What do I eat on a restrictive diet?

So, what do I eat...can eat.....or should eat....while on a restrictive diet?  Let's start with the most obvious...the best and most suitable food if one has health conditions or wants to eat healthily...it's one that's homecooked coz that would put you in control of what you eat and, more importantly, what you put into the cooking of your food.  Outside food, as we all know, is heavy on sauces and seasonings which usually contains too much salt, sugar and/or MSG! >.<

In the hope of bringing down my carb and sugar levels quickly, I turned to homecooked meals for the majority of my daily food hoping for fast results.  I've always championed a balanced diet but some of these food pyramids (in the past) or what a typical healthy plate should look like are just too detailed to follow let alone remember.

So my doctor drew me a simple healthy plate which is easy to follow (which incidentally I've been following for years but obviously not hard enough).  This ultimate healthy eating plate is simply made up of one quarter protein, one quarter carbs and one half vegetables and fruits (the QQH concept), so I use this sample healthy plate as a guide (but with small deviations).

Simply adhering to the QQH concept is not enough...the size of the plate matters too!  It's no point following the QQH principle when you use a big ass plate, is it? ;D  Well, I got myself the perfect plate (more like a Zebra food container) for the purpose.  I actually bought this container (which measures about 10 inches) earlier to tapau food (chap fan specifically) only to realise it was too shallow (made worse when the cover closes inwards), so it turned into the perfect plate to use at home for portion control instead.

There are many diet plans online which one can follow but they mainly cater to western palates, so it isn't something I can follow based on my Chinese way of eating.  A typical Asian meal consists of rice with dishes which makes up the bulk of our daily meals, so I took it on to cook two meals on most days but one on some days.  So, here's a look at some of the healthy plates I've cooked in the past few months.

Minced Pork Patty, Omelette & Stir-Fried Lettuce.  The key to all my homecooked meals is that it has to be simple cooking since I've to do it on a daily basis.

Silken Tofu with Garlic & Soy, Minced Meat Omelette & Stir-Fried Lettuce.  I must have a bit of carbs (rice) at every meal.  My rice portion is about half a bowl (or around 4 - 5 tbsps) which is less than a quarter cup of uncooked rice (which I steam in individual bowls).

As for the type of rice, I was advised by my doctor to eat long grain rice like basmathi (he said not to take Siam or fragrant rice/beras wangi/hiong mai).  Of course you can also eat brown rice (if you can take it...I can't, I tried before).  I was also recommended to eat Indian rice (this is a direct translation from Cantonese, don't know what it's actually called).  I tried that too but couldn't eat it on a long term basis.

Basmathi rice, on the other hand, I liked immediately as it's so easy to take coz it tastes good.  I've been eating Bird of Paradise brand for a long time (it was fragrant and then Siam rice before), so I stuck with the same brand.  It's more costly (at double the price) but since I eat less, the higher price is acceptable.  Even when I don't cook and tapau from the chap fan stall, I'd still boil my own rice whenever possible.  When I rince the rice, I find that the water runs clear and is not as cloudy indicating lesser starch probably.

Prawns in Dark Soy, Omelette & Stir-Fried Dragon Chives (Ching Loong Choy).  To limit sugar, I had to stay away from proteins cooked with sauces like sweet and sour, marmite, lemon, salted egg, assam, Thai sweet chilli, etc. as these would definitely contain sugar to balance out the salty or sour flavours.  The only sauce I do take (since most proteins are cooked in some kind of sauce) is soy and curry (at least these sauces are savoury-based but, of course, there's still a bit of sugar in them but not as much as the other sauces).

Fried Kau Yue (Tenggiri), Fried Egg & Stir-Fried Po Choy.  If the portion of protein is small, I'd usually add on an egg as extra protein to bulk up the meal.  I prefer that since it gives me a bit more variety.

Braised Chicken + Mushrooms, Salted Fish & Stir-Fried Spinach (Po Choy).  When it comes to vegetables, stir-fried or ching chow is now my best friend.  Fried simply with garlic, it's the healthiest option.  At home, I choose to cook and eat just a few types of vegetables, those that are the easiest and fastest to cook (with as little plucking and prep as possible...lol) like po choy, dragon chives, lettuce and cucumber.

