Some Important Banana Facts

In order to learn about some important banana facts, we should first learn about the origin of this fantastic fruit.

• Bananas come from the Indo-Malaysian region; it slowly reached northern Australia.

• Common names for which people have used to refer to bananas are 'Banana', 'Plantain', 'Curro', 'Bananier Nain', and 'Canbur'.

• The most vital banana facts that will always remain true is that it consists of high vitamin contents and calorie enrichment.

• Banana plants are the world's fourth largest crop. It is grown typically in a hot, moist area. Ten months of hot temperature is needed to produce the fruit's flowers. Banana plants require protection from the wind, sunlight, and extreme temperatures.

• Other important banana facts: Banana plants grow from rhizomes in the ground. They grow from the middle of the stem after 10 to 15 months.

• Banana plants can grow up to nine feet in length and two feet in width. The leaves of banana plants come out from the centre of the stalk and stretch outwards. The inflorescence of the banana coming out from the middle of the plant first looks like a long, oval-shaped, purple-colored bud. From there, the flowers gradually appear.

• The first five to fifteen rows of bananas are female. These first females contain ovaries and grow quickly into groups of fruits, also called 'hands'. The number of hands that will grow will depend on the types and species of bananas.

• Bananas generally turn from dark green to red or yellow. The flavor of the fruit may be sweet or mild. Some bananas may have seeds and some may be seedless.

• Bananas requires generous warmth and would be best if grown alongside an asphalt or cement construction, such as a building or a walkway.

• Banana plants require protection from heavy wind and high temperatures. Support for the banana plant is required when the fruits are starting to appear.

• Banana plants grow in almost all types of soil, but a well-drained, rich soil is good. An acid soil is preferred with a pH between 6.5 and 5.5.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_J_Lee

Chili For Side Dish and Health

Chili as spicy fruit is used widely as a flavor cuisine around the world. Asia Food like Indian, Malaysian, Indonesian, Singaporean, Philippines, and Sri Lanka Food use a lot of chili at their daily cuisine and also as ingredient of "sambal" (chili sauce). Sambal is eaten as a condiment or as a side dish. Many types of sambal will vary in taste and spiciness. It can be very hot for the uninitiated.

Below are some popular sambal types in Indonesia:
1. Sambal Bajak (Badjak): Chili (or another kind of red pepper) fried with oil, garlic, trassi, candlenut and other condiments
2. Sambal belacan (the Malay style sambal): Chili is pounded together with toasted Shrimp paste (belacan) in a stone mortar.
3. Sambal Terasi, similar to sambal belacan but it has stronger flavor. It is made from red chili,oil, garlic, trassi, candlenuts and other condiments.
4. Sambal Mangga: shredded young mango is added to freshly ground Sambal Trassi, usually eat together with roasted seafood.
5. Sambal Balado (Minangkabau style Sambal): Green chili sauteed with oil, shallot, garlic, green tomato, lime/lemon juice, and salt.
6. Sambal Kecap Manis: dominant taste is sweet (in Indonesian language: sweet=manis, kecap=soy sauce)
7. Sambal Udang: Chili fried with oil, garlic and shrimps.

Chili plant is belonging to the Solanaceae family plant. Most often used of Chili plant species are include Capsicum Annuum, Capsicum Frutescens, Capsicum Chinense, Capsicum Pubescens, and Capsicum Baccatum. Chillies contain a chemical compound called Capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-nonenamide). Beside Capsaicin, chili also contain many compounds which are similar to the capsaicin compound, called Capsaicinoids.

When eaten chili, Capsaicinoids compound is bonded with pain receptor in the mouth and throat causing hot taste. Receptor then will send a signal to the brain say that something spicy has been eaten. The brain will respond this signal by increasing heartbeat, transpiration, and release the endorfin hormone.

Red Chilies contain vitamin C in large numbers, also contain Carotene (pro-vitamin A). In the yellow and green chilies, vitamin C & Carotene are not too high.

Chili also has benefits for the body health, which are:

a. the experiment in the laboratory with the mice has shown that capsaicin able to kill cancer cells
b. from the latest research, it indicates that capsaicin is able to lose weight of obesity people.
c. in the experimental mice's pancreas suffering from diabetes, capsaicin is used to kill nerve cells , this allows the cells that produce insulin start to produce more insulin.
d. The process of cardiovascular risk can be slow down by the foods that contain chili.
e. Chili is considered capable of controlling the pollution in the food microbes.
f. Some research shows that capsaicin has an anti Ulcer protection benefit in the stomach infected by H. pylori bacteria.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Merry_I.

Chicken Laksa Recipe - Make Flavorsome Malaysian Curry Noodles at Home

Laksa is a Malaysian Curry served with noodles.

This recipe is for a chicken curry cooked with coconut milk, prawns, lemon grass, chilies and tofu. Sprinkled with crunchy bean sprouts and spring onions and served on top of noodles. The flavors in the laksa curry are amazing. This recipe is very easy to make once you have gathered the essential ingredients.

A Laksa recipe has a lot of ingredients in it. This recipe gives out a authentic laksa flavor, so try not to substitute or omit certain ingredients. If you haven't tried a laksa before, you must try this recipe. It is a great way to have chicken and noodles.

The ingredients for this laksa recipe are

* 750gms-1 Kg of chicken (on the bone cut into 12 pieces)

Blend together the following with little water

* 3 medium onions
* 4 Tbsp chopped ginger and garlic
* 3 Tbsp dry prawns
* 3 Tbsp roasted peanuts (unsalted)
* 2 fresh red chillies (These chilies are very hot, so use carefully).

Other ingredients are

* 3 Tbsp oil
* 1 Tsp turmeric powder
* 2 Tsp coriander powder
* 2 Tsp shrimp paste or dried shrimp powder
* 1 Tbsp sesame oil
* 3-4 stalks of crushed lemon grass (6 inches from root, not the leaves)
* 200ml coconut milk (ready made).
* 1 Tsp kashmiri red chili powder (it's not hot, it's just to enhance the color. You can use any other mild paprika for the color).
* 1 Tbsp lime or lemon juice
* 1 Tsp red wine vinegar
* 2 Tsp sugar
* 100gm tofu (bean curd-fried and cut into 1cm x 1 ½ inch pieces)
* 100gm bean sprouts
* 6-7 spring onions chopped
* Noodles 1 packet (any egg noodles)

Boil the chicken in 1 liter of water, till it is cooked. Remove the pieces from the water and reduce the water to about 750 ml. This will form the stock.

Heat the oil in a big pan and fry the blended paste. Add turmeric, coriander, shrimp paste, sesame oil, lemon grass and red chili powder. Fry till dry and the oil separates from the paste.

Add the chicken pieces, stir for a few minutes. Strain the stock into this.

Bring to a boil (don't worry if the chicken gets a bit overcooked, it should be that way).

Reduce the heat and add the coconut milk, lime juice, vinegar, sugar and some salt. Followed by the tofu.
Stir a little.The gravy should be almost watery (although the coconut milk will make it a little dense).

So if need be add a little hot water. Simmer some more.

Meanwhile, boil the noodles and strain. Save the strained water from the noodles in a bowl.

Put the bean sprouts in a strainer and pour this water on it.

To serve, put the noodles in a deep bowl. Top it with the chicken laksa and lots of gravy.

Sprinkle with the bean sprouts and spring onions. Eat it hot.

Enjoy the taste and flavor of this malaysian recipe.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Manila_Williams

Petai and Assorted Beans With Abalone Sauce Recipe

Parkia speciosa is also known as petai or sataw, is a famous bean in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei. Some people also called it bitter bean because of its bitter taste. Petai tree normally grow wildly in the jungle and forest. The tree can commonly be found in South East Asia jungle and forest. Nowadays, due to commercialize reason, people start to cultivate it in orchards.

