Pineapple Fried Rice

Hawaii Pineapples
One of the things Hawaii is famous for is its pineapple production. Pineapple is a delicious fruit and is known worldwide for its sweet taste. The fruit was first called “anana,” a Caribbean word for “excellent fruit.” Hawaiians called it “halakahiki,” which means “foreign fruit.”

The Fruit’s Origins
The pineapple, believed to have its origins in Paraguay or Brazil, was loaded on trade ships and taken to distant places like China, India, Australia, and Mexico in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is believed that the pineapple first arrived on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1527.

A ripe pineapple is one that has green leaves and a firm body. A large pineapple doesn’t mean that it is riper or better tasting. Also, the color of the outer shell doesn’t indicate the state of ripeness, for even a pineapple that is green outside can be ripe inside.

A pineapple won’t become sweeter or riper after being picked. Therefore, it is best to eat a pineapple as soon as possible after its purchase. If you plan to store it for a few days, it is best to keep it in the refrigerator to preserve its freshness.

A pineapple is ripe if one of its top leaves can easily be pulled out.

Hawaiian pineapple plantations produce almost a third of the world’s crop and supply about 60 percent of canned pineapple products.

Pineapple Fried rice
Fried rice is a wonderful way to use leftover cooked rice as well as any leftover meat. You may cook the rice ahead and simply reheat and place in pineapple shells when guests arrive. You may substitute canned pineapple for a simpler family version at home.

Serve fried rice in hollowed-out pineapple, this makes an excellent presentation.

Das
3 bowl cooked rice
1 whole pineapple
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 piece chicken breast
200gm shrimps
1/2 bowl slice button mushrooms
1/2 bowl frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
Salt or to taste
Dash of sesame oil
Dash of pepper
Garnishing
Slice red chillies
Coriander leaves

1/  Shelled and deveined the shrimp. Season with 1 tbsp soya sauce and dash of pepper, keep aside. 
2/  Cut the pineapple in half lengthwise and remove the fruit from the middle. Cut out the eyes and core. Set the pineapple shell aside. Dice the pineapple fruit. Dry the diced pineapple with paper towels.

3/  To cook the chicken breasts, in a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups water with 1 tsp salt to a boil and cook the chicken for about 15 minutes. Cut the cooked chicken into 1/2-inch diced pieces.
4/  Heat a wok until very hot. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and tilt the wok to coat the sides. Add the eggs. Cook and stir until the eggs are thickened throughout but still moist. Remove the eggs from the wok and set aside.

5/  Reheat the wok until very hot. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and tilt to coat the sides of the wok. Add the garlic and onion and stir-fry until slightly brown.
6/  Add the prawns, button mushroom and stir fry for one minute. Add  frozen vegetables, 1 tsp salt and stir fry until prawns is cooked. Remove from heat and keep aside.

7/  Wash and dry the wok, heat up the wok and add 1 tbsp oil. Pour in the cooked rice and stir fry for 2 minutes. If you cannot stir-fry fast enough, reduce the heat so the rice will not burn.
8/  Stir in the soy sauce and continue stirring until the rice is mixed well with the soy sauce.
9/ Stir in the shrimp, chicken, eggs and add 1 tsp of salt or to taste.

Light soya sauce enhances the flavor, color of the vegetables and other ingredients.

10/ Stir-fry for 2 minutes, or until the entire mixture is well mixed. Stir in the pineapple cubes, sesame oil, pepper and mixed well.
11/ Rinse the pineapple shell with boiling water; dry with paper towels.

12/ Scoop the fried rice into the pineapple shell, cover the rice with the pineapple lid. Remove it just before serving.

Garnished with cut chilli and coriander leaves. If you like, decorate the plate with fresh rose petals and jasmine flowers for the lovely floral scent.

World's most famous Hawaiian. Guess who?

This is my simple and fragrant pineapple fried rice.

This fried rice can be a  little sweet, you can counter it by adding slice chillies.

 From CNN

And now for dessert..... Dragon Fruit combo

Dragon fruits, are native to Mexico, Central America, and South America. Currently, they are also cultivated in East Asian and Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Thailand,Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Indonesia and more recently Bangladesh. They are also found in Okinawa, Hawaii, Israel, northern Australia, southern China and in Cyprus. The fruit was probably introduced by Europeans who brought it from the New World.

Dragon fruit trees

The dragon fruit
The Pitaya is more commonly referred to as the dragon fruit. It is an extremely beautiful fruit that has dazzling flowers and an intense shape and color. The dragon fruit is usually a dark red color, although some types of this fruit are pink or yellow. The skin of the dragon fruit is a thin rind. The skin is usually covered in scales, and the center of the fruit is made up of a red or white, sweet tasting pulp.

And now for dessert.......Dragon Fruit Combo

Ingredients
1 dragon fruit
1 ripe mango
1 pomegranate fruit
150gm cooked chick peas
1 small bunch snow pea sprouts
Lettuce

Arrange all the fruits in a bowl and serve immediately.