Stir-Fried Prawns with Dragon Chives & Stir-Fried Cucumber with Egg.  Sometimes, just two dishes would be enough if they're in bigger portions.

Steamed Minced Pork + Egg & Stir-Fried Po Choy.  Besides stir-fried dishes (usually vegetables), steamed dishes is my other best friend.  I eat a lot of these two types of dishes nowadays at home...and even at chap fan stalls.

Fried Fish Paste with Cabbage.  Some days, even one dish is enough.  I'd cook just a one-dish meal if the portion is substantial.  I like to use pre-bought fish paste (from the wet market) and just shallow fry them into small patties, apportion them and leave it in the freezer for use later (as the required protein) to fry with any vegetable of choice.  Super convenient not to mention delicious.

Pork Slices Soup with Hairy Gourd, Dried Prawns & Goji Berries.  This one has meat, vegetables and soup all-in-one! ;)  Super easy to prepare too and especially good on cold rainy evenings.

Minced Meat Omelette.  This is a meal with no carbs (and by that I mean no rice or bread).  Of course, there's still a little carbs in everything.  I ate just this once but since learned my lesson...must include a little carbs at every meal (I'll tell you the story some other time).

Poached Chicken & Stir-Fried Po Choy.  On some days, I simplify my cooking even further by just buying the protein (like poached chicken) and add on a veggie.

Pork Innards Pepper Soup.  And on days when I don't feel like cooking at all, I can get this for convenience.  I'm eating like a carnivore these days....except I eat it with some rice (and add on more spring onions).

Yong Tau Foo in Soup.  Another ideal buy for a low-carb diet is Yong Tau Foo which I can simply reheat for later (and add on lots of yin sai).  Eat it on its own (like the pork innards soup) or with some rice.  I cracked some black pepper over it but realised the coarse black pepper is not fine enough so most of it tend to sink to the bottom of the bowl (and you end up not tasting the pepper, so it's back to white pepper, now I know why it works only in thick western soups)! ;D

Roasted Chicken Leg, Honey Sweet Potatoes & Green Beans.  Of course, instead of mixed rice, you can also include some western-type meals into your daily meal plans...and the easiest (and cheapest) to do at home is chicken.  Like rice with dishes, it's also a balanced meal of protein, carbs and veggies.

Roasted Chicken Wings, Potatoes, Broccoli & Buttered Bun.  Without rice, potatoes and bread became my carb component.  Some of you might be wondering....isn't potato and bread considered high GI/GL food.  It is if you eat a portion more than you should.  I took tests after these meals and my sugar levels were not only within range but good, so I was reassured that eating a small portion of carbs isn't all that threatening.  I did not have bread for the first 4 months of my restrictive diet but have since introduced it back in small portions occasionally.

Roasted Chicken Wings, (Orange) Sweet Potatoes & Rose Apple Slices.  The same with fruits which I omitted totally from my diet (of my own choosing) since fruits contain natural sugar (this rose apple was my first in 4 months).  I've tested my blood sugar after these meals and find the readings within range even with potatoes and fruits (the key is portion control).

In addition to strategically pairing food (such as pairing carbs with fibre, fat and proteins to help lower blood sugar spikes), it seems strategically sequencing food (such as eating veggies first, followed by proteins and carbs last) also helps to minimise blood sugar peaks.  Not sure if it actually works but doing this with an Asian-type meal is almost impossible.  How to eat your rice last lah (with no more liew..lol!)? :O  It's more feasible with a western-type meal certainly but still I'd rather enjoy my meal eating a bit of this and a bit of that (I'm someone who appreciates variety).

In my restrictive diet, I've to be very selective of the dishes I choose to cook and the dishes I get from chap fan stalls by refraining from food with sugar-laden sauces.  Eating this way can be difficult unless you cook your own meals as almost everything we get outside is either coated or cooked in some kind of sauce (which is usually sweetish in nature)...but I've been extremely encouraged by how much my sugar readings have improved since going on this (partial) homecooked diet.  There's no denying that homecooked meals give me the best blood glucose readings (based on readings taken 2 hours after eating which are always in the lower end of the desired range).