Research shows that petai contain high protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, phosphorus, Vitamin A, B1, B2 and C. The nutritious content of petai depends on its size and freshness. In Malay traditional medical treatment, they believe that petai is effective in remedying heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease and also children stomach worms. Some people may not like petai due to its strong smell. Petai contains certain amino acids that can produce a strong smell. We could sense whether someone has taken petai from the strong smell of his or her urine.

Petai can be taken raw, fried and pickled. Petai is also treated as viand (In Malays, it is called ulam) by some of its lovers. In Malaysia, the cooks usually like to fry petai with garlic, dried shrimp and chili peppers. In Thai, petai is used as a main ingredient in Thai Green Curry. In Indonesia, petai is not a strange name to those people who live in the mountainous regions of Java.

Sambal petai is one of the famous foods in Malaysia. It is also my favorite food. However, in this article, I would like to share with you the recipe of fried petai and assorted beans with abalone sauce.

Ingredients:
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 tablespoon garlic (chopped)
• 2 tablespoons dried shrimp (soaked)
• 100g petai beans
• 100g long beans (cut in 3cm length)
• 100g lady's fingers (sliced)
• 100g four-angle beans (sliced)
• 1 red chili (sliced)

Seasoning:
• 1 tablespoon of Abalone Sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Methods:
1) Heat up oil in wok and then put four-angle beans, long beans, petai beans and lady's fingers into wok.
2) Deep fry the assorted beans for 1 minute. Dish it up and put it aside.
3) Heat up 2 tablespoons oil. Sauté chopped garlic and dried shrimps until fragrant.
4) Add in the fried assorted bean (step 2) and stir fry until well mixed.
5) Serve hot.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ken_Abhisit

Night Feeder of Kuala Lumpur

Ever having the urges to eat at night? But can’t help it and grumbles your way
through the night losing much needed sleep! If you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur you
need not worry because there’s the ‘pasar malam’ the local night market that sells almost
everything cheap! At the ‘pasar malam’ you can find all kinds of food, cooked or raw, fruits, vegetables, clothes, and even toys for your kids.

You can also head towards the ‘warong Mamak’ an Indian Muslim eatery that serves
special kind of soups, the ‘Torpedo Soup’ and the ‘Gearbox Soup’ after hours, the hot
tasty ‘Torpedo Soup’. It’s a local favourite aphrodisiac! The ‘Gearbox Soup’ is made
of cow’s bone marrow and will certainly warm up your blood in the chill Kuala Lumpur
night. There’s also the ‘kopitiam’ a Chinese colonial era type of eatery to cater the
nostalgic taste buds that crave old-fashioned cooking serving Chinese teas even to a shark
fins soup. Entering a ‘kopitiam’ means go inside the 1950 and 1960 era with the jukebox
and the golden oldies memorabilia dominating the interior bringing back the comfort as
you walk the memory lane. You can’t help it but to think of the Beatles as you sip the hot
Chinese teas in the middle of the cold Kuala Lumpur night when the song ‘Ob-La-Di,
Ob-La-Da’ went on playing at the jukebox making your heart filled with wonderful
emotions and stomach full of delicious foods. If are you still hungry you can still go to
the many street hawkers of Kuala Lumpur particularly located in the famous tourist hot
spots the Chinatown or popularly known as the Petaling Street which cater to all sort of
diverse cooking from the Chinese ‘dim-sum’ to the Malay ‘satay’, the street hawkers of
Petaling Street opened till late night warming the chill night with their hot fragrant
cooking sending mouth watering aromas into the air, which will make you just drool over
the good Malaysian foods.

If you’re lucky you might spot a Lion Dance in Petaling Street, a group dance of two or
four people adorn in a dragon suits.

When you finished with Petaling Street you can also go straight to Little India located at
Jalan Masjid India there you’ll find an abundance of spicy Indian cooking like the
chapatti and ‘Tandorri chicken’ that will spice up your cold boring night as you most
probably enjoyed Indian cultures at work like ‘Thaipusam’ , ‘Ponggal’ festival and
‘Deepavali’ when you eat there at the right time and night. So if you happen to be in KL
and in the night don’t be afraid, be adventurous and try all the Malaysian delicacie.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rohana_Ismail