Harmony of Nature - Fruit Salad with a Taste of Asia

Honestly, I did not create this recipe! I had this surprise salad at the last day of my CPC class.   The lovely person, who whipped up this, is the one that type this to me - [Breath In, Breath Out, We are ONE].  Maybe it is food from the heart that it touches my heart and I just want to recreate this via my memory and share with more people.

Feel free to do this fruit salad in your own way, by following your heart, mix different fruits (jackfruit or gavua or green mango or ...) and with some special ingredients and let it unites as ONE in harmony - full of colour, taste and beauty.  [I am eating this while typing this, it is getting addictive - full of nature energies!]

Preparation:     8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)

°         1 green apple, diced

°         1 orange, peeled and diced

°         few slices dried lime slices, cut into smaller pieces

°         1-2 teaspoons dried canberries

Method

1.      Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Serve chilled. 

Ripen Green Mango with Salad Cream ...

My green mango ripen! Gosh! I totally forgotten I bought a green mango in the wet market and it was sitting quietly in my fruit basket. This type of incidents happened quite often.

When green mango ripen, it turned greenish-yellow on the skin, it is a little bit of sweetness but it is not as sweet as those ripen mango that we get from supermarket.

In fact, it tastes better if you don’t really like too sourish green mango. It can still used to make Thai green mango salad with sugar reduced, if you desired or mixed with sour plum powder with/without chilli or just simply goes with salad cream like in the photo …

Thai Green Mango Salad and Thai Green Papaya Salad are popular salad in Thai Cuisine. One thing that I haven’t really featured out is why isn’t there a combination of Green Mango and Green Papaya for the same salad? Or maybe there are, just thatI don’t know or it could be it just makes no sense to have 2 types of ‘green julienne” in the same salad …

Kindness Banana Salad

Why do I name this as Kindness Banana Salad?

Because this recipe was given to me via email by a Non-Vegetarian , Sous Chef – Mr Alfred Lee. I have used Vegetarian Mayo instead of Yogurt following the recipe (check out the recipe below). If Alfred had whip up this salad, I am very sure the presentation is very very much better than mine. Don’t believe me check out his blog at www.citi-monkey.blogspot.com, you will WOW.

Thank you very much Alfred, hope you could create more Vegetarian and Vegan Friendly delectable dishes for us :)

........................................................................

Hi Crystal,

I just read through your new recipe on banana so perhaps you would like to try this banana salad which is pretty simple and taste good to me.

Ingredients

Mango Puree - sweetPlain Yoghurt - I am not very sure do all vegetarian take yoghurt, if not substitute with vgt mayonnaise
Lemon Juice as desire
Mix well

Then add in the Banana slice about 2-3cm thick
Mint leaves slice
Garnish with wedges of strawberry and mint leaves

Good Day,
Alfred

Toasted Banana!

Sunny had told me banana is an excellent fruit. Yes, banana contains B vitamin which is essential for the nervous system and the healthy function of our brain cells and also a good source of energy production! Here is another way to eat banana if you are tire of eating it raw. Another banana recipe is on the way soon. Click here to read banana story

The first photo might not look that good as the banana turn brown and degrade. For the second try, I brush some lemon juice on the banana to prevent it being oxidize.

Preparation: 5 mins, Cooking time: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 (175g) banana, peeled
° 1 teaspoon icing sugar
° 1 teaspoon desiccated coconut

Method
1. Place banana in a toaster over and toasted for 8-10 minutes.
2. Transfer to a serving dish and slice the banana.
3. Sprinkle icing sugar and desiccated coconut on top and serves immediately.

Crystal’s Green Papaya Salad

Green Papaya Salad/ Limes / Candied Orange

This is a modified Thai Green Papaya Salad. I added preserved candied orange, which is available at the Traditional Chinese Medical shops. Garnish with sesame seed or grounded peanut, if desired.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 150g green papaya, peeled, finely shredded and chilled
° 1 (50g) preserved candied orange, finely chopped or shredded
° 1½-2 tablespoons (3-4 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice
° 2 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Mix the lime juice and sugar in a bowl and set aside.
2. Place the papaya and preserved candied orange in a salad bowl and drizzled with the lime juice dressing. Toss well and serve.

Green Mango

Another way to eat green mango.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 2 “half-ripe” green mango, peeled, stoned and cut into strips
° 1 teaspoon sweet prune powder
° ½ teaspoon sugar
° ½ -1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

Method
1. Arrange mango on a serving plate.
2. Mix the sweet prune powder, sugar and chilli flakes in a plate.
3. Serve the green mango with the mixed prune powder at the side.

Pickled Green Mango

Pickled Green Mango (cut into chunks size)

Shredded Pickled Green Mango

If you have lots of green mango and do not know what to do with them. You can try this recipe. Simple to do and you can have pickled Mango, it is lovely if you loves sour and sweet food.

Preparation: 8 mins

Ingredients (serves 2)
° 125g green mango (weight after peeling), shredded or cut into big chunks
° 50ml white rice vinegar or distilled white vinegar
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste

Method
1. Combine all the ingredients in a glass container, mix well and leave to stand for 24 hours prior to serving.

Nata De Coco with Passion Fruit

Nata De Coco is a high-fibre, low-calorie and cholesterol-free dessert. The chewy, juicy cubes can be mixed with cocktails or other dessert to create your own treats. In here, I marry Nata De Coco with Passion Fruit!

Persimmon

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE :-)

Persimmon was my mom favorite fruit. She loved it so much but not me. Lately, I was watching the Good Food Fun Cook TV program, the cook demonstrated how to peel off the skin of the ripened persimmon and how to make persimmon puree. That looked fun and I bought some persimmon to play with and I blended it. Wow, the end product looks like ice cream, so sweet, creamy and cool.