But (I can hear some of you 'saying' already) eating just homecooked food is so boring...and it is, I agree 100%.  Although I've to be very careful with what I eat, that doesn't mean I can't eat outside food altogether. I just have to make the right choices.  I'll show you what outside food I could still enjoy (and how I went about it) in my next post.

How many ways can you eat chee cheong fun?

For those of us who love eating chee cheong fun (or rice noodle rolls)...and I'm one of them, we're lucky that there are many types and styles of chee cheong fun for us to enjoy.

#1 - Plain Chee Cheong Fun with Chilli & Sweet Sauce

Certainly the most basic is one eaten with lat chiew cheong (chilli sauce) and tim cheong (sweet brown sauce if you're in Klang Valley).

#2 - Plain Chee Cheong Fun with Curry

Of course you're bound to find a version with curry since we're Malaysians....and we obviously love our curries! ;)

I especially love this one (offered by a yong tau foo shop, Yap Hup Kee) where the curry is almost like a thick broth with added fragrance from the bits of dried shrimps.  So good. ^.^

#3 - Chee Cheong Fun with the more typical/common liew

Plain chee cheong fun (from hawker stalls) is usually paired with more typical liew (ingredients) like boiled/softened beancurd sheets, tofu puffs, fish and pork balls.

#4 - Chee Cheong Fun with various types of yong tau foo

But these days, most chee cheong fun stalls have graduated from just providing the standard liew that it now comes with a vast choice of yong tau foo items to choose from like fish paste-stuffed brinjal, bitter gourd, fresh red chillies, ladies finger, tofu, fried dumpling, fried wantan, fried beancurd rolls and more.

#5 - Steamed Chee Cheong Fun

In a neighbourhood shop of mine, they offer steamed chee cheong fun rolls with a filling of shredded jicama and carrot (that have been cooked till soft), very much like a fried popiah, only difference is it's  steamed instead of deep fried.  We eat this with a drizzle of soy sauce.

#6 - Dried Shrimp Chilli Chee Cheong Fun

I got this from a hawker stall (via delivery) who offered their chee cheong fun that is eaten with just a condiment of spicy dried shrimp and its oil.  It's not one I usually see but it was very enjoyable too.

But the chee cheong fun with crispy dried shrimps that I eat regularly is the one from Yap Hup Kee.  It's served here with either a sweet + chilli sauce or in curry.

#7 - Kampar-Style Chee Cheong Fun

Next, we have different styles of chee cheong fun that hails from different States/cities in Malaysia.  First up is this Kampar-style chee cheong fun that contains tiny bits of dried prawns and spring onions that have been folded into the sheets of chee cheong fun.  It's difficult to see as there isn't a lot of it, just a little to bring some added flavour to the plain chee cheong fun.  You usually don't find a variety of liew like yong tau foo items offered with this style, just the standard beancurd sheets and meat/fish balls, as the chee cheong fun is the star attraction.

My all-time favourite of this style of chee cheong fun is the one from Pandan Perdana market (they've since moved into a proper shop, Restoran Good Friends, in the vicinity).  You can eat this with either curry, chilli or sweet sauce.  Their curry is one of the best I've had with chee cheong fun (their tim cheong is good too, very different from the standard brown sweet sauce we get from most sellers) and that's why I like to eat it with a combo or curry and sweet sauce. ^o^

#8 - Penang-Style Chee Cheong Fun

Penang-style chee cheong fun (as we know) is also particular to that State in that it's the only one that is served with a har ko cheong (shrimp paste sauce).,.and my current go-to is the one from O & S Restaurant...the chee cheong fun is really translucent and slippery-smooth.  This style I'd have to say is an acquired taste because of the har ko cheong.  I didn't like it when I first tried it as the thick har ko is very pungent but the taste grew on me.  Still, I try not to mix in all the har ko + you really need the chilli sauce to cut through the pungency and robustness of the har ko.

#9 - Ipoh-Style Chee Cheong Fun

Ipoh-style chee cheong fun is served in one of three ways.  The first is eaten with a chilli and sweet sauce although the sweet sauce is a little different from others as Ipoh-style sweet sauce is more reddish in colour compared to the usual brownish ones here.

The second which is also indigenous to Ipoh (I think) as I've not come across it elsewhere is that they offer chee cheong fun with mushroom sauce (sometimes cooked with bits of minced pork).  Ipoh-style chee cheong fun is always served along with some pickled green chillies.

The third is most simple one...with plain soy and shallot oil and topped with fried shallots and sesame seeds.  For this to shine, the soy must be of a good (and tasty) quality and the shallots freshly fried (not pre-fried, store-bought ones).  I've yet to come across good Ipoh (in whatever) style chee cheong fun here in KL! ;D

#10 - Teluk Intan-Style Chee Cheong Fun

Although this is not the actual/famed Teluk Intan chee cheong fun (which I've not eaten before), it's quite similar to it.  This one I found sold by a hawker in a wet market.  The chee cheong fun is filled with chopped jicama (sengkuang) and radish (choy poh, not sure if it's the salty or sweet kind but I believe it's the latter) before topping with a sprinkling of crispy, fried, finely chopped dried prawns.  It's a killer combination with its sweet, salty and fragrant flavours.

#11 - Hong Kong-Style Chee Cheong Fun

Hong Kong-style of chee cheong fun has its rice rolls steamed with a filling of either prawns or char siew (current favourite is from Wah Hong Kong Chee Cheong Fun).  It's quite a sight to see the extremely thin rice rolls (some call this cheong fun coz of it's much thinner texture compared to chee cheong fun) come out of the steamer and rolled.  It's generally served with a sauce of soy and a dollop of ma lai chan lat chiew (cooked belacan and dried shrimp sambal).

#12 - Fried Chee Cheong Fun ala Char Kway Teow-Style

This fried chee cheong fun ala char kway teow-style is almost similar to any standard fried char kway teow with the requisite fresh sihum (cockles) as well except it's fried with chee cheong fun instead of kway teow.  Can it beat the usual char kway teow in taste?  Not quite...since the noodles are in a rolled form, so it doesn't get charred enough for that sought-after wok hei taste.

#13 - Fried Chee Cheong Fun with Dried Shrimp & Chilli

Finally, fried chee cheong fun with dried shrimps and chillies may be offered by stalls/shops selling fried noodles like Hokkien mee and kong fu chow (Cantonese-style noodles of wat tan hor or ying yong) although it's not commonly available.  I think I first encountered this dish at a Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng (which they called XO fried chee cheong fun).

We're very fortunate to be able to eat chee cheong fun in a variety of styles.  Are you a lover of chee cheong fun like me?  If so, what's your favourite way of eating it.  For me, I love Kampar-style chee cheong fun...and you don't really need any liew as the chee cheong fun will shine on its own if it's good.  If not this, then chee cheong fun in a thick and tasty curry or a Hong Kong-style chee cheong fun with fresh prawns and a good ma lai chan lat chiew is my next choice. ^_~

I'm an Addict.....a Coffee Addict, that is!

If you've read the short little intro about myself (at the top of my blog's side bar) or have followed my blog long enough, you'd know I'm quite the coffee addict!  I'm addicted to coffee (like Robert Palmer is addicted to love)! :D

But you'll also be very surprised to learn from this post that I'm addicted to our cheap local coffee...lol, first and foremost, and not those more expensive coffees like the lattes, flat whites, cappuccinos, espressos, Americanos and whatnots (though I like them too, after all, they're still coffees!).  When it comes to coffee (and tea), our local coffee (or tea) is the best.  Some might say I'm biased.....but, I assure you, I'm not.  Maybe it's because it just suits our local tastebuds better.

I can't start my mornings without a cup of coffee.  My favourite cup of coffee, one I grew up drinking, is none other than our very own local kopi-o (which is black coffee + sugar)......and it must be kaw (strong) but not too kaw (and less sweet) for me.  This beats an Americano anytime.  If the coffee gives off some kind of a transparent look, then that's kopi pok (which means thin or diluted) and that's a no no! ;D

I don't know what is it about this black coffee aroma that gets me every time I take a sip...it just starts me off right in the mornings.  Of course, the taste differs from one coffee shop to another depending on the coffee beans each shop uses.  Some are more bitter, some are acidic, some have a sourish tang and some just lack the fragrant aroma.  Don't ask me to describe the taste and smell of the kopi-o I like, I just know it when I drink it.

