Guangxi Taro Kourou 广西芋头扣肉

Kourou is a dish that consist of thrice cooked pork belly that has been boiled, fried, and steamed.
There are many versions of kourou, and famous two is the MeiCai Kourou 梅菜扣肉 and Yutou Kourou 芋头扣肉.

Now, it seems that everyone seems to associate kourou with Hakka cuisine. Not really.
According to Chinese Wikipedia or you can just do a google search about kourou on Mainland China's websites, you will find that

"客家梅菜扣肉。
广西芋头扣肉。
广东中山沙溪粉葛扣肉。"

Translation:
Hakka Preserved Vegetable Kourou
Guangxi Taro Kourou
Cantonese Arrowroot Kourou

So you see, kourou is a dish that is cooked by the other dialects and other provinces as well.

Teochew Ngoh Hiang ~ Five Spice Meat Rolls

There are many versions of Chinese 5 Spice Meat Rolls.
Some call it Lor Bak, some call it Chun Juan, Some call it Wu Xiang.

Basically, it's a meat roll, filled with pork that is minced or cut into thin strips, marinated with seasoning and spices, wrapped in beancurd sheets and cooked. If I am not wrong, the differences will be; Penang Style Lor Bak is made with pork strips, Hokkien Chun Juan/Lor Bak is minced pork and Teochew Wu Xiang/Ngoh Hiang is minced pork with the addition of taro. They are all seasoned with the essential 5 spice powder.

EasyNest second draw for Winners

This time none contacted me.

Second draw, congrats to Shenny and Mel Lee

This number belongs to Shenny Fong

And this number belongs to Mel Lee 

Please contact me by 27/1/16

Thanks

Coffee Almond Cookies

Two years ago, my friend Shenny, gave me a few pieces of cookies that she got from Hong Kong. They were tasty. She asked me if I will be able to crack the recipe. Well.... It's not an easy feat, not if we want to use natural coffee (instant is better than emulco, I guess) and avoid certain ingredients.

Because it's a replication.... it's not easy compared to baking anything I like or think of. It has to be something like it, look almost like it, taste almost like it.

Kuih Bangkit ~ Gluten Free Coconut Cream Cookies 薯粉饼

Kuih Bangkit.... It is a local traditional cookie, one of the staples for Chinese New Year and Eid.
Some people will make this with tapioca starch, some swear by arrowroot flour for best melt in the mouth effect and some will use sago flour to replace that elusive arrowroot flour.

In the olden days, this cookie was baked over charcoal. And I have only seen that being done once in my life, at my kindergarten teacher's home. I'm glad that in recent years, I had the chance to eat charcoal baked kuih bangkit again, made by distant relatives, and they are soooo much better than oven baked. The base of the charcoal baked ones were brown and the cookie was so flavorful and fragrant.

Homemade Coconut Oil

Coconut used to be the baddie for health concerned people.
All things coconut were bad! Curries were creamed with milk or creamers and coconut was shunned.
The local community said No No No to coconut laden food.

I on the other hand, have always loved coconut and didn't bother with all those health issues. I'm glad I never did.

But lately these few years... Coconut oil has been 'crowned' as health food!
Wooooo....... great news isn't it?
Coconut oil began appearing at health food stores, here there everywhere.

EasyNest Giveaway Results!

First of all, I would like to apologize for the confusion, the trouble for the inconvenience that happened during the giveaway.

I got to know that many people had issues submitting to the giveaway and I am deeply sorry for that.
Thanks to Mee Mee for telling me how to solve this issue and for the future giveaways, I know what I should do.

The answer to the question was RM350.00 or RM350.
The answer 350 will not be accepted as it's not a price.

Now, since I'm given 2 boxes of birds nest by Kaicohealth as gifts for my readers.... and since now there are two lists of entries, I can only give one gift to each list.

Sorry again.

Now for list no 1:

The winner is

List1 : incomplete entry----disqualified

Due to an incomplete entry..... I will have to draw another winner.

And the next is...... .but her answer is in dollars. Sorry yeah...

So..... I drew another number.
And the Winner is Chew Su Yee
Su Yee, please contact me either on FB or my email by 22/1/2016 so that we can get the bird's nest sent out before CNY

The Winner for List no1: Chew Su Yee

And for the second entry form, the one where you entered with your Facebook account.
Liking Kaico health will help you earn 2 entries.

And the winner is Douglas Lee!
Douglas, please contact me either on FB or my email by 22/1/2016 so that we can get the bird's nest sent out before CNY

List 2 winner: Douglas Lee

KaicoHealth

And if you want to have another shot at winning a box of EasyNest (5pcs), 
Visit KaicoHealth on Facebook and join their giveaway contest. 
This contest ends on 24/1/2016... there are still a few more days!

Good luck and good health with KaicoHealth

Click on the picture to redeem promo code for any purchase from KaicoHealth

Birds Nest in Young Coconut 椰青炖燕窝 and a Giveaway!

THIS IS A SPONSORED POST

This is going to be a long post, with freebies and discounts.

Bird's Nest.... what comes to your mind?

Beauty? Luxury? Delicacy? Healthy?
Or smelly? Cruelty?

The Chinese believe that consuming bird's nest promotes good health, especially for the skin. It is high in glycoproteins and sialic acid, and that promote youthfulness by enhancing skin complexion. It comes with a high price tag and hence, it is a luxury. The high price tag drives human to risk their lives for it.

Back in those days, even nowadays,  bird's nests are harvested from caves, like Niah Cave in Sarawak and Gomantong Cave in Sabah and if you have seen how it's done, it will send shivers down your spine. The bamboo pillars and structures are high up in the caves and going around on those bamboo structures is like training to be a tight rope walker. I heard from my Sarawakian friends, that it's not uncommon to hear of people losing their lives while harvesting wild birds' nests in Niah Cave. And the harvesting is sometimes done while the swiftlets are still in their nests. Baby birds are thrown down the cave floor so that they can collect the nests as soon as they can. It's sad, but true. I refused to consume birds nest after my visit to Niah Cave in 1999. Seriously. I just couldn't bring myself to support an industry that takes lives.

I'm glad that in recent years, there are birds nests that are collected from nesting houses. Birds Nest is tasty and I don't want to stop consuming it. It's just that I want to support a blood industry.