Pungent, spicy, salty but healthy are the best words to describe the Korean dining experience. From the all in one bibimbap (a combination of rice, meat and vegetables), to the soupy dishes which include Guk (soup), Tang (thick soup) or Jjigae (stew) or the infamous kimchi (fermented food) which is pungent, salty and spicy all in one - there’s never a boring moment when you eat Korean!

Bibimbap is a favorite amongst many, and is even served on international airlines such as Lufthansa as it is prized for its diversity in just a simple bowl. It is commonly served as a bowl of warm, fluffy white rice topped with namul (sautéed and seasoned vegetables), beef, gochujang (chili pepper paste) and a fried egg.

The healthy aspect of the Korean cuisine is that it’s always balanced out with lots of greens. For bibimbap, vegetables such as cucumbers, zucchini, mushrooms, bellflower root, spinach, soybean sprouts, bracken fern root, tofu or lettuce are added.

A variation to the dish is dolsot bibimbap (stone pot mixed rice), where the combination is served in a hot stone bowl and a raw egg is cooked right in the heart of the hot stone and combines very nicely with the rice, vegetable and meat to give it a chewy and sticky texture.

Traditional Korean cuisine is never complete without piping hot soup such as guk, tang and jjigae which always accompanies the staple meal of rice. Made from the stock of beef, seafood and vegetable and seasoned with salt, soy bean sauce and bean paste - soups such as seaweed soup, bean paste soup, seolleongtang (beef and bone soup) and yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) are nutritious to drink especially after a hard days work.

Next up is kimchi which is essentially vegetables or seafood pickled in a mixture of soy sauce, red pepper paste, red pepper powder or soybean paste. Korea boasts more than two hundred types of kimchi, all rich in vitamins, minerals and protein created by the lactic acid fermentation.

The most popular kimchi would be the Baechu Kimchi (whole cabbage kimchi) where whole heads of cabbages are trimmed to remove the outer leaves and then split into half’s and quarters. It is then soaked into brine (salt water) for about four hours until the cabbages have softened.

In the meantime, one can prepare the other ingredients which include mixing the ground pepper powder, chili powder, chopped garlic and ginger, pickled baby shrimp as well as oysters and clams together.

Once the cabbage is ready, pats dry the leaves and you’re all ready to rub the mixture in to the leaves. Spread the mixture evenly between the leaves of the cabbage until it is all used up. Let the kimchi ferment in a cool place within a container, at a temperature no higher than 68° F, for three to six days, until the kimchi is as sour as you like.

For a different dining experience, try Korean as it tickles your palette with its authentic and healthy offerings.

You’re probably familiar with aloe vera, and may have used it to treat burns or minor scrapes. You may know aloe vera as an “old world cactus,” a plant that stores water and fills the niche that cacti fill in other parts of the world.

Aloe vera is one of the oldest medicinal plants known to man; it’s been used for thousands of years for wound care and other purposes. Alexander the Great insisted on having aloe vera in the field with him to treat wounded men.

If you’ve ever used aloe vera to treat a sunburn, you know how soothing it can be, and if you have ever owned an aloe vera plant, you’ve no doubt broken off a piece and seen the plant regenerate. That’s some healing power, to heal itself, right?

Topical aloe vera applied directly to a wound can indeed help with the healing process, and a well-stocked home first aid kit should include topical aloe vera gel.

An oral aloe vera supplement like Aloeride® is even better, as it provides ongoing support for healing, and helps your body repair itself on a continuing basis, whether you’re suffering from a small wound like a cut, or have a wound healing problem associated with a medical problem.

Aloeride®’s wound healing properties may seem surprising, when you consider that the most common perception of aloe vera is sunburn gel. On the other hand, this very ability to heal sunburn attests to aloe vera’s ability to heal wounds and keep the body healthy.

When you’re wounded, your body’s immune system goes into overdrive trying to heal the wound and keep you healthy at the same time. Many people, however, have compromised immune systems, largely due to problems in the digestive tract.

Oral aloe vera restores digestive tract health, helping your intestines do their job of keeping toxins out of the bloodstream. When your blood is not delivering toxins to your liver to be dealt with (by your immune system), your immune system becomes stronger and better able to fight the other enemies and problems your body encounters.

A strong immune system is vital to wound healing, and Aloeride®, taken on a daily basis, helps to provide that immune strength. Aloeride is non-allergenic and comes in a very small, easy to swallow capsule. A supplement you don’t take will not help your immune system or anything else, so Aloeride® is designed to be easy to take.

Because Aloeride® improves your digestive tract health and your immune system, the benefits are not isolated. In other words, you won’t just have better, faster healing of wounds. You will experience better overall health as your body is able to perform all of its functions, including digestion and immune protection, more effectively.

Because wound healing is often a problem for individuals with other health problems, including diabetes and cancer treatment. This makes Aloeride® a perfect supplement, because it helps you improve overall health, as well as dealing with acute problems. By taking aloe vera supplements every day, you can prevent many of the chronic problems you would otherwise have to attack directly.

For more information: Click Here.

According to Wikipedia, yusheng, yuu sahng or yee sang is a Chinese-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments. It is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

It is very popular and known as yee sang among Malaysians and Singaporeans. Don’t surprise if some Chinese outside Malaysia and Singapore do not know what yee sang is. Originally, yee sang was only available and presented as a dish on 7th day of Chinese New Year. However, people nowadays start eating yee sang even before and throughout the Chinese New Year.

The rule of yee sang is that the dish itself must be very colorful. It usually consists of colored flour strips (such as the “chow mein” that some westerners add to salads) in red and green. Normally, it is served with shredded carrot, pickled papaya, shredded radish and ginger which have been dyed red and green, together with crispy strips of fried stuff and some nuts (usually chestnut). Yee sang is arranged on a large plate with each ingredient separate from the other.

Tradition has it that the higher the salad is tossed the better, which is also why you need a large plate for this. The dish must be totally consumed by the diners around the table and nothing left over. Most people speak of prosperity or wealth or something like “lou hei” which means liveliness, prosperity and longevity, during the tossing.

Order this Chinese salad during your next visit to Chinese restaurant.

Entomophagy (the eating of insects) has yet to become a day-to-day activity for most American and European people in spite of the superior nutritional content of edible insects compared to other animals. Other cultures around the world have made insects a main ingredient in their diets, providing an excellent source of protein.

Most insects are cheap, tasty and a good natural protein source requiring less land and feed than raising cows or pigs. Many insects are far cleaner than other creatures. For example, grasshoppers and crickets eat fresh, clean, green plants whereas crabs, lobsters and catfish eat any kind of foul, decomposing material as a scavenger (bottom water feeder).

By weight, termites, grasshoppers, caterpillars, weevils, house flies and spiders are better sources of protein than beef, chicken, pork or lamb according to the Entomological Society of America. Also, insects are low in cholesterol and low in fat. Would you like to try?

You have just woken up and your tummy is rumbling. You’re thinking of rushing off for work to beat the jams and to clock in before the ‘Black Monday’ begins.

But wait a minute. If it’s going to be a ‘big day’ for you, then you’re going to need a big breakfast. And rightly so if you want to keep your energy levels going.

First of all, to enjoy a really great breakfast, wake up early enough to enjoy it. You don’t have to ‘rise and shine’ hours in advance. Just about 15-30 minutes will give you sufficient time to prepare a hearty meal.

For busy officegoers, you’ll never go wrong with eggs. Poached, sunny side up or in a wonderful tomato omelet combination with herbs and spices… you’ll enjoy biting into them. Complete the package with some baked beans on the side, as well as buttered toast, slightly burnt - crispy on the outside but still deliciously fragrant when the butter melts in your mouth.

If you’re into something more Oriental, consider century egg porridge with some crunchy pickled vegetables, and the must-eat - yiu tiao (deep fried dough).

It’s perfect with a steaming hot bowl of century egg porridge. Some people throw in the odd pieces of chicken to give the porridge a richer texture. The pickled vegetables are easily available in the supermarkets - and are cheap to buy.

Known as the unofficial national dish of Malaysia, nasi lemak would be the top choice. If you’re into do-it-yourself (DIY) mode, all you need is rice, coconut milk, pandan leaves, ginger, anchovies, eggs, cucumbers and sambal paste. Throw the rice into the cooking pot or the rice cooker, with the coconut milk, alongside the pandan leaves and add in a pinch of salt. Cook the rice until the texture is - fluffy!

As for the sambal - fry the anchovies and add in the the sambal belacan paste, and add sugar and salt to taste. Some like their anchovies just the way it is - minus the spicy element which can also be another alternative. As for the eggs, you could have it sunny side up, or in the traditional way - boiled hard and good. Roughage is also provided in the form of - good old cucumbers served just the way it is!

The saying goes, the world is your oyster - well, breakfast is certainly ‘your oyster’. Go experiment and try something different for your breakfast. Variety is indeed the spice of life!

For more information about Nasi Lemak: Click Here for Wikipedia.

Recipe: Click Here.

Restaurant: Click Here.