As good as a cup of kopi-o can be, a glass of kopi-o-ping (kopi-o with ice) is even better in our climate.  I go for that in the hot afternoons but sometimes I can't resist them in the mornings too.  I usually have my kopi-o min-tim (less sweet) and, sometimes, kosong (which means no sugar) though that's a rarity as some of the kopi-o is really kaw (thick) and, for that, you'll need a little bit of sugar to counter the bitterness.

For me, the kopi-o doesn't need to be brilliant, it just needs to be good.  From my jalan-jalan cari makan, I already know of some places that serve a good cup of kopi-o but I won't necessarily seek out well-known kopitiams or far away places just for that.  If I happen to be there for food and I know they serve a mean cup of kopi-o, then I'll have one.  Luckily, I have a couple of good ones in my taman where I can have my daily fix...and you'll be surprised to learn that many come from unpretentious coffee shops and not those Hainanese kopitiams that serve eggs, toast and coffee.  Plus, there's really no point to say which coffee shops are good as some would change their coffee beans (when there's a change in hands) and then it goes from good to bad! >_<

For some reason, I've never developed a fondness for kopi (coffee + condensed milk).  Neither do I ever order kopi-c (coffee + evaporated milk + sugar) or kopi yin yeong (coffee + tea + milk).  Well, I'm not a fan of anything 'c' really as I don't fancy the taste of evaporated milk all that much.

Although I may not be much of a condensed or evaporated milk fan with coffee.....I absolutely adore white coffee (and they don't necessarily have to be from Ipoh either). ;P

My favourite one in KL (for now) is from Restoran Ah Koong in Pudu.  Incidentally, they sell their instant white coffee satchets at their shop too and the only reason why I've not brought them home with me is because I'd end up drinking them daily and I shouldn't since they're the 3-in-1 type (aka with sugar).

Closer to home (in my taman itself), I've two that can fulfill my white coffee craving (in San May King and Chang Kitchen).

If I need a white coffee fix at home, I rely on Papparich's white coffee (with stevia) instant coffee (not OldTown, Chang Jiang or Nam Heong).  I like it that you can even get that nice bit of foam on top too.  Till now, I've not found a kopi-o that comes out of a satchet that I truly love (Aik Cheong came close, the taste and aroma was there but when I reached the bottom of the cup, there's this unpleasant powdery residue that lingers in the mouth).  Know of any that I should try? ;)

Although I'm a coffee addict first, I don't mind having tea once in a while....and, by that, I don't mean those fancy-schmancy English-type tea where you sip with your pinky up like a snobbish royal or tai-tai (but if it's an Afternoon Tea with savoury and sweet treats, that I can make an exception-lah...hehe).

If it had to be tea, I'd rather enjoy a good premium Chinese tea (or one of those flowering teas) than English tea really.

The type of tea I do like is our local teh (tea with condensed milk) but not teh-c (tea with evaporated milk).  I love it especially when it arrives frothy and all....though not all teh made by Chinese coffee shops are like that.

But the teh tarik (which is tea that's pulled between two glasses) made by Inidan/mamak shops is.  That process of pulling/pouring the teh between two metal mugs, while cooling down the tea, also makes it all foamy and delicious (but have to make sure to ask for less sweet-lah, otherwise it's always coyingly sweet).  These mamak shops also offers a version with ginger juice referred to as teh halia which I initially thought would be a very weird combination until I tried it....and liked it instantly...it's rather refreshing (and opens up one's appetite).

My son, on the other hand, is a teh fella.  Teh-peng (tea with milk & ice) or teh tarik ais is his preferred drink.  He also likes teh-o (tea + sugar) but only if it comes with lemon (as in ice lemon tea) or lime (teh-o limau ais)....lol.  Well, basically, anything teh-lah (but not those western-type teas).

 

Of course, a beautiful marriage between the two would be cham (which is a combination of coffee + tea with condensed milk).

I rarely order cham but I did enjoy Ah Weng Koh's Hainan Tea (which is also a blend of coffee & tea and not just tea as the name implies) and so did my son.  Of course, there's also cham-c and cham-o.

