Miang Kam

I love Miang Kam, which is a Thai partly raw snack slash appetizer. The picture here shows the appetizer without the sticky dark syrup.

Miang kam consists of fresh cha plu (ช้าพลู) leaves that are filled with some roasted coconut shavings and few small pieces of the following ingredients:

• onion
• Fresh small Thai red chilli
• Ginger
• Garlic
• Unpeeled lime
• roasted peanuts
• Dry small shrimp

After filling the leaf, a little coconut palm syrup containing Thai fish sauce (nam pla) is poured on top. Then the leaf is folded and eaten whole. The origin of the name is in “eating many things in one bite”; from “miang” (เมี่ยง), meaning “food wrapped in leaves”, and “kham” (คำ), “a bite”.

The cha plu leaves or the Daun Kadok leaves (as we call it in Malaysia)

Apparently, this leaf is good for relieving toothaches, heal malaria fever, getting rid of worm infection, strengthen weak bodies and eliminating coughs.

If this single leaf can do so much, imagine what the Miang Kam can do. It’s power packed with nuts (protein), ginger (good for getting rid of mucus and it’s a cancer fighting leaf) chili (to warm the body up and get rid of intestinal parasites), coconut (good oil and roughage), onion (treatment of poor appetite, strengthen bones  and to prevent atherosclerosis), lime (weight loss, skin care, good digestion, relief from constipation, eye care, and treatment of scurvy, piles, peptic ulcer) and dried shrimp (protein, excellent source of selenium, a very good source of vitamin D and vitamin B12.)

Here’s the recipe but it’s really time consuming to make these lil things cause you can only eat a few at a time so it’s best to buy it from a Thai restaurant or a Thai stall.

Directions

1. Dry roast the coconut in a wok on medium high, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Cook until the coconut is medium brown, about 5 minutes. Set aside the amount used for the sauce, and put the rest into a serving bowl.
2. Cut up all the ingredients which are not to be put into the sauce into small 1/4″ pieces. Arrange in small bowls, or in piles on a plate.
3. Now, for the sauce… In a stone mortar & pestle, pound together the shallots and galangal until fine. Set aside.
4. In a small sauce pan, add the water, fish sauce, palm sugar & shallot/galangal mixture.
5. Boil over medium heat to reduce the sauce to the thickness shown in the picture below. You’re going to boil off about 1/2 the liquid. Make sure to keep stirring every now and then.
6. Add the roasted coconut, remove from heat, and put into a small bowl.
7. To eat… Take a leaf and fold the bottom to make a pouch (see large pic above). Put a large pinch of roasted coconut in first, then follow with a piece or two of everything else from the serving bowls: shallots, lime, ginger, peanuts, shrimp and a chili if desired. There is no ‘proper’ order to put them in. Then, add a bit of sauce on top, roll the leaf to make a packet, and eat in one bite. Eating Mieng Kam is like a taste explosion.

Honestly, it’s a lot of work right? Anyways, there’s a lady who sells it really cheap the the SS2 night market every Monday if you are interested in trying it. Her stall is right across the Salvation bookstore, near McDonalds. They sell other types of Thai snacks too like the mango salad, sticky rice with mango and the fruit salad (rojak).

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More info on how to heal your body

• Should we drink chlorinated tap water?
• Lots of great raw or almost raw food here!
• “This plant healed my sister!” said hubby
• Gotu Kola heals the world!
• Iodine Tincture Heals Cancer Lesions?

I just heard that one of my friend’s kids was down with the H1N1 virus. My god! Is that bug still around?

It IS! So, recently, I find myself slacking when it comes to absolute hygiene. Not to say I’m a dirty person, but when the first H1N1 wave came in, I was pretty anal about bringing my kids out, washing hands 10 times a day, stuff like that. I was pretty alarm to say the least, and at that time, my kids were ill all the time, so I was deathly afraid their weak bodies would not be able to cope with something so dangerous.

Anyways, no prizes for telling me that we should all still be really careful.

Here’s what Kristen Suzanne, (a raw food chef) from Kristen’s Raw blog (who by the way is happily pregnant) tips on keeping oneself healthy. Those below and chugging green juice like there’s no tomorrow.

…After scouring the Internet for information on pregnant women and the seasonal / swine flus, I came have a list of things to do (I came up with most of these from Mothering.com’s forum):

Wash hands for 30 seconds with soap OFTEN (avoiding anti-bacterial gels). A good trick is to hum the “Happy Birthday” song three times while hand washing.
PLENTY OF REST!
Don’t touch face
Get Vitamin D!!! (I get mine from the sun, 15-25 minutes daily or every other day)
Gargle with warm salt water twice a day
Take warm salt water and dip a q-tip into it and swab the inside of nostrils daily (or use a neti pot)
Eat fresh, organic, raw garlic
Drink warm liquids
Consume plenty of vitamin C-rich foods
Stay hydrated
Avoid crowded places

In the old days, restaurants used to buy blocks of ice from ice vendors who would make ice probably from tap water. And once the blocks of ice is made, they would wrap the ice in saw dust before transporting them over to the restaurants in motorbikes and bicycles. Once the guys get the ice blocks, the would bring out the ice picks and hack away to make smaller pieces of ice to put into drinks.