For fruit dressing
3 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp honey
1 tsp Nu Stevia Vanilla or vanilla extract
1 tsp Nu Stevia prebiotic blend or 1 tsp sugar
Dash of pepper

1/  Mix all the dressing ingredients together and chill in the fridge.
2/  Serve with dragon fruit combo.

Health Benefits of Dragon Fruit

Dragon Fruit Cholesterol 
Keeping a heart healthy low cholesterol diet? Don't worry about your cholesterol. Dragon fruit cholesterol is not an issue. Dragon fruit is both low in cholesterol and has little to no unhealthy cholesterol producing fats (certain fats which are metabolized to cholesterol contribute to increased cholesterol levels more than even cholesterol itself in food sources of cholesterol).

Dragon Fruit Vitamin C
The amount of vitamin C in dragon fruit is high, and because the dragon fruit is a natural fruit providing you with a rich balance of nutrients coming along with the vitamin C, you absorb the Vitamin C in dragon fruit efficiently when you eat dragon fruit as part of your fruit healthy diet.

Oppss, wrong picture.

Dragon Fruit Antioxidants
Eat dragon fruit as a good natural source of anti-oxidants which help to prevent the dangers of free radicals which can cause cancer and other undesirable health detriments.The number, quantity, and variety of antioxidants in real foods like dragon fruit is completely unmatched by any food supplement or pills - even those claiming to have 'antioxidant' health benefits. Nothing compares to the rich array of nutrients and antioxidants in a real natural food like the dragon fruit.

Dragon Fruit Fiber
Dietary fiber is an important nutrition factor for everyone from young to old, and the best way to get dietary fiber is to eat fruits and vegetables including fruits like the dragon fruit. As you might expect, like many fruits, dragon fruit has lots of dietary fiber with almost 1g of fiber per 100g of the fresh dragon fruit. The health benefits of dragon fruit fiber are just one other example of the reason that eating natural sources of nutrients is superior to getting them from pills and supplements.

 

Flowers are our greatest silent friends.
Have a fabulous week ahead.
Amelia

A dish and dessert to impress hubby or lover

One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.

Not sure if this fish is Nemo's cousin!

If you want to cook an elegant dish without the effort, then try making fish wrapped in banana leaves. This dish looks professional and hard to make, but it requires little effort. The most complicated part about making this dish involves making the marinade to add flavor.

Banana leaves not only good for wrapping fish, whatever.... but........

Banana leaves help create a package to hold the marinade and fish together to ensure that the marinade soaks well into the fish. Although you can use aluminum foil to cook fish in the same fashion, banana leaves add a natural fragrance and appearance to any dish.

This traditional method for grilling fish uses a banana leaf to hold the fish together, steam it to perfection, while allowing the great smoke flavor to gently soak into the package. This is a great way of grilling fish that is delicate because the banana leaf holds it all together and lets you add anything you want to the packet.

Grilled Fish In Banana Leaves
1 white snapper 500gm -scaled and gutted
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp curry powder
2 stalk lemon grass - cut into 2 inch and pound it slightly
few slices of ginger
1/2 lemon - slice thinly
1 tbsp vegetable oil
banana leaves

Garnishing
1/2 onion - slice thinly
2 bird eyes chilli or 1 red chilli
Coriander leaves
Lemon

1/  Clean and pat dry the snapper with a paper towel. Remove any hard fins that might poke you later at the dining table.
2/   Rub salt, pepper and curry powder over the surface and inside of the fish. Massage the fish with 1 tbsp oil. Stuff the fish with lemongrass, ginger and  lemon. Dress up the fish with few slices of ginger and 3 slices of lemon. Chill in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours.

3/  Preheat grill. Take a banana leaf large enough to wrap the fish (you can cut up the fish if you can't find a large enough leaf) and wash it thoroughly.
4/  Blanch the banana leaf in hot water for a few seconds to soften it. Dry the banana leave with kitchen towel.  Brush vegetable oil over the part of the leaf that will be in contact with the fish.

5/  Place the fish on the banana leaf and fold leaf to completely enclose the fish. Secure with toothpicks or skewers.
6/  Place the package on a medium hot grill and cook on each side for about 8 to 10 minutes depend on the fish size. Best to use out door BBQ pit to grill the fish.

7/  Watch carefully to prevent the banana leaf from burning. It will blacken in parts but it shouldn't be allowed to burn through.

8/  After about 10 minutes remove the packet from the grill  and gently open enough to test the fish for doneness.
9/  The fish should flake easy with a fork and have an opaque appearance through to the center. If the fish isn't done, secure the package and return to the grill.
10/  When the fish is done transfer it to a serving platter and serve. Garnish with slice onion,  fresh chilli and coriander leaves. Drizzle the chilli lime sauce just before serving.

Chilli Lime Sauce
1 bunch coriander leaves - chopped
3 red chillies - remove seed
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tbsp water
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp sugar or to taste

1/ Combine coriander leaves, chillies, garlic, lime juice and blend into a paste.
2/ Add salt & sugar to taste,  mix well.

Something interesting about bananas. The origins of banana.
Archeologists have focused on the Kuk valley of New Guinea around 8,000 BCE (Before Common Era) as the area where humans first domesticated the banana. Additionally, though this is the first known location of banana domestication, other spontaneous domestication projects may have occurred throughout the Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Therefore, Kuk is the first known instance of banana domestication, but it is probably not the cradle from which all other domesticated species sprang.

From New Guinea, the Kuk domesticated variety appears to have spread to the Philippines, and then radiated widely across the tropics. In general, however, it can be said that bananas originated in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific around 8,000 to 5,000 BCE. From New Guinea and the Philippines, bananas dispersed far and wide across the tropics, in all directions.

Huli tribe people of Papua New Guinea. Might be tricky having a husband with that nose ornament in bed.

It is probable that bananas arrived in India, Indonesia, Australia, and Malaysia, within the first two millennia after domestication. Buddhist literature notes the existence of the banana in 600 BCE, and when Alexander the Great’s expeditions led him to India in 327 BCE, he stumbled across the fruit.

Thai floating market, selling fried banana

Perhaps most surprising, the banana may have arrived in South America well ahead of Europeans, as early as 200 BCE, carried by sailors of Southeast Asian origin. By the 15th and 16th century, Portuguese sailors were establishing the crop throughout Brazil, where it likely spread to the sugar plantation economies of the New World and the Caribbean.

Location is important when doing business.

And now for dessert............

Deep-fried Banana
6 pieces ripe banana
3/4 cup self raising flour
1/4 cup corn flour
1 tbsp rice flour
2 tbsp grated coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1/8 tsp slaked lime ( optional )
170mls cold water

 Crispy fried banana

Coating
1/2 cup rice flour
2 tbsp grated coconut

1/  Sift self raising flour, corn flour, rice flour and baking powder together.
2/  Add grated coconut, salt, slaked lime and water, mix into a smooth batter.
3/  Mix the 1/2 cup coating rice flour with 2 tbsp grated coconut to resemble bread crumb. Keep aside.
4/  Peel and slice the banana into half.

Serve ice cream with canned lychee and fried banana. One of the most awesome combination.

Lychee tree

Lychee fruits

5/  Heat oil in the wok or pot until very hot.
6/  Dip the banana in the batter and then gently coat them on the rice flour-coconut mixture. Carefully slide the coated banana into the hot oil.
7/  Fry the banana using medium heat to prevent burning.
8/  Fry till golden brown, remove from heat and drain on the kitchen towel.

Pink vanilla ice cream
Ingredients
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
2 cup whip cream
2 tsp vanilla extract ( I use homemade)
1 stick vanilla bean
few drop of pink coloring

Life is like a scoop of ice cream. Even the last drop of ice cream is sweet and enjoyed by one who really likes and loves it.

Method
1/ Split open the vanilla bean, scrape out the tiny seeds, keep aside.
2/ Mix the milk, and sugar cook in medium flame until sugar melt.
3/ Cook until you see small bubbles at the side, turn fire to low but don't let it boil.
4/ Use a hand whisk to beat the eggs lightly. Take 1 cup of the hot milk mixture and add it to the eggs, whisking all the time to prevent the eggs curdle.

5/ Then pour the entire egg mixture to the milk mixture. Add the vanilla seed and vanilla pod. Continue cooking until the mixture thicken and coats the back of the ladle.
6/ Remove from stove and let it cool. Add vanilla extract and whip cream, stir till well blend. Remove the vanilla pod.
7/ Cover the ice cream mixture with cling wrap and leave in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.
8/ Making ice cream can be done without the use of ice cream maker. An electric mixer or food processor can be used to break up the ice crystals during the freezing process.

Dip the fried banana with half melted ice cream, wooooweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..............LOL

 9/  After 4 hours, beat the ice cream mixture with electric mixer/ processor for 5 mins until thick and smooth. Cover with cling wrap and chill in the freezer for 2 hours.
10/  Remove from freezer and beat the ice cream mixture again for 5 mins, chill in freezer again. Repeat step 9 and 10 for 3 times in order to obtain a smooth and creamy  texture.

11/ The ice cream should be thick but soft to scoop. If not thick enough return to freezer for additional freezing time and beat the mixture again.
12/ Once ice cream thickened properly, stir in any condiment of your choice and mix well.
13/ Pour the ice cream mixture in air tight container and freeze till set.

Give a man a fish and he has food for a day. Teach him how to fish and you can get rid of him for the entire weekend.
Have a wonderful week ahead, enjoy.