5 Ways to Enjoy Soy Sauce

Of course, here in Malaysia, soy sauce is better known as 'kicap' ... We at Dinasou.com wanna share you at least 5 ways in which you can enjoy soy sauce as more than just a condiment ... We've found this wonderful site called taste.com.au, which lists down 15 ways to enjoy soy sauce, but we'll just focus on 5 of those ways.

1. To enhance the flavours of foods typically eaten as dessert.

    Here in Malaysia, there are people in some parts of the country that will enjoy a sprinkle or a good dash of 'kicap' with 'pisang goreng', or banana fritters. But do you know that soy sauce can be added to ice cream? If you buy a tub of vanilla ice cream, and you want to bring out the butterscotch flavour in it, soften the ice cream first, meaning don't put it in the freezer for a while. If it's a one-litre tub, pour one teaspoon of soy sauce in the softened ice cream and mix well. Put the tub back in the freezer to harden the ice cream. Ice cream is only nice to eat when it's firm. 

Another dessert which you can enhance the flavour of with soy sauce is chocolate brownie. Before baking, add two teaspoons of soy sauce so that the brownie's flavours will be intensified.

You can do the same to other desserts such as blueberry muffins and cakes. Add two to three teaspoons of soy sauce to the mixture before baking and voila! The sweetness of the desserts will be enhanced.

2. To add flavour to meat

    This is not a secret as some of us may actually use soy sauce to boost the richness of meat. But, there's a way of doing it that all of you may not know, such as mixing soy sauce with marmalade before basting chicken or lamb. Roast the meat when its properly basted with the marmalade & soy sauce mixture to give a citrus boost to your chicken or lamb. 

If you like making burger patties from scratch, don't forget to a teaspoon of soy sauce for every 100g of mince beef. This will definitely improve the taste of of your burgers. 

If you want a rich taste and a deep mahogany colour to your ribs (not your ribs, but those taken from a cow, like, duh!) or a beef roast, use soy sauce as a baste. Before or during roasting chicken, make sure to brush soy sauce over it to make it evenly brown and for better flavour. But we're sure you know this already, or else how can we enjoy the Malaysian quintessential dish, 'nasi ayam'?

3. If you want to add depth of flavour to your stews, soups and casseroles, use soy sauce in stock instead of salt. 

4. There are many ways to enjoy pumpkin and pineapple, either in savoury or sweet dishes. But how about just enjoying pumpkin and pineapple on their own with soy sauce? Mix soy sauce with honey and drizzle it over pineapple. Chargrill until golden and just warm. Mix soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce and glaze the mixture over wedges of pumpkin. Pop the wedges in the oven and bake until golden. 

5. This last one may not be a secret at all to most Malaysians. Then again, who knows? We all enjoy our curry gravy, right? But what about brown gravy? The one which you eat with meatballs, for example. For every quarter of water, add a quarