When we think of super food, we usually think of blueberries or even exotic fruits such as acai berries coming from Brazil.
Dr. Zhimin Xu of Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge has new promising research on the health benefits of black rice.
He stated, “Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries, but with less sugar and more fiber and vitamin E antioxidants.”
Anthocyanin antioxidants are commonly found in such foods that are red, purple, or blue in color. Such as strawberries, grapes, red onion, and more.
These antioxidants have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer.
The only black rice I’m familiar with is Japonica Black rice and Chinese Black rice. We usually refer to them as purple rice. And it’s best cooked as rice pudding or other desserts.
Photo above is Lundberg’s Black Japonica rice, which is a mix of mahogany and black rice.
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Since I couldn’t get my hands on any lotus seeds, I was happy to find lotus roots instead. These were sold at the Asian market.
In Chinese medicine, lotus root is believed to improve appetite. Lotus roots is rich in iron, vitamins B and C.
I’ve always loved eating water lotus roots prepared as desserts. Usually mixed with black beans and coconut milk.
To prepare them all you have to do is wash it well. Scrape or peel off the skin. In this case, I just scraped it off with a knife. When sliced, the little air holes make for an interesting pattern. Reminds me of honeycomb cereal.
Once it’s sliced, you want to prevent them from turning brown. Just soak the slices in water with a bit of vinegar or lemon juice.
You can eat them raw as healthy snacks. The texture of lotus root reminds me of water chestnut. They are crunchy, but a bit bland. Tossing them into a salad would be a good idea.
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These are Champagne grapes, but not the kind used to make champagne. They are also known as miniature currant grapes and Corinth grapes.
I picked these up at Trader Joe’s. Grown in the U.S.A. and only $1.79 per pound. I love finding little surprises like this at Trader Joe’s.
I soak all my fruits and vegetables in a bowl of water and vinegar. They are delicate little grapes, so you have to be gentle when handling them.
Champagne grapes are seedless and easy to eat. They are slightly crunchy and tart, but is soon replaced with intense sweetness. Even the wrinkly ones are good too. It’s like eating raisins off the vine.
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From nature’s world of cactus, we have sisal. It is part of the cactus family of agave (Agave sisalana).
It’s not only used to make sisal rugs, but also other products such as hats, bags, cat scratch post, and much more.
The leaves have very pointy looking tips. They also produce flowers too. Photo from Wikipedia.
The plants are grown in large plantations in such places as Brazil. Sisal prefer tropical warm climate and is drought tolerate. They are propagated from bulbils or rhizomes from mature plants. They take about 3 to 5 years to mature and can produced leaves for up to 8 years. And like hemp, chemical fertilizer is not used in growing sisal. So that is a plus for sisal farmers.
The top 3 sisal producing countries are Brazil, Tanzania, and China. Other countries that produce and export sisal include South Africa and Kenya.
In sisal production, the leaves are dried, then brushed with a machine, and finally pressed into bales to be exported. Pretty simple but I’m sure is hard work!
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Water spinach goes by many names. Including Chinese water spinach, Chinese morning glory, and bindweed. In Singapore it’s called “water convolvulus”, a bit of a tongue twister. In Lao and Thai it’s called “Pak Bong”. The scientific name is Ipomoea aquatica.
Water spinach grows well emerged in water and also likes to live on land in wet to moist beds. They grow as a trailing plant. This photo shows kids hanging from water spinach.
Photo from Chinese Vegetable Seeds, UK.
Water spinach has always been one of my favorite Asian vegetables. Water spinach is rich in iron and provides a good source of vitamin A and dietary fiber.
They are easy to eat as they are not bitter. The hallow stems are crunchy making it perfect for sautéed in a light cooking oil. But it’s also good eaten raw as a side dish with other main dishes.
Ponds of water spinach during the summer is something neat to see as they start to have white morning glory like flowers.
Water spinach are now available at most Asian market. The leaves are dark green and shaped like arrow heads. They are sold in huge bunches either by the weight or individually.
I’ve heard that the local water spinach farmers use too much pesticides. And this makes me think twice about buying them unless I know where it comes from. So it’s probably best to try to grow your own water spinach.
