Lemang

Lemang is glutinous rice with coconut milk that is cooked in long bamboo tubes. These bamboo tubes are cooked using open air fire. Banana leaves are used to line the tube before putting in the glutinous rice soaked with coconut milk. Although you can get lemang all year round (around the Karak highway and at farmers' markets like these), it is usually served during festive seasons like Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji. During those festive times, you will see makeshift stalls popping up at the side of the road just before the end of Ramadhan (fasting month), where they will create a temporary site to burn the lemang.

It's not easy to cook lemang and sometimes you get those which is overcooked. The lemang is served with rendang which can either be made from beef or chicken. Rendang is a curry that is cooked with spices like lemon grass, galangal, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, dry fried grated coconut (kerisik) and coconut milk for a few hours. Usually made with beef cubes, it can also be made from organic chicken (ayam kampung). I like my lemang with serunding daging (spicy beef floss) that is cooked with coconut milk and spices. Nowadays, you can get chicken and fish serunding.

How Lemang is Made

The usual or traditional way to cook this special Malay delicacy will usually take a few hours. It involves cooking the rice in bamboo containers over an open fire.
A bamboo stem or trunk about three feet long and three inches in diameter is used as the container to cook the rice.

It is of course first cleaned of dirt and grit in the hollow core and then young banana leaves that had been cleaned are inserted and lined inside the bamboo hollow.
The glutinous rice is also first washed and soaked in water for a few hours to "soften" it. Then the wet rice is strained by the use of a colander and inserted into the bamboo container and filled to about two inches from the top of the surface opening.
Thick, creamy santan (coconut milk), added with a little salt, is then poured into the bamboo container filling it to just about an inch more than the rice -- enough to ensure that when the ingredients boil, the rice would expand and reach the brim of the bamboo container.

Usually a family will cook about about ten to fifteen bamboo containers of lemang. A kilogram of glutinous rice will need about 8 cups of thick coconut juice or milk and, taken in little mouthfuls, will probably be sufficient to cater to the demands of about 30 persons!

Before serving, the bamboo is first cut and broken into half, and the leaf-wrapped cooked rice is removed. Then it is cut into smaller slices, usually about one inch in thickness. Of course when eating it, we first remove the banana leaf before dipping the sticky slice of rice into the rendang.

Apple Fruit

Apple
The proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," addressing the health effects of the fruit, dates from 19th century Wales. Research suggests that apples may reduce the risk of colon cancer, prostate cancer and lung cancer. Compared to many other fruits and vegetables, apples contain relatively low amounts of Vitamin C as well as several other antioxidant compounds. The fiber content, while less than in most other fruits, helps regulate bowel movements and may thus reduce the risk of colon cancer. They may also help with heart disease, weight loss, and controlling cholesterol, as they do not have any cholesterol, have fiber, which reduces cholesterol by preventing reabsorption, and are bulky for their caloric content like most fruits and vegetables.

There is evidence that in vitro apples possess phenolic compounds which may be cancer-protective and demonstrate antioxidant activity. The predominant phenolic phytochemicals in apples are quercetin, epicatechin and procyanidin B2.

Apple juice concentrate has been found to increase the production of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in mice, providing a potential mechanism for the "prevent[ion of] the decline in cognitive performance that accompanies dietary and genetic deficiencies and aging." Other studies have shown an "alleviat[ion of] oxidative damage and cognitive decline" in mice after the administration of apple juice.

The seeds are mildly poisonous, containing a small amount of amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside; usually not enough to be dangerous to humans, but it can deter birds.
We've all heard that "an apple a day will keep the doctor away." While it will certainly take more than a daily apple to keep you healthy, it is a step in the right direction. Apples are delicious, easy to carry for snacking, low in calories, a natural mouth freshener, and they are still very inexpensive.

Apple Nutrition Info

Apples are a highly nutritious and cleansing fruit. They are a good source of vitamins A and B1 and rich in a number of minerals including potassium, calcium, phosphorus and sodium, and the bioflavonoid quercetin.

The fruit is rich in pectin, which can help reduce high cholesterol levels and remove toxic metals such as lead and mercury from the body; it is very beneficial for intestinal problems and it binds radioactive residues and excretes them from the body. In addition, apple juice is very cleansing for the liver and gall bladder.

It is a good idea to eat apples with their skin. Almost half of the vitamin C content is just underneath the skin. Eating the skin also increases insoluble fiber content. Most of an apple's fragrance cells are also concentrated in the skin and as they ripen, the skin cells develop more aroma and flavor.