It is such a good way to eat persimmon fruit, especially for those kids who do not like fruit or persimmon. If the kid still didn’t like this, added 60ml chilled unsweetened soy milk to each persimmon (125g) and blended it. It even looks more beautiful – pale orange in coloured and tasted marvelous.

Preparation: 10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 (125g) very ripe frozen persimmon

or
° 1 (125g) very ripe frozen persimmon
° 60ml fresh unsweetened soy milk, chilled

Method
1. Thaw frozen persimmon under running tap water or a bowl of water. Gently rub and peel off the skin. Cut the persimmon into small chunks.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
3. Serve immediately.

Strawberries with Chocolate Flavoured Cream

Actually, I bought this Chocolate Flavoured Cream for making Vegan Chocolate Mousse Dessert. In the end, We used it for the lovely strawberries.

The ingredients for the chocolate flavoured cream: sugar, vegetable oil, cocoa powder, emulsifier & flavour.

Guava and Red Jumbu

Guava and Red Jumbu with Lemon Ring and Mandarin Orange Peel/Tangerine Peel

Red Jumbu

Guava and Red Jumbu. Normally, Guava can be dipped in sweet prune powder, if desired. I just learnt from a lovely 70 years old lady whom I met at the Yacht Club (mentioned in my earlier post), she has another way to spice up the fruits like guava, star-fruit, red jumbo etc. I find it real interesting and therefore decided to post it here.

Using Lemon Ring and Mandarin Orange Peel/Tangerine Peel, where you can get them from Traditional Chinese Medicine Store. Just snip them into little tiny bits and sprinkle on top of the fruit, it gives it a different flavour.

Avocado and Mango with Plum Sauce

An easy and quick fruit salad!

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 2-4)
° 1 (150g) ripe avocado, diced
° 1 (150g) mango, peeled and diced
° 1 teaspoon roasted sesame seeds
° 30g salad sprouts (optional)

Sauce
° 1 tablespoon plum sauce, or to taste
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 2 tablespoons warm water
° 1 tablespoon (2 limes) freshly squeezed kalamansi lime juice, or to taste

Method
1. To make the sauce: Dissolve the sugar with water in a bowl. Add in the plum sauce and lime juice. Mix well and set aside.
2. Arrange the salad sprout, avocado and mango in a serving plate.
3. Drizzle the sauce over the salad. Sprinkle with some sesame seeds and serve immediately.

Pineapple with Dipping Sauce

It is always good to eat more fruits as eating fruits and nuts may delay Alzheimer’s disease, a study shows.
Some of the Fruit Vendors prepared a dipping sauce that customers can request to add on to their pineapple. Sweet and juicy pineapple is best eaten as it is, but for those that cause a little irritation of the tip of the tongue, just dips in this sauce might help to negate this effect and may also intensify the pineapple flavor. Feel free to adjust the combination of soy sauce or just use one type of it to come up with something that suits your taste.

Preparation: 15 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 pineapple, peeled and cubed

Dipping Sauce
° 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
° 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 2 fresh red chilli padi, seeded and sliced
or
° 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
° 1 tablespoon sugar, or to taste
° 2 fresh red chilli padi, seeded and sliced

Method
1. Combine the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar in a small serving bowl. Mix well and add in the chilli. Dilute with cool water, if desired.
2. Serve as a dipping sauce for pineapples.

Avocado Entrée

Guess what I recalled when I was tasting the avocado? It tasted like Century Egg Yolk. So I tested out with some pickled ginger, those that we use it for century egg and sushi. Not sure anyone else had tried that. If you like the pickled ginger, you will love this. As the pickled ginger add an appetizing flavour to the otherwise bland avocado. So, this will be the special entrée.

Preparation: 10 mins

Ingredients (serves 4)
° 1 ripe avocado, diced
° ½ bottle preserved ginger slice/pickle ginger slice
° some toothpicks

Method
1. Secure the avocado dices with one or two slices of twisted pickled ginger with a toothpick. Alternatively, just place some pickled ginger beside the avocado dices in a serving plate.
2. Serve as an appetizer.

Avocado with Palm Sugar

Avocado with Sauce I

Avocado with Sauce II

Special thank to amazing ‘Anonymous’ who left a comment in my blog regarding avocado. ‘Anonymous’ mentioned that the Fruit Seller said that eating avocado with honey is delicious and recommended me to try. Seriously, I had never tried that before. Well, I was thinking how about a vegan version. Then the idea of using Gula Melaka (Palm Sugar) came to my mind. The result was not bad. I had 2 different sauce versions for dipping the avocado in. One is thicker and the other is more like syrup. It depends on personal preferences. Alternatively, you can blend the avocado into a creamy paste and add gula melaka on it. Ripe avocados are those that are brownish in colour and soft to touch, not the greenish one!

Avocado by itself is rather bland and when I was eating it yesterday, it had a taste so familiar and yet I cannot recall immediately. It took me a long time and I finally got it and came up with two recipes.

Preparation: 8 minutes

Ingredients (serves 1)
° 1 ripe avocado, diced or blended

Sauce I – Thick Gula Melaka Sauce
° 25g gula melaka (palm sugar), finely chopped
° 1 teaspoon hot water

Sauce II – Gula Melaka Syrup
° 25g gula melaka (palm sugar), finely chopped
° 25ml-30ml hot water

Method
1. Combine gula melaka and hot water. Stir until the gula melaka dissolved.
2. Serve as a dipping sauce for avocado or drizzle over the creamy avocado.