Thankfully, that’s all in the past. Today, vendors are very professional. Their crew members run around all over town carrying clean ice cubes in large clear plastic bags stored in refrigerated vehicles. These guys bring in ice, once a day, twice a day, or even more, based on the quantity and frequency required.We may take things for granted, but they really provide an important service to the community. By offering clean ice to street vendors, for example, they are really reducing the level of food poisoning in the community. Think about it. I would cringe if I saw restaurant workers breaking up ice in kitchen sinks, and who knows, even at floor level if someone allowed them, at the back of the kitchen. It’s unsanitary, and you know, in the old days, nobody would have bat an eyelid because it was pretty much the norm.

Anyways, I’m just reminiscing, for it’s nice to look back and remember how it was done in the old days.

Some of the Atlas Edible Ice crew members. Atlas is one of the biggest ice manufacturers in Malaysia.
That’s one of the vehicles that carry ice, shown in the background.

My mum loves bread, and she loves butter and jam on it. We make healthful jam in my mum’s house. She’s just made a huge, huge batch of easy-to-do jammy marmalade about 2 weeks back. And our family loves coconut jam which is called “Kaya”  which uses a simple combo of coconut milk, brown sugar, pinch of salt and an egg.  So you see, there’s no preservatives involved.

I love Egyptian and Iranian dates

While I looked at the bottles of Marmalade jams my mum packed away to be given as gifts, I realise, there’s actually a healthier alternative to my mum’s super duper no preservatives jam. Raw, full of enzymes, fruit jam is what I recommend.

It’s so easy to do, and you don’t need a lot of fruit, just sulphite-free preservative dried fruits.

Just take a handful of dried fruits (I like sweet chewy dried mangos, dried apricots are great as well), soak in a bit of water overnight. Some of you may like to soak dried stone fruit in brandy or some other hoo hoo hoo alcoholic liquid, well, you can. Just let me turn away for a minute while you do that. Done? Ok. Then, whizz it in your mini blender with a little of the water you used to soak the fruit in. Add honey or some raw syrup of your choice to taste. That’s it. So simple and full of all the enzyme goodness not destroyed by heat.

Now, there’s actually all sorts of dried fruits sold. Most of the unusual ones are sold in exotic shops. Dried mangos can be found at Indian stores. Sweet whole dried oranges can be found at Chinese Medicine shops.  Luscious dates are imported from the Middle East. Just be sure to ask if it’s been preserved with sulfur dioxide. Sulfur dioxide has been used since the Greek and Roman times. However, this preservative has been known to cause problems for people who are prone to asthma so naturally dried fruit is still the best way to go. If you want raw dried fruits, not those that are dried in high heat, look for the word “dehydrated”. Look for the words “organic”, “preservative free” and “sulphite free” as well.

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More on raw food

• Super pepper, better than popping multivitamins?
• Not enough healthy food around? Here’s my tips
• Small plate of soy sauce packed with good stuff
• Peach so cheap!
• Protocol For Pineapple Parasite Cleanse
• Eating raw while I travel
• Raw, fresh Egyptian dates … yum!

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I was reading the 2nd page of the Star newspaper today, and I was quite troubled at what I had read.

The article said, Pharmaceutical firms view Malaysia as ideal location for research.

Additionally, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said priority could be given to such value-added (clinical) trials as Malaysia’s multi-ethnic composition represented a big portion of the global population.

University of Aberdeen Institute of Medical Science lecturer Professor Anne Glover said Malaysia could serve as a one-stop centre for clinical trials due to its multi-ethnic population.

“Pharmaceutical companies are interested to use the resources here,” she said.

Light moment: Najib at the meeting in Kuala Lumpur Monday.
With him are Science, Technology and Innovation Minister
Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili (left)
and the Prime Minister’s Science advisor
Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Zaharudin Idrus.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/17/nation/20091117070831&sec=nation

I checked the Business Times (belonging to New Straits Times)  and they quote the Prime Minister as saying, “Malaysia should give priority to “value add clinical trials” and “diagnostic trials” in the medicine field as the country has a plural society suitable to test the global market.

“We’ve Malays, Chinese, Indians, Sabahans and Sarawakians who represent the major global market. Malaysia is most suitable to conduct the study,” he said.”

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20091116144600/Article/index_html

Jasmin says,

What does this mean? Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the article mean that we, the Malaysian population are now targeted as guinea pigs for medical tests? Does it mean our bodies will be subjected to untested medicines and such?

And if it is, how will these companies test us? Will they be using the almost free Malaysian public health care as a vehicle to distribute the medicine and test their products on unsuspecting Malaysians. Will they inform the us beforehand that we will be targeted as guinea pigs or will they just quietly test us without our knowledge?

I’m really troubled about this. I would not want my family and I to be used in a clinical trial as who knows the ramifications of using untested drugs. Would you? Can someone care to enlighten me on this and tell me what I’m reading is right or wrong? I do hope I’m wrong, and maybe misinterpret the article.