Chicken Egg Vs. Duck Egg

Chicken Egg or Duck Egg?

I guess you can easily distinguish what a chicken egg is from a duck egg. Not because of tasting it, but when you try to see the outward appearance of both eggs, you can definitely say, ahh! that is chicken egg or that one was duck egg.

Duck egg is said to be more nutritious than chicken egg which has more calories because it is way bigger than the chicken egg. On the other hand, both still have the same vitamins and nutrients present but chicken egg shell is thinner and easier to crack than the duck egg which gives duck egg an advantage of shelf life although if it is kept inside the fridge.

Duck Eggs Are More Costlier than Chicken Eggs but it's worth a try for a taste




I bought a half dozen of duck egg in the grocery and it was really expensive than ordinary chicken egg. Duck egg is expensive since it is bigger and the feed for the ducks are usually expensive than chicken feeds. Buy a duck egg with a date label and shows the expiry date and keep it inside the fridge for maintaining the quality.

Half Dozen of Duck egg costs Rs 51.00



Cooking a duck egg is more longer compared to boiling a regular chicken egg. The taste and smell is really different and I am sure you would not like much that your duck eggs developed into a more fertilized duck egg which can be a BALUT rather than a Penoy egg.

Filipino culture adopted the eating of duck fetuses and it does make them believe that it is more than a viagra or an aphrodisiac which is good for sex life. Call it a taboo, but it depends on your own preference if you wanted to eat such. But for me, I just prefer to eat it simple without gross. I prefer to eat a Penoy (not matured duck egg).

Which is which(Chicken or Duck Egg), where is the Duck Egg?

Mackerel Fish with Cauliflower

Mackerel Fish with Cauliflower

This recipe I got from my mother in law although she didn't instruct me how to cook it, but as
to what my eyes can see on how she gives this meal to us every time we go for a short vacation, I just kept thinking why not try and experiment. Now this meal is somewhat the same like the rest of the spicy foods I got since the ingredients were just the same although my preparation for fish mackerel will be different.

Ingredients:

2 pieces of mackerel fish slices into two
1/2 kilo of cauliflower
asoefitida
3 tbsp oil
red chili powder (2 tsp)
turmeric powder
onion
ginger-garlic paste
cumin powder
coriander powder
1 fish broth cubes (knorr or maggi)
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt
ground black pepper

Preparations:

Fry the fish on a separate pan and set aside. Heat the oil and put the cumin powder first and then sprinkle a bit of asoefitida. The next thing that you need to do is put the onion and put salt and a pinch of turmeric powder into it. If you see that your onion is golden brown, then put the coriander powder and the tomato puree. After this you can now put your cauliflower and then put the knorr fish broth cubes and put an ample amount of water that you desire. If your cauliflower is half cooked then you can now add the fried mackerel fish into it. Simmer for 8-10 minutes on a medium to slow flame. Taste the food, if it needs more flavor, then just add some salt and ground black pepper.
You don't need to let the fish swim in too much water for a soup. Just enough water to keep this dish tasty.

Spicy Okra (Lady Finger)

Spicy Okra (Lady FInger) Recipe

Okra or lady finger is one of the cheapest and all year-round available veggie in India. Every week when we used to market, I always do include veggie in my menu and I always prepare okra or lady finger. This recipe is quite spicy to someone who is not fond of putting chili in their dish. But in India, it is just regular that chili are always present in their dish. Hope you do like this dish.

Ingredients:

1/2 kilo okra
2 tbsp. of oil
1-1 green chillies (sliced into ring pieces)
pinch of turmeric
pinch of cumin powder
pinch of coriander powder
1/2 tsp of red chili powder
1 medium onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. ginger-garlic paste
salt to taste
pinch of ground black pepper

Preparation:
Please wash your vegetables well before slicing and don't soak your okra in water when cut because that will be all gooey and slimy. Just cut it into rings as what you can see on the sample picture I have below.

Heat the pan and put the oil, then put your cumin powder, green chili and then garlic and once the garlic is ready put your onions. Just put salt while sauteing your onion to cook it well. After that you can put your turmeric powder and then your coriander powder and ginger-garlic paste. When the onion is already golden brown, then put your okra or lady finger. You can now add your chili powder and then put the flame from medium to slow flame and cover the pan to cook the veggie well. Just put only two table spoon of water and please don't put more because this recipe is good to be dry and not watery since we know that okra is slimy, so you don't need to put a lot of liquid.


Simmer the food till the lady finger gets tender and ready. Just season it with salt and ground black pepper to taste and that's it. You have your chilly and spicy okra.

Kaju Katli Sweets

Kaju Katli is made up of cashew nuts, sugar and silver foils(which is palatable). I am not here to talk about how to make a kaju katli because I haven't prepared one but what I am just going to say on my blog is that I really like the taste of it.


This sweet is always available in India. It is always given as a gift during Diwali or festival of Lights and colors for the Hindus. We were gifted by my hubby's company and I surely like the taste of Kaju katli. Although it is really expensive when you buy this sweet because as I have said, it is made out of cashew nuts.



Kaju Katli is coated in silver foils. I don't know if there are any other color to coat it with but the one I had was silver foil coated but not thoroughly coated like the ones that we consumed during Diwali. By the way the prices of Kaju Katli in the market was Rs500+ for one kilo. What I have as a sample her was just 200+ grams of kaju katli that we bought at Hypercity grocery. It was around Rs102 for that small box, I just didn't count how many pieces are in there since I already ate some.


It is nice to gift someone something sweet and tasty like kaju katli. You can definitely feel you are loved and special ones a person gives this to you. I don't know but I really do appreciate the taste of their sweets here (selected) as I may say.

Bitter Gourd Sauteed with Egg

Bitter gourd or bitter melon (ampalaya in Tagalog) is one of the most less like veggies and kids even hate it. I cannot blame them because it is really bitter but it has good nutritional values and it is also good in our body particularly our blood.

I do like bitter gourd ever since I was a kid. My grandmother and my mother always prepare this dish wonderfully and I really do like how they prepare it. Sometimes my grandma used to saute it with sotanghon (bean thread noodle) and sometimes my mom would include bitter gourd with beef. But today what I wanted to share with you is a simple recipe which will take you only 10-15 minutes of cooking. Here are the following ingredients.

Ingredients:
2 tsp. oil
1 egg (beat the egg)
1 tomato (sliced in small cubes)
1 green chili
medium sized onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
a pinch of turmeric powder
salt to taste

Instruction:
First you need to heat the oil in a pan and then saute your green chili with garlic and once your garlic is ready place the onion and put enough salt to cook the onion faster. After this you need to put the turmeric powder and then add your tomato. Once you see the tomatoes already mushy, put the beaten egg and set this aside.

For sauteed Bitter gourd:
2 tbsp. oil
1 medium size bitter gourd (already chopped)
medium sized onion
pinch of cumin powder
pinch of turmeric powder
salt to taste
ground black pepper (to taste)

Instruction:


Heat the oil and put the cumin powder and onion. Put some salt to your onion so that it can cook the onion faster. Then put the turmeric powder and once the color was already blended in, put the bitter gourd. Please do not add water, keep the flame on a slow to medium heat to cook the veggie. But if you wanted some sauce, just put two tablespoons of water to your bitter gourd. If the veggie is half cooked, you can now put the sauteed egg you set aside earlier. Simmer for 2 more minutes and then add some ground black pepper and some more salt depending on your taste. By the way, you can put soy sauce for this recipe just in case you don't like a plain salt for the taste. But just don't overcook your veggie.


Here is the Sample Photo of the Bitter gourd that I have cooked



I have my chappati or roti on the side of the Bitter Gourd





See how still green my bitter gourd is? Just don't over cook when preparing a vegetable meal.

Eggless Cakes for your Health

Eggless Cake at Monginis

Some of us are vegetarians and prefer to buy and eat food without meat and eggs. This is one bakeshop that I have discovered that offers eggless cakes and pastries. It can also be good if you are really strict on dieting and losing all those calories and just can’t help but to diet. Eggless cakes can also be considered healthy for people who really wanted to cut off that cholesterol in their diet.
Eggless cakes are usually the same taste like any other cakes with eggs but the sweetness is really tolerated. I can say that one slice can never get you used of the taste because it was just created not to be too sweet. I do like the cakes served at Monginis cake stores which I think is the leading cake supplier in India, a place where most of the communities are vegetarians.


Heart-shaped Eggless Cake for Hubby’s Bday



But certainly I haven’t seen any type of fondant cake around, mostly are boiled icing and if you are a patissier, you will also say the same thing. By the way, I am not a patissier by profession, I am just a regular customer buying cakes and pastries and I tend to compare most of what I get from different stores and bakeshop. I always go for the quality and at the same time the price which can be affordable and not too much to make a hole out of my pocket.


Eggless cakes are not that sweet



I used to remember sweet pastries and delightful delicacies back home and I can never find it here to where I am. But there are things that I can say I really discover when different application is applied due to culture and belief. Although even if they don’t use eggs in most of their cakes here, I still find the prices a bit pricey when I try to compare those delicious cakes I have back home which is of course, you might say “sinful” because it was lavishly designed for you to get fat but the price was really cheaper.
The texture of the cake is not the same with what I have from the past (cakes from my country) probably because of how the cake has been made. It does lack fluffiness and some x factor or ingredient that I am looking for which does not condense my thought. I don’t know if it was just my palate but certainly if you wanted eggless cakes, they are good for health, but if you want it sweeter, fluffier and truly captivating, try the ones with eggs. It’s your choice, which one should you select?

Do You Use a Vegetable and Fruit Wash?

Do you use a veggie wash? If yes, how often and what do you use to wash away those chemically treated fruits and veggies? It is just normal for us to wash our fruits and veggies before eating and cooking it but do you really think that the chemicals are technically gone when you wash them off with just tap water. It is important to keep our family safe by preparing them healthy and fresh foods. For me I never give any fruits to my family without cleansing the fruits on veggie wash.
I only trust one vegetable and fruit wash which is organic and safe to use. It does not contain any harsh chemicals and is really proven effective on washing off those chemicals, dust and dirt that was present in our fruits and vegetables.

Fruits Soaked in Tiens Veggie Wash




When we go to local market, we always see flies swarming around those sweetened and ripe fruits. So it is also advised to wash those fruits and vegetables carefully because we never know if there were also eggs that were implanted on the leaves, barks, stem of our fruits and veggies.
I only trust to use Tiens Vegetable wash because it is organic and safe to use and proven to keep the fruits and veggies fresh and crispy. All I do is just put an ample amount of veggie wash into water and then shake the tap water to make it bubbly. By the way, it is not soapy or bitter in taste. I can actually dip my finger and taste it and there was nothing in Tiens Veggie wash.
I soak my fruits and vegetables into the wash basin for about 15-20 minutes. I like how the fruits smells whenever I soak them in Tiens vegetable wash, their scent seems to mesmerize you more. It is like it got amplified when you soak them into the veggie wash.
While the vegetables, I do notice that they are crisp and clean and so firm from their twigs to leaves and stems. You can also notice that if your veggie was already soft and withered, try Tiens Veggie wash and the leaves will stand up like a miracle. You can just ask a Tiens distributor for that which only costs around Php275 (Philippine peso) on their 500ml bottle which is really a saver because you can use it for more than 6 months depending on your usage.


Fruits become so crispy and veggies so clean after soaking it on a veggie wash



Tips on using Tiens veggie wash:
After soaking your favorite fruits and vegetables, keep the water because you can use it to clean your jewelries and mind you, jewelries really sparkle like new.
You can also use the soaked water of veggie wash and use it on your plants. This will help your plants grow bigger and healthier.
Note: I’m not talking about any other veggie wash, because I don’t know what they can do. I only attest what Tiens veggie wash can do since I have already experience the result. This is not also to promote the product since I am just stating my own opinion as a customer, user and my review about the product and the advantage of using vegetable wash for cleaning fruits and veggies. I also have nothing against other veggie wash in the market. We are all free to select what product is for us.

Brown Eggs Or White Eggs which is better?

Brown Egg Vs. White Egg

I bought brown eggs yesterday in order for me to serve our breakfast and to try it as a facial mask. I have heard a lot about organic eggs which are healthier and better as an alternative to white shelled color of eggs. But to my dismay, when I browse some information on the site about brown shelled color of eggs, it does not give any big advantage whether the brown eggs are healthier. Both eggs are just the same in nutritional value even if nutritionist would mention that brown eggs are better because the care and nurture for the chickens are much more given an expensive feeding rather than those regular eggs.
If you are a practical person, you would not mind buying those regular white shelled color of eggs. These brown eggs are twice the price because we bought it at Rs44.00 on half a dozen which is equivalent to $1.07. But if I have chosen the white shelled color of egg, it will only be Rs24 or $0.58 cents only. I was just curious to experience what the yolk would be like or what the consistency of the egg is.



Here is what I have found; the brown egg is not that smelly compared to the regular white egg. There was a ropey white strand telling me that the eggs we bought are really fresh and in good condition. Although the taste for me would just be the same like the regular egg but the only thing I praise for the brown egg is really good for facial mask.
Now I know, which is better to select for a particular purpose. If you really are on a budget, then just consider buying a regular one. But if you are peculiar on your egg white facial mask to use on your face, then nothing beats brown eggs.



A tip for you:
Recipes for brown eggs: fried, sunny side up, pouched egg, boiled egg, leche flan and a whole lot more

Facial Egg White Mask: Just separate the egg yolk from the egg white. Use only the egg white for your face. Apply a thin layer on the first application then dry it up for 10 minutes, then apply the second coating on your face and leave it for 5 to 10 minutes then rinse it off with your favorite facial wash or soap. You will notice that your skin is firmer and younger looking if you continue this religiously.

The Biggest Cucumber I have Ever Seen

Have you seen the biggest Cucumber around? I guess you might say, nahh, there are still bigger cucumbers than that. Well, for me I haven’t seen any and it was the first and the biggest my eye have seen. I personally know that cucumbers are just small. It is what most f us prepare for green salads and sweet pickles. But I have never seen this cucumber until hubby showed me when we bought it on the street market just near our home in Mumbai.


Comparing the cucumber



This BIGGG Cucumber was 15 inches tall and is about 4 inches thick. I even compared it with the normal small cucumber that we used to buy in the grocery. The price of this kind of cucumber was just cheap. We just bought one long piece for Rs 15 rupees which I still find it so cheap because if you weight the cucumber, it was more than a kilo of course.

We just had a green salad for that one which we dip on Asian dressing. Anybody here want a cucumber salad?

Me with the cucumbers

The Trauma of Eating Food Outside while Traveling

We went to Goa, the Southwest part of India to visit my in-laws last month of September. We didn’t stay long since we needed to go back for work so we took a bus which is really painstaking for me because it takes 9-12 long hours of travel.

I really hate long distance traveling because I am not comfortable and I cannot sleep. We cannot catch a train schedule because it is always full so for us to travel back, we don’t have any option. Traveling by bus would also mean that I needed to control my pee because the bus only stops twice, one is for a dinner break, and another one is at early morning for those who needed to take a short coffee or tea break.

The bus stopped on a regular restaurant where the drivers take their passengers for a short dinner break. The place was not that great and the food was also terrible. I just wanted a hot soup and they don’t even have one so we just ordered egg biryani and some softdrinks. We just ordered the smallest bottle because I don’t want to trouble myself if I feel like peeing so I really control my liquid intake during travels.

As you can see at the bottom, this is what the waiter gave us without any shame. We don’t have the time and energy to complain because were so tired and were in a hurry to get back to our bus so we just prayed that this drink would not cause our stomach to ache and sip a little even if the bottle neck was really rusted.



I have never thought that they can still serve this to customers. Maybe if I was in another country, customers should have already complained for the lack of sanitary measures and safety of the restaurant by serving such drink. The trauma of eating food outside while traveling would always hunt me. I always see to it that when we travel again, I would pack our own food and drinks. Just once in our life we do experience bad restaurant service.

Vietnamese Beef Pho My Own Rendition

Vietnamese Beef Pho (My Own Rendition)

I am not an expert cook, but certainly I do enjoy what I cook and as much as possible I don’t imitate the original version if in case I don’t like the presentation. I have no disrespect to certain cultural food if I render my own version. For me, cooking it alone was already a challenge like the famous Vietnamese Beef Pho.

It is very good to serve this to your family on a cold lovely night. I was able to gather the ingredients online and what I just didn’t follow was the raw meat because I personally don’t like to eat beef meat which is just going to be cooked because of the hot soup. So pardon me if you’re an authentic Vietnamese Chef, I just want it my way so I cook it based on my own pallet.

It was really herbal because of the mint, coriander and lemon grass ingredient. The taste of lemon has given it a new twist and you would surely love the smell of freshly cut onion springs as you sprinkle it on your soup. Here is the sample of the soup I made.

Here is the sample ingredient for cooking Vietnamese Beef Pho

½ kilo Beef -shin bones
1 ginger root -cut into thin slice ( I prefer oval)
Salt - as per your taste
Blk. Peppercorns -ground
Onion - ¾ size for slice
Onion spring - for garnishing
Lemon grass -1 stalk is enough
Rice noodles - 350 grams
Fresh mint leaves -for garnishing
Fresh coriander leaves – for garnishing
Hoisin sauce - 2 tablespoon
Mongo sprout - for toppings
Lime or lemon - for garnishing
Chili sauce - for garnishing

What I did was I did boiled my beef to make the meat tender and juicy to eat but in the real Vietnamese Beef Pho, they serve it raw meat. So back to what I am saying, I boiled the meat and put together the ingredients like onion (big sliced one) ginger root, ground pepper, salt, lemon grass and keep it boiling till you see the meat tender.



On a separate cauldron just boil water for your rice noodles, once its done, drain it and keep the noodles handy. What I did on the mongo sprout is that I sautéed it with butter, but the original recipe is raw veggie so it’s up to you if you want it raw or not.



Once your soup is done with your beef, you can now put the rice noodles and mix the hoisin sauce and then put the other toppings like mongo sprout and just design your garnishings like the fresh mint, fresh coriander, spring onion and the lemon or lime wedge.

Another sample photo for you, isn’t that lovely? It was our dinner and was really grand and wow, truly Asian cuisine. I’d be sharing more here on my blog and just leave me a message if you have any questions.