Mango is under utilised in cakes and muffins. Ripe mangoes are soft, sweet and can easily be mashed into the batter, much like the quintiessential bananas. I came across a certain variety of mangoes in my local neighbourhood. They were so juicy, so sweet and a little fibrous. I had to return for more. Overstocked with mangoes all of a sudden, I remembered an easy recipe for a Mango and Nut Bread incorporating nuts and ripe mangoes.

​No creaming or melting. Lot of mixing only!!

Ingredients (1 loaf)
​2 eggs
​1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup all purpose flour
​1/2 cup sugar (can reduce to 1/3 cup if you prefer a less sweeter loaf)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

​1 cup ripe mango flesh
​1/2 cup chopped almonds/walnuts

Method
​1) Preheat the oven to 180 deg C or 350 deg F. Grease a loaf pan and line with grease proof paper. As always, get all the ingredients ready. From top left clockwise - all purpose flour, eggs, cubed mangoes and sugar.

2) From top left, clockwise -  vegetable oil, chopped almonds, vanilla essence (centre), salt and baking soda. 

3) Place all the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl - vanilla essence, oil and eggs. Whisk for a few mins till mixed well.

4) Place all the dry ingredients into another bowl and mix.

5) Add in the egg mix into this bowl and mix lightly.

6) Add in the cubed mangoes and chopped almonds.

7) Mix gently so as to leave the air in the batter. Thorough over mixing will result in the air escaping from the batter which would give a flat bread. Pour into a prepared bake loaf - what a lovely yellow hue.

8) Bake for 50-60 mins or until the skewer comes out clean.

9) At the 30 min mark, this is how it looked.

10) The final loaf at 50 mins. A gorgeous golden brown broken crust. Enjoy with your favorite cuppa!

Vietnamese spring rolls are made using thin rice papers as the base, filled with vegetables, cooked meat and boiled rice vermicelli. These spring rolls are not fried like the regular Chinese spring rolls  (Egg rolls). Fresh herbs are essential to the quality of these spring rolls. They are then dipped in a spicy tangy sauce and enjoyed as a light refreshing snack or an appetizer.

During my cooking class last weekend, I was introduced to these spring rolls by another instructor Ann who made them using pork and shrimps. When I asked  her if I can make it vegetarian, I was met with a reply 'Yes but it won't be nice!' Well, obviously, she is quite ignorant of the culinary advances in vegetarian cuisine. But a participant in the audience quipped, 'But Ms Nilo, you are such an experienced cook. I am sure you can come up with a vegetarian version which would be equally or more delicious!'. What a wonderful accolade and appreciation of my cooking skills. Thank you Lucy, I really appreciate your compliment.  It is a definite boost to my culinary confidence.

Grilled tofu strips will be good substitute for the meat. Remember, you hv to work quickly as the rice papers are very thin and will turn sticky quickly. It will be difficult to roll thereafter. These rice papers and hoisin sauce can be found in any Asian store.

Ingredients (for 6 spring rolls)
​6 pieces of Vietnamese rice paper (see picture below)
6 pieces of lettuce leaves, medium sized
1/2 cucumber julienned
1/2 carrot julienned
50 gm rice vermicelli, boiled and strained
12 pieces of mint leaves
​
​Ingredients for the Dipping sauce
1/2 cup lime juice
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp light soy sauce
1/2 red bird's eye chilli

Ingredients for the Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
​1 tbsp crushed peanuts

​Method
1) Get all the ingredients ready. From top left in clockwise direction - julienned carrot, julienned cucumber, lettuce leaves, mint leaves and in the centre, boiled rice vermielli.

2) Get the rice papers out of the packet and get a cutting board ready for the rolling.

3) Dip the rice paper in a bowl of water, lift and place it on the cutting board. Moisten the inside of the paper as well.

4) Place the mint leaves and the julienned carrot in alternate fashion on top. This is important so that end appearance of the rolls will be pleasing to the eye.  Then place a lettuce leaf in the middle. Place strands of julienned cucumber and rice vermicelli on to the lettuce leaf. If you are also using tofu, place the strips here. Roll up this lettuce leaf.

6) Tuck in the sides of the soft rice paper. Be gentle as it can tear easily

7) Start rolling from the bottom, tuck inthe sides and finish rolling to the top.

8) Roll the others the same way. To make the dipping sauce, place the sugar, lime juice and soy sauce in a small bowl. Whisk them all together till the sugar dissolves. Add in the sliced red chilli and serve with the rolls.  In another bowl, pour the hoisin sauce and top it off with crushed peanuts.

2) Pour the stock back into the pot and add all the vegetables except coriander leaves and lime juice. Add the mushroom seasoning and salt together with the other vegetables. Let the soup boil for 5 mins.

3) Switch off fire and pour into big soup bowl. Add in the lime juice, stir and then garnish with coriander leaves.. Best served and slurped piping hot!

This dish - Stir Fried Moringa Leaves with Garlic is from an old recipe of my mom's. Growing up, she'll make this version with a spiced lentil curry called Sambar. They can also be cooked in a soupy version with thin coconut milk. These leaves are very popular in South Indian cuisine and are called Murungai Keerai.  Little did I know that these moringa leaves are a nutrition powerhouse. In fact, the entire Moringa tree is called a Miracle Tree...every part of it is loaded with nutrition.  

Moringa oleifira grows natively in South Asia and the tree is also called drumstick tree or horseradish tree. Its leaves are small and round and packed with incredible amounts of protein, calcium, beta carotene, vitamin C, potassium etc. It has been used in medicine for over 4000years. 100 grams of dry moringa leaves contains -
​9 times the protein of yoghurt
​10 timess Vitamin A of carrots
15 times the potassium of bananas
17 times the calcium of milk
​12 times the Vit C of oranges
​25 times the iron of spinach

Even the seedpods called drumsticks are also used in cooking.  

Here is the recipe for this easy nutritious stirfry of Moringa leaves :

​Ingredients (serves 4)
2 bunches of moringa leaves (600gms)
​2 tbsp canola oil
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
​2 small onions, sliced
​3 garlic cloves, sliced thin
​1 dried chilli, cut into 4 (optional)
Salt
1/2 cup grated coconut

Method
​1)First string the leaves from the bunches. This is a time consuming procedure. Give yourself an hour or two for this. [Turn on the music to make it more enjoyable :)]. Wash and drain the moringa leaves. Keep aside.

2) Get the other ingredients ready - from bottom left, sliced garlic cloves grated white coconut and sliced shallots.

3) Heat a deep pot and fry the cumin seeds in the canola oil. After 10 secs, add in the sliced onion and garlic. I added dried chillies for color contrast. Fry all futher till golden brown.

4) This will then be followed by salt, the rinsed moringa leaves and 1/2 cup water. Cover and cook on low heat for 10-15 mins. Stir occasionally to cook all the leaves.

5) After 5min, uncover and stir well. Check for salt and add per your preference.

6) Lastly, add the grated coconut, stir and switch off the fire.

Claypot Jasmine Rice with Marinated Tofu and Shitake Mushrooms  is a heavenly rice dish.  The combination of ginger, bird's eye chilli and all the seasonings goes very well to produce a delicious, filling and wholesome meal. A Cooking Frenz member Alice Lim cooked this for one of her cooking demos but she had used rice cooker instead of a claypot and had made the non vegetarian version using chicken. This recipe has been long pending (since March actually!). As this Claypot rice has all the ingredients for a wholesome meal - carbs (rice), protein (tofus) and fibre (spinach and mushrooms)- you don't actually need any other side dish​ - though a light chinese soup would be a great accompaniment.

​A claypot is required for this rice dish but if you don't have one, use any heavy based non stick saucepot.

Ingredients (Serves 3)
​1.5 cups of Jasmine Rice

Rice seasonings
2.5 cups of vegetable stock
1 tsp sesame oil
​2 tsps mushroom seasoning

Tofu Marinade
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
½ teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 block of firm tofu, sliced half and again sliced into slightly thick rectangles
10 pieces of white button mushroom or 6 pieces of fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced thinly
1 piece of 2 inch ginger cut into matchsticks
1 bird's eye chilli, sliced
3 cups baby spinach, washed
2 tablespoon cooking oil

Other Seasonings
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine
1 teaspoon light soy sauce ( if needed)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon veg oyster sauce

​Extra bird's eye chilli and some sliced scallions for garnishing.  

Method
​1) Wash the rice and soak in 2.5 cups of vegetable stock for 15 mins in the claypot. We will be using this same stock to cook the rice. So don't throw this away.

2) In the meantime, cut the tofu block into rectangles and place them in a big plate/container.  

3) Prepare the marinade ingredient. From top left - light soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper powder, corn flour and sugar. Mix them in a small bowl and pour over the tofus slices. Let them marinate for 10 mins. 

4) Prepare the other seasonings for the vegetables. From left in a small white bowl - dark soy sauce, sesame oil, chinese rice wine, veg oyster sauce, canola oil and in the centre is light soy sauce (optional extra).

5) Get the vegetables ready.

6) Heat a wok and start frying the ginger matchsticks and bird's eye chilli. The white pepper in the tofu marinade packs a punch, so if you prefer a less spicy dish, add only half the chilli or omit altogether.

7) Then, add in the marinated tofu slices  and the marinade sauce.

8) Fry in the oil, turning over regularly till golden brown. Then add in the other seasonings.

9) This will then be followed by the mushroom and baby spinach.

10) Cook till the mushrooms and spinach cook and wilt. Probably 5-10 mins.

11) Start cooking the rice in the claypot. Add the mushroom seasoning and the sesame oil, mix and allow the stock to boil,

12) Cover the pot, reduce heat to low and cook the rice for 5-7 mins. Watch the pot carefully, the rice can get stuck to the claypot and start to burn.

13) When the rice is almost cooked, add the cooked tofu,mushroom, spinach stir fry over the rice.

14) Cover and cook on low heat for 5 mins and switch off the flame.

15) Serve hot garnished with spring onions and more bird's eye chilli.. Enjoy :)