I once had this rather unique cham ice with coffee sorbet...local coffee meets sophistication?  Lol.

Enough of our local coffee (and tea) already.....how about giving our kwai-lo coffee some love?  Although I'm not for milk when it comes to our local coffees...but for western-type coffees, like the lattes, cappuccinos and flat whites, I need them to come with milk, for sure.  I'm not fond of their black coffees, like espressos or Americanos, as the acidity of some of these coffees can get to me.

I'd probably say iced latte is my most favourite and that's because of its higher content of milk to coffee to lend sweetness and mellow the taste of some very strong coffee beans!

Nowadays, they even do flavoured lattes....with hazelnut, nutella, salted caramel, coconut, cinnamon, macadamia, etc., even sweet (purple) potato.  Some turned out really good like this iced hazelnut latte...and now it's my most favoured...and most ordered flavoured latte.

But if you like a bit of chocolaty flavour, then you can try an iced nutella latte.

Even the iced sweet potato latte turned out pretty good too which was a bit of a surprise.

The caramel flavoured latte wasn't as endearing as it turned out too sweet for me (what else could it be other than sweet, it's called caramel after all, right?). @_@

But the iced caramel macchiato was a different story...this I liked.

Some combinations can be quite unique but not necessarily tasty like this Americano with cream soda.

Including this coconut latte....

...a banana latte (and a blueberry latte) I once had which turned out rather weird tasting (or let's just say it needs some getting used to).

Some people enjoy a matcha latte...not me though, I don't like anything matcha.

Another not to my liking was this almond latte probably because I don't like almond desserts either.

I even once had coffee in the form of Darth Vader-shaped frozen coffee cubes! O_o

There's even ice blended coffee...with a texture like shaved ice in cendol. :D

And finally, how about coffee in a cone where you can eat up the coffee cup too after you've finished your coffee...lol.  Well, if you've noticed from the pics above, I tend to love iced coffees over hot ones (who wouldn't in our kind of hot weather) but I also order hot coffees and that's purely down to the latte art.....I want to drink something nice but I like it pretty too. ^_~

Then, there are coffees from other lands.

Like Thai Coffee which I've never really taken a liking to.

Nor their Thai tea but at least it's still bearable compared to their coffee.

The same with Hong Kong Coffee......I don't have an affinity to them....be it hot or cold.

Though cold is somewhat more drinkable than hot (which I used to like but not so much now).

When it comes to Hong Kong teas, I'm also not a fan.

For Hong Kong milk tea, it's common to see them served in a bucket of ice...and that's to keep it cold as well as to prevent the ice from diluting the tea.

Don't even mention Vietnamese Coffee....had their drip coffee once....first and last time.  It's bitter and way too strong for me (even stronger than espresso).  Maybe it's because I had it black.  It's much more palatable with milk...but still not my cup of tea (or coffee, in this case).

As for Indonesian Coffee.....Kopi Luwak (or Civet Coffee), I've never had it before, so obviously no picture-lah.  Well, I'm not about to pay a super expensive price tag (not that I can afford it anyway) for something that comes out of someone's or something's rear end.  Feces.....poop...well, that doesn't sound anything remotely inviting to me at all...lol! :O

And what about Irish Coffee....well, all I can say is don't even go there...unless you're an alcoholic drinker as this combination of whiskey and hot coffee is not for the faint-hearted! :O

So there.....I've finally done a piece on one of my most favourite things to do...sipping coffee...and watching the world go by....no, scratch that last part, unless I'm Louisa Clark sipping coffee on the sidewalk of a Parisian cafe (in that last scene from Me Before You, one of my favourite tearjerker romance films of all time which never fails to bring a tear to my eyes).

This post was a labour of love (well, I seem to have more time on my hands these days anyway) as well as a trip down memory lane reminiscing some of the places (some of which have since closed...so sad) where I had some of my coffee experiences.  In the end, I admit I'm a coffee addict......but more of a local coffee addict first coz there's nothing like a good cup of kopi-o or white coffee (similarly a glass of kopi-o-ping or iced white coffee) in the mornings to get me going.  Of course I love my lattes and cappuccinos too (check out this updated post on some of the places where I like to get my coffee fix).

Coffee is on! ^o^