I live in a housing area which is rather far from a lot of things, especially commercial buildings/centres. It was a far cry from where my family house was, conveniently located near Mid Valley Mega Mall, where I lived for 20years of my life. It took me a while (and some cursing and swearing) to get used to our current place.
Imagine, our house was ready in 2004, and the neighbours moved in either 2004 and 2005. And in 2006, there were lots of babies born in our housing area (even my youngest was born that year). What does this tell you? The place is so far from most things so people prefer to stay home and *cough cough* after work, so lots of babies made were made!!
After living here for almost 6 years, I started enjoying the peace and quiet, and the greens surrounding the place, not to mention we have really super neighbours! Besides these, one of the other things that I like about this place is the wet market 8Km away from our place. Located at a kampung (Malay : village), it sells things cheaper than the normal town markets, and also you get some really kampung stuff that town markets may not have.
I befriend stall owners, and ask them for cooking tips on local produce. This is where I learnt to fry sweet basil omelette or fry bean curd pieces with onions and soya sauce to create tasty but cheap dishes.
And this is also where I learnt about Telosma Cordata (夜香花). An edible flower which releases its fragrance in the night (which explains its Chinese name, 'night fragrance flower'). Most elderly Chinese folks know about this flower, which is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins A and C, and is very good for the eyes.
According to google and also the stall owner selling this, you can fry an omelette with the flowers or drop it in pork soup and here is what I made with them, ikan bilis (Malay : dried anchovies) soup.
♥Recipe for Telosma Cordata Flower Soup (夜香花汤)♥
(The ingredient is an estimate, you can adjust it according to your own taste and preference)
Make 6 bowls of soup
You'll need 250g of Telosma Cordata Flowers
1/2 to 1 cup of ikan bilis
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
2 tbs of vegetable oil
2 litre of water
salt and pepper to taste
Method :
1) Wash the flower by gently rinsing under running water. Rinse the ikan bilis to get rid of any dirt or salt coating the fish.
2) Skin and slice the garlic and shallots into slivers.
3) Heat oil in a wok or a stock pot, and fry garlic, shallots and ikan bilis until fragrant. Pour in water and allow to boil, then turn down the heat to medium, cover the wok or pot and let the stock boil for 15~30minutes.
4) When stock is ready, add in salt and pepper to taste. Add in the telosma cordata flower, and let it boil for another 2minutes or until the flowers are cooked. If you want to add an egg to make it an egg drop soup, this is the time to beat in an egg.
5) If the you are not serving immediately, spoon out the flowers so that the flowers do not get overcooked. Serve soup with flower.
You'll be surprised. The soup has been sweatened by the flowers as though flavouring or MSG has been added, and the flowers, a little crunchy, is also very tasty.
Imagine, our house was ready in 2004, and the neighbours moved in either 2004 and 2005. And in 2006, there were lots of babies born in our housing area (even my youngest was born that year). What does this tell you? The place is so far from most things so people prefer to stay home and *cough cough* after work, so lots of babies made were made!!
After living here for almost 6 years, I started enjoying the peace and quiet, and the greens surrounding the place, not to mention we have really super neighbours! Besides these, one of the other things that I like about this place is the wet market 8Km away from our place. Located at a kampung (Malay : village), it sells things cheaper than the normal town markets, and also you get some really kampung stuff that town markets may not have.
I befriend stall owners, and ask them for cooking tips on local produce. This is where I learnt to fry sweet basil omelette or fry bean curd pieces with onions and soya sauce to create tasty but cheap dishes.
And this is also where I learnt about Telosma Cordata (夜香花). An edible flower which releases its fragrance in the night (which explains its Chinese name, 'night fragrance flower'). Most elderly Chinese folks know about this flower, which is rich in carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins A and C, and is very good for the eyes.
According to google and also the stall owner selling this, you can fry an omelette with the flowers or drop it in pork soup and here is what I made with them, ikan bilis (Malay : dried anchovies) soup.
♥Recipe for Telosma Cordata Flower Soup (夜香花汤)♥
(The ingredient is an estimate, you can adjust it according to your own taste and preference)
Make 6 bowls of soup
You'll need 250g of Telosma Cordata Flowers
1/2 to 1 cup of ikan bilis
2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
2 tbs of vegetable oil
2 litre of water
salt and pepper to taste
Method : 1) Wash the flower by gently rinsing under running water. Rinse the ikan bilis to get rid of any dirt or salt coating the fish.
2) Skin and slice the garlic and shallots into slivers.
3) Heat oil in a wok or a stock pot, and fry garlic, shallots and ikan bilis until fragrant. Pour in water and allow to boil, then turn down the heat to medium, cover the wok or pot and let the stock boil for 15~30minutes.
4) When stock is ready, add in salt and pepper to taste. Add in the telosma cordata flower, and let it boil for another 2minutes or until the flowers are cooked. If you want to add an egg to make it an egg drop soup, this is the time to beat in an egg.
5) If the you are not serving immediately, spoon out the flowers so that the flowers do not get overcooked. Serve soup with flower.
You'll be surprised. The soup has been sweatened by the flowers as though flavouring or MSG has been added, and the flowers, a little crunchy, is also very tasty.
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