Eating out is out for me

BUDGET TAI-TAI
I’ve learnt my lesson: Home is where the safe food is

HONG Kong starlet Ella Koon was recently nicknamed “hell’s chef” after the dishes she whipped up in celebrity food show Beautiful Cooking caused the guest judges to throw up. Later, when challenged to defend her lack of culinary success, she retorted: “Living in Hong Kong, eating out is never a problem, is it?”

Yes, living in Hong Kong — or for that matter, most parts of Asia — eating out is never a problem. Walk onto a street and you’ll be sure to see a hawker stall around one corner or a restaurant around another.

There’s no call to have to cook at all. Why should you when there are others who can conjure up something far tastier than any of your humble efforts for just a dollar or two more than the cost of the ingredients themselves?

That’s probably why Hong Kong kitchens are so tiny. Mine has just enough space for a sink, fridge and two-burner cooker. The toaster has to be stacked on top of the microwave oven and my Kenwood mixer has been banished to the dining room.

Recently, after I posted some food photos on Facebook, my friends from Europe remarked: “You guys seem to eat out a lot, huh?” What was perfectly normal to me was strange to them.

For them, “outside food” (whether dining out or getting a Chinese takeaway) is so expensive that every meal not cooked at home is an occasion. They thought we are extremely wealthy to be able to do that every day.

When I was working in Singapore, we’d eat out or pack food home every weekday. After all, the coffeeshop was just around the corner and by the time I reached home at 7.30pm, I was just too tired to chop, slice, fry and clean up afterwards.

But now I am thinking of heading back to the kitchen again. The catalyst has been my back-to-back bouts of stomach flu — most likely triggered, according to my doctor, by bacteria in some food I’d eaten.

I’m not talking days. My two episodes lasted two weeks each with a gap of only a week between. One was caused by undercooked chicken rice and the other by some dodgy curry rice.

I had them for dinner at different “dai pai dongs” (coffeeshops) in different areas but the result was the same: Diarrhoea, a stomach ache and vomiting so bad that I had to live on plain porridge, crackers and Pocari Sweat for days on end.

“This would never have happened to me in Singapore, where the food is so clean,” I remember telling my husband.

Famous last words, of course, seeing as a few days later, the Indian rojak food poisoning broke out, killing two people and causing one woman to suffer a miscarriage. It was almost unheard of. Yes, you knew that bad food could cause you great discomfort but for it to kill...

And then, just this weekend, another dozen people or so came down with food poisoning from eating steamboat. What is going on? You hear of such things happening elsewhere, but not in Singapore.

That’s why I think our mothers were right. Home-cooked food is the best. You know where it has come from and has been prepared.

It’s a pity really that a lot of us have become like Ella Koon. We have become so used to others cooking for us that we don’t even know how to boil an egg.

I know of many working women who wear their lack of culinary skills almost as a badge of pride. They seem to think that they’re so important they’re above such housewifely pursuits.

Why be proud of a lack of ability? I can’t assemble an Ikea bookcase or pilot a plane but you don’t see me crowing about that.

Maybe it’s time we brought back cooking as a skill to be proud of. Maybe we should make home economics compulsory for all — for boys too, because why should they expect others to do for them what they can do themselves?

Then we can stop being so reliant on outside food. And for those who love to boast: “I can’t cook to save my life”, maybe it’s time you learnt. Because one day, it just might save your life.

Tabitha Wang is on the lookout for a good recipe for homemade Indian rojak. Can anyone help?

From TODAY, Voices – Friday, 17-April-2009

GREEN PEAS: Small wonder

Study shows pea protein could prevent onset of kidney damage

EVELINE GAN eveline@mediacorp.com.sg

THE humble pea may soon play a significant role in combating chronic kidney disease (CKD) and high blood pressure.

A recent study, presented at the American Chemical Society’s conference, found that proteins in peas can naturally relieve symptoms of CKD and combat hypertension.

“In people with high blood pressure, protein could potentially delay or prevent the onset of kidney damage. For those who already have kidney disease, it may help them maintain normal blood pressure levels so they can live longer,” said study author Dr Rotimi Aluko, a food chemist at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, of his findings.

Dr Aluko, one of the researchers, fed small daily doses of concentrated pea protein to laboratory rats with kidney disease for eight weeks. At the end of the study, the protein-fed rats showed a 20-per-cent decrease in blood pressure when compared to diseased rats on a normal diet.

High blood pressure is a major risk factor for CKD. End-stage CKD is irreversible, and the patient usually requires kidney dialysis or a transplant.

Cardiovascular complications associated with kidney failure can be fatal.

Singapore has one of the highest incidence of kidney failure in the world, with about 750 people diagnosed yearly, according to National Kidney Foundation statistics. About one in five Singaporeans suffer from high blood pressure.

Peas — typically consumed fresh, frozen or canned — have long been recognised as a nutritious super-vegetable. Mrs Victoria Hally, a dietitian at The Food Clinic, told Today that they are low in fat, and packed with protein, vitamins, minerals and soluble fibre.

According to the UK-registered dietitian, the soluble fibre found in peas is also important in reducing blood glucose and blood cholesterol levels.

Regular peas contain about 4.3g of protein per serving (100g) while split peas, which are used in soups and dhal and are a good source of protein for vegetarians, contain significantly higher protein content at 16g per serving. An average Singaporean adult requires about 58 to 68g of protein each day.

But go easy on canned peas, advised Mrs Hally. “They are often preserved in high levels of salt which contribute to high blood pressure. Fresh, frozen or dried peas are healthier choices,” she said.

Mrs Hally also added that in spite of the promising study results, it is important to note that there is currently no evidence that the pea protein works on humans with pre-existing chronic kidney disease.

“It is important to note that CKD is a complex disease. Often, patients with the chronic condition will require medication to control high blood pressure. Pea protein alone may not be sufficient,” she said.

From TODAY, Health – Tuesday, 14-April-2009