Interesting Facts

• Apples come in all shades of reds, greens, yellows.
• 2500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.
• 7500 varieties of apples are grown throughout the world.
• The science of apple growing is called pomology.
• Apple trees take four to five years to produce their first fruit.
• Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit.
• In Europe, France, Italy and Germany are the leading apple producing countries.
• Apples are a member of the rose family.

Types of Apple

There are hundreds of varieties of apples on the market today, although most people have only tasted one or two of the most popular such as Pink Ladies, Red Delicious or Granny Smiths. Apples can be sweet, tart, soft and smooth or crisp and crunchy, depending on the one you choose. There is an apple to suit almost everyone's taste so have an apple today!

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

Kayu Manis Restaurant

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Kiwi Fruit

Kiwi Fruit

This fruit consists of a hairy, brown peel containing green flesh, with white pulp in the center, surrounded by black, edible seeds. The fruit has a sweet taste, similar to a mixture of banana, pineapple and strawberry. Kiwi fruits are native to China, where they were called "macaque peach".

Kiwi fruits owe their name to a bird, native of New Zealand, named "kiwi", and actually in many regions of Europe, North America and South America, kiwi fruits are generally referred to as "kiwi".

Kiwi is a highly nutritional fruit. It is a rich source of vitamin C. It provides more vitamin C than an orange and more fiber than an apple. Amongst many other things, Vitamin C helps to boost resistance to disease by supporting the immune system, is necessary to form collagen and is a powerful antioxidant. Kiwifruit is a rich source of vitamin C, 1.5 times the DRI scale in the US. Its potassium content by weight is slightly less than that of a banana. It also contains vitamin A and E. The skin is a good source of flavonoid antioxidants. The kiwifruit seed oil contains on average 62% alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid. Usually a medium size kiwifruit contains about 46 calories, 0.3 g fats, 1 g proteins, 11 g carbohydrates, 75 mg vitamins and 2.6 g dietary fiber.

Kiwifruit is often reported to have mild laxative effects, due to the high level of dietary fiber.

They are best eaten when they are firm, but not rock hard. They should give way slightly to pressure and are best peeled just before eaten. Nutritionally, kiwis are best eaten raw. To benefit from the high fiber content, Kiwis can actually be eaten with their skin on.

Raw kiwifruit is also rich in the protein-dissolving enzyme actinidin, (in the same family of thiol proteases as papain), which is commercially useful as a meat tenderizer but can be an allergen for some individuals. Specifically, people allergic to latex, papayas or pineapples are likely to also be allergic to kiwifruit. The fruit also contains calcium oxalate crystals in the form of raphides. Reactions to these chemicals include sweating, tingling and sore mouth; swelling of the lips, tongue and face; rash; vomiting and abdominal pain; and, in the most severe cases, breathing difficulties, wheezing and collapse. The most common symptoms are unpleasant itching and soreness of the mouth, with the most common severe symptom being wheezing. Severe symptoms are most likely to occur in young children.

This enzyme makes raw kiwifruit unsuitable for use in desserts containing milk or any other dairy products which are not going to be served within hours, because it soon begins to digest milk proteins. This applies to gelatin-based desserts as well, as the actinidin will dissolve the collagen proteins in gelatin very quickly, either liquifying the dessert, or preventing it from solidifying. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture suggests that cooking the fruit for a few minutes before adding it to the gelatin will overcome this effect. Sliced kiwifruit has long been regularly used as a garnish atop whipped cream on New Zealand's national dessert, the pavlova.

Kiwifruit also serves as a natural blood thinner. A recent study performed at the University of Oslo in Norway reveals that—similar to popular mainstream aspirin therapy—consuming two to three kiwifruit daily for 28 days significantly thins the blood, reducing the risk of clots, and lowers fat in the blood that can cause blockages.

The kiwifruit skin is edible and contains high amounts of dietary fiber. In a fully matured kiwifruit one study showed that this as much as tripled the fiber content of the fruit. In addition, as many of the vitamins are stored immediately under the skin, leaving the skin intact greatly increases the vitamin C consumed by eating a single piece of kiwifruit when compared to eating it peeled. As with all fruit, it is recommended that if eating the skin, the fruit be washed prior to consumption.
Studies have proven that kiwifruits are useful in improving conditions of asthmatic children, and in decreasing the probability of colon cancer by providing a good amount of dietary fiber, for more information please refer to our kiwifruit health benefits page.

Source: http://kiwi-fruit.info/