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Since the World Cup is going on at the moment, it reminded me of a neat film I saw a few years ago. La Gran Final or The Great Match is by Spanish filmmaker Gerardo Olivares.
The film follows three different tribes from around the world: Mongolian nomads, the Tuareg of the Sahara (Niger’s Tenere desert), and the Indios of the Amazon (Brazil). They are all excited about watching the 2002 World Cup between Germany and Brazil. The adventure begins when they try to figure out a way to get to the nearest television set.
It’s a simple film which makes you laugh along with the characters. It also reminds you how much we have in common, despite our different way of living.
I think Olivares also wanted to show how globalization and the information age has reached even the most isolated people in the world. It’s also made me realize how much technology is a part of our life. It truly makes you feel like it’s a small world after all.
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A belated wish for a happy Lao New Year. Hope everyone had a nice celebration. I thought I post this Vimeo video made by the Sim. It always brings a smile to my face, seeing the many friendly faces of Laos, both young and old. And the beautiful Mekong River too.
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I am looking forward to catching the PBS special on April 7th - Prince Siddhartha of India. The documentary will look at the life of Prince Siddhartha, or more commonly known as the Buddha.
The bodhi tre and leaf is an important symbol in Buddhism. As Buddha achieved enlightenment while sitting under a bodhi tree. I took this photo many summers ago at a Buddhist temple in northern California.
The reclining statue of the Buddha in Uttar Pradesh. - Photo from PBS, The Story of India. There are also statues like this found in many Buddhist temples in Laos and Thailand.
Here is a little synopsis of Buddha’s life from the University of Minnesota, Mankato:
“The historical Buddha was born Prince Siddhatha Gotama in Kapilavatthu, near the present-day border of India and Nepal, on the May Full Moon day in 623 B.C. His parents, King Suddhodana and Queen Maya, had waited for a child for a long time. Everyone in the kingdom rejoiced at his birth.
At this time India already had a rich spiritual heritage. It had been prophesized there would soon be an ascetic who would realize the ultimate truth and become the greatest teacher. According the Hindu tradition, five days after his birth seven Brahmin priests came to the temple to name the baby using astrology and forecast his future by reading his body signs. Each of the Brahmins said this baby would become a universal monarch or leave his princely life to become a world spiritual leader. The youngest priest, Kondanna, was so confident that this was the future Buddha that he left the priesthood to wait in the forest for his future teacher.”
And here is the preview. Check your local listing here mark your calendar!
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Today is opening day of the Winter Olympics 2010 held in Vancouver, B.C. California’s governor Schwarzenegger kicked in the 106th and final day of the 28,00 mile torch relay by ending at BC Place Stadium.
And I happen to have a postcard of the stadium (from my last trip to Vancouver!). “BC Place and Vancouver skyline at night.” Printed by the Postcard Company.
I’m glad the city got to host the winter Olympics. Vancouver is one of my favorite cities in the world. It’s a very scenic city that’s great for people who like the outdoors, from nearby surroundings of the bay to the mountains. And the people there are always so friendly. I hope to visit Vancouver again sometime soon.
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The Japanese have been using buckwheat pillow for centuries. Buckwheat hull pillow provide firm and even support for your neck and back.  It has the ability to perfectly conform to the contours of our head. Thus resulting in better and sound sleep.
Buckwheat pillows can be expensive. So I decided to make my own using buckwheat hull and some linen fabrics. Having a zipper is also helpful as you can adjust the amount of hull for personal comfort. And with zipper openings, you can remove all the hulls before washing the pillow case.
The list of benefits for using buckwheat hull as pillow filling includes:
grown without pesticides as they are naturally pest resistant
biodegradable (can be composted and even used as mulch)
naturally hypoallergenic (for those allergic to feathers)
odorless, pest and fungus resistant
I used 100 % linen fabric and filled it with 1 lb of buckwheat hull. The hull is very light but feels substantial once stuffed inside the pillow. It may be a small pillow for most, but it works fine for me. Maybe it’s more of a travel pillow.
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