Sour Soup

Ingredients

Blended Spices:

• 4 cloves of shallot


• 2 cloves of garlic


• 3 pieces of candlenut


• 1 piece of red chili


• 1 teaspoon of shrimp paste


• salt and brown sugar as desired

Grind all spices in a mortar or blend in a blender (add a little amount of water if using blender)

Solid Ingredients:

• 3 cm of galangale, crushed


• 3 salam leaves


• 100 gram of beef meat, small chopped


• 1/4 young jackfruit, medium diced


• 1 chayote, peeled and diced


• 2 corns, divided into 3 parts


• 2 handfull gnetum gnemon (melinjo) and the leaves (if desired)


• 100 gram of string bean, medium chopped


• 1 fresh tamarind

Cooking direction

Boil 600 ml of water in a stewpan. Add blended spices, galangale, salam leaves, beef meat, young jackfruit, chayote, corns, melinjo & the leaves. Boil until all ingredients nicely cook and tender. Add string bean, cook again for 3 minutes or until string beans cooked. Take out, served warm in a bowl.

Mung Bean (Kacang Hijau)

Mung bean, also known as green bean, mung, moong, mash bean, munggo or monggo, green gram, golden gram, and green soy, is the seed of Vigna radiata which is native to India and Pakistan. The split bean is known as moong dal, which is green with the husk, and yellow when dehusked. The beans are small, ovoid in shape, and green in color. The English word "mung" derives from the Hindi moong.

The mung bean is one of many species recently moved from the genus Phaseolus to Vigna and is still often seen cited as Phaseolus aureus or Phaseolus radiatus. These are all the same plant.

Climate and soil

Mung beans are mainly cultivated in India, Philippines, Indonesia, China, Burma, and Bangladesh, but also in hot and dry regions of South Europe and Southern USA. In India and Bangladesh, they are grown during two seasons. One is the Rabi season (starting November), and the other is the Kharif season (starting March). Mung beans are tropical (or sub-tropical) crops, and require warm temperatures (optimally round 30-35°C). Loamy soil is best for pusap cultivation.

Uses

Mung beans are commonly used in Chinese cuisine, where they are called lǜ dòu ( literally "green bean"), as well as in Japan, Korea, Pakistan, India, Thailand and Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, they are called đậu xanh (again, literally "green bean"). They are generally eaten either whole (with or without skins) or as bean sprouts, or used to make the dessert "green bean soup". The starch of mung beans is also extracted from them to make jellies and "transparent/cellophane" noodles. In Vietnam, the transparent wrapping of Vietnamese spring rolls is made from mung bean flour. In Filipino cuisine, meat is sauteed with garlic, onions, and bay leaves, then mung beans are added and cooked. Mung batter is used to make crepes named Pesarattu in Andhra Pradesh, India.

Whole mung beans are generally prepared from dried beans by boiling until they are soft. In Chinese cuisine, whole mung beans are used to make a tāng shuǐ, or dessert, otherwise literally translated, "sugar water", called lǜdòu tāng shuǐ, which is served either warm or chilled, and is considered an antidote to thirst. In Indonesia, they are made into a popular dessert snack called es kacang hijau, which has the consistency of a porridge. The beans are cooked with sugar, coconut milk, and a little ginger. Although whole mung beans are also occasionally used in Indian cuisine, beans without skins are more commonly used; but in Kerala, whole moong dal (cheru payaru) is commonly boiled to make a dry preparation that is often had with rice gruel (kanji). In the Philippines, it is the main ingredient of the dessert hopiang munggo.

Without skins

With their skins removed, mung beans are light yellow in color. They are made into mung bean paste by de-hulling, cooking, and pulverizing the beans to the consistency of a dry paste. The paste is sweetened and is similar in texture to red bean paste though the smell is slightly more bean-like. In several Asian countries, de-hulled mung beans and mung bean paste are made into ice creams or frozen ice pops and are very popular dessert items. In Taiwan, mung bean paste is a common filling for moon cakes. In China, the boiled and shelled beans are used as filling in glutinous rice dumplings eaten during the dragon boat festival (端午节).

Dehulled mung beans can also be used in a similar fashion as whole beans for the purpose of making sweet soups. Mung beans in some regional cuisines of India are stripped of their outer coats to make mung dal. In other regions of India such as Andhara Pradesh, a delicious vegetable preparation is made using fresh grated coconut, green chillies, mung and typical South Indian spices - asafoetida, turmeric, ginger, mustard seeds, urad lentil. In south Indian states, mung beans are also eaten as pancakes. They are soaked in water for 6 to 12 hours (the higher the temperature the lesser soaking time). Then they are ground into fine paste along with ginger, salt. Then pancakes are made on a very hot griddle. These are usually eaten for breakfast. This provides high quality protein in a raw form that is rare in most Indian regional cuisines. Pongal is another recipe that is made with rice and mung beans without skin.

In Kerala, It is commonly used to make the parippu preparation in Travancore region (unlike Cochin and Malabar where toor dal, tuvara parippu, is used). It is also used, with coconut milk and jaggery) to make the a type of payasam.

In India the mung beans are also consumed as a snack. The dried mung beans are soaked in water, then partly dried to a dry matter content of approx. 42% before and then deep-fried in hot oil. The frying time varies between 60 and 90 seconds. The fat content of this snack is around 20%. This snack is traditionally prepared at home and is now also available from industrial producers.

Bean sprouts

Mung bean sprouts are germinated by leaving them watered with 4 hours of daytime light and spending the rest of the day in the dark. Mung bean sprouts can be grown under artificial light for 4 hours over the period of a week. Fluorescent bulbs or incandescent light bulbs would be the best to use for mung bean sprouts. They are usually sold simply as "bean sprouts," and are known as dòu yá (豆芽, literally "bean sprout/germ"), yá cài (芽菜, literally "sprout vegetable"), or yín yá (银芽, literally "silver sprouts") in Chinese, and Hokkien (Min Nan),Kongnamool in Korean, moyashi in Japanese, tauge in Indonesian, taugeh in Malay, togue in Filipino, thua-ngok (ถั่วงอก) in Thai, and giá đậu or giá đỗ in Vietnamese.

Mung bean sprouts are stir fried as a vegetable accompaniment to a meal, usually with ingredients such as garlic, ginger, spring onions, or pieces of salted dried fish to add flavor. Uncooked bean sprouts are used in filling for Vietnamese spring rolls, as well as as a garnish for phở. They are a major ingredient in a variety of Malaysian and Peranakan cuisine including char kway teow, Hokkien mee, mee rebus, and pasembor. In Korea, slightly cooked mung bean sprouts, called sukjunamul (hangul: 숙주나물), are often served as a side dish. They are blanched: placed into boiling water for less than a minute, immediately cooled down in cold water, and mixed with sesame oil, garlic, salt, and often other ingredients. In the Philippines, mung bean sprouts are made into "lumpia roll" called lumpiang togue.

Mung bean sprouts are the major bean sprouts in most Asian countries. In Korea, soybean sprouts, called kongnamul (hangul: 콩나물) are more widely used in a variety of dishes.

Starch

Mung bean starch, which is extracted from ground mung beans, is used to make transparent cellophane noodles (also known as bean thread noodles, bean threads, glass noodles, fen si (粉丝), tung hoon, miến, bún tàu, or bún tào). Cellophane noodles become soft and slippery when they are soaked in hot water. A wider variety of cellophane noodles, called mung bean sheets or green bean sheets, are also available. In Korea, a jelly called nokdumuk (hangul: 녹두묵; also called cheongpomuk; hangul: 청포묵) is made from mung bean starch; a similar jelly, colored yellow with the addition of gardenia coloring, is called hwangpomuk (hangul: 황포묵).

source: Wikipedia

Mung Bean Porridge (green beans porridge)

Ingredients

• 200 gr mung bean, washed and soaked
• 500 ml water
• 100 gr palm sugar
• 50 ml water
• 50 gr sugar
• 5 cm fresh ginger, crushed
• 4 pandanus leaves

dissolved sugar and palm sugar in water, filter the sediment.

Coconut milk Souce

• 250 ml coconut milk
• 2 pandanus leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

cooked coconut milk with pandanus leaves and salt for a while, set aside.

Cooking direction

1. boil mung bean until tender and cooked.
2. add palm sugar, ginger and pandanus leaves, cooked again until boiled.
3. Served with coconut milk souce
   

Nutmeg

The nutmegs Myristica are a genus of evergreen trees indigenous to tropical southeast Asia and Australasia. They are important for two spices derived from the fruit, nutmeg and mace.

Nutmeg is the actual seed of the tree, roughly egg-shaped and about 20 mm to 30 mm (1 inch) long and 15 mm to 18 mm (¾ inch) wide, and weighing between 5 g and 10 g (¼ ounce and ½ ounce) dried, while mace is the dried "lacy" reddish covering or arillus of the seed. This is the only tropical fruit that is the source of two different spices.

Several other commercial products are also produced from the trees, including essential oils, extracted oleoresins, and nutmeg butter (see below).

The outer surface of the nutmeg bruises easily.

The pericarp (fruit/pod) is used in Grenada to make a jam called "Morne Delice". In Indonesia, the fruit is also made into jam, called selei buah pala, or sliced finely, cooked and crystallised to make a fragrant candy called manisan pala ("nutmeg sweets").

The most important species commercially is the Common or Fragrant Nutmeg Myristica fragrans, native to the Banda Islands of Indonesia; it is also grown in the Caribbean, especially in Grenada. Other species include Papuan Nutmeg M. argentea from New Guinea, and Bombay Nutmeg M. malabarica from India; both are used as adulterants of M. fragrans products.

Culinary uses

Nutmeg and mace have similar taste qualities, nutmeg having a slightly sweeter and mace a more delicate flavour. Mace is often preferred in light dishes for the bright orange, saffron-like hue it imparts. Nutmeg is a tasty addition to cheese sauces and is best grated fresh. Nutmeg is a traditional ingredient in mulled cider, mulled wine, and eggnog.

In Indian cuisine, nutmeg is used in many sweet as well as savoury dishes (predominantly in Mughlai cuisine). It is known as Jaiphal in most parts of India and as Jatipatri and Jathi seed in Kerala. It may also be used in small quantities in garam masala. Ground nutmeg is also smoked in India.

In Middle Eastern cuisine, nutmeg grounds are often used as a spice for savoury dishes. In Arabic, nutmeg is called Jawzt at-Tiyb.

In Greece and Cyprus nutmeg is called μοσχοκάρυδο (moschokarydo) (Greek: "nut that smells nice") and is used in cooking and savoury dishes.

In European cuisine, nutmeg and mace are used especially in potato dishes and in processed meat products; they are also used in soups, sauces, and baked goods. In Dutch cuisine nutmeg is quite popular, it is added to vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and string beans.

Japanese varieties of curry powder include nutmeg as an ingredient.

In the Caribbean, nutmeg is often used in drinks such as the Bushwacker, Painkiller, and Barbados rum punch. Typically it is just a sprinkle on the top of the drink.

source: Wikipedia

Clove (Cengkeh)

Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum, syn. Eugenia aromaticum or Eugenia caryophyllata) are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world. The English name derives from Latin clavus 'nail' (also origin of French clou 'nail') as the buds vaguely resemble small irregular nails in shape. Cloves are harvested primarily in Indonesia, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka; it is also grown in India under the name Lavang .

The clove tree is an evergreen which grows to a height ranging from 10-20 m, having large oval leaves and crimson flowers in numerous groups of terminal clusters. The flower buds are at first of a pale color and gradually become green, after which they develop into a bright red, when they are ready for collecting. Cloves are harvested when 1.5-2 cm long, and consist of a long calyx, terminating in four spreading sepals, and four unopened petals which form a small ball in the centre.

Uses

According to FAO, Indonesia produced almost 80% of the world's clove output in 2005 followed at a distance by Madagascar and Tanzania.

Cloves can be used in cooking either whole or in a ground form, but as they are extremely strong, they are used sparingly. The spice is used throughout Europe and Asia and is smoked in a type of cigarettes locally known as kretek in Indonesia. The largest brand of kreteks in the United States is Djarum, who sells the iconic Djarum Black. Cloves are also an important incense material in Chinese and Japanese culture.

Cloves have historically been used in Indian cuisine (both North Indian and South Indian) as well as Mexican cuisine (best known as "clavos de olor"), where it is often paired together with cumin and cinnamon. In north Indian cuisine, it is used in almost all dishes, along with other spices. It is also a key ingredient in tea along with green cardamom. In south Indian cuisine, it is used extensively in biryani along with "cloves dish" (similar to pilaf, but with the addition of other spices), and it is normally added whole to enhance the presentation and flavor of the rice. In Vietnamese cuisine, cloves are often used to season pho broth.

Its essence is commonly used in the production of many perfumes.

During Christmas, it is a tradition in some European countries to make a pomander from cloves and oranges to hang around the house. This spreads a nice scent throughout the house and the oranges themselves act as Christmas decorations.

Medicinal and Nostrums

Cloves are used in Ayurveda called Lavang in India, Chinese medicine and western herbalism and dentistry where the essential oil is used as an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies. Cloves are used as a carminative, to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. Cloves are also said to be a natural antihelmintic. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy when stimulation and warming are needed, especially for digestive problems. Topical application over the stomach or abdomen are said to warm the digestive tract.

In Chinese medicine cloves or ding xiang are considered acrid, warm and aromatic, entering the kidney, spleen and stomach meridians, and are notable in their ability to warm the middle, direct stomach qi downward, to treat hiccough and to fortify the kidney yang. Because the herb is so warming it is contraindicated in any persons with fire symptoms and according to classical sources should not be used for anything except cold from yang deficiency. As such it is used in formulas for impotence or clear vaginal discharge from yang deficiency, for morning sickness together with ginseng and patchouli, or for vomiting and diarrhea due to spleen and stomach coldness. This would translate to hypochlorhydria. Clove oil is used in various skin disorders like acne, pimples etc. It is also used in severe burns, skin irritations and to reduce the sensitiveness of skin.

Ayurvedic herbalist K.P. Khalsa, RH (AHG), uses cloves internally as a tea and topically as an oil for hypotonic muscles, including for multiple sclerosis. This is also found in Tibetan medicine. Ayurvedic herbalist Alan Tilotson, RH (AHG) suggests avoiding more than occasional use of cloves internally in the presence of pitta inflammation such as is found in acute flares of autoimmune diseases.

In West Africa, the Yorubas use cloves infused in water as a treatment for stomach upsets, vomiting and diarrhoea.The infusion is called Ogun Jedi-jedi.

Western studies have supported the use of cloves and clove oil for dental pain, and to a lesser extent for fever reduction, as a mosquito repellent and to prevent premature ejaculation. Clove may reduce blood sugar levels.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove