minced the onions and sliced the cucumber. The last two ingredients are really needed - the onions give the rice mix a nice kick and sweetness while the cucumber refreshes from the hae bee hiam. Yummy!  

A friend gave me a cutting of Okinawan Spinach. Yay, new vegetable to try planting. The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynura_bicolor Gynura bicolor, hongfeng cai 紅鳳菜, okinawan spinach or edible gynura, is a member of the chrysanthemum family (Asteraceae). It is native to China, Thailand, and Myanmar but grown in many other places as a vegetable and as a medicinal herb. Since most of the leaves needed to be removed for the rooting, I made a salad. This was a 'Global' Salad with Okinawan Spinach, Mexican Asparagus, Malaysian cucumber and cherry tomatoes, Argentinian blue berries and NZ salad dressing! In future, if I grow this vegetable successfully, I will stir fry it with sesame oil and ginger. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gynura_bicolor   According to Chinese food grouping, Gynura bicolor is a 'cool' food, so the leaves are stir-fried with sesame oil and ginger (both 'hotter' foods) to achieve a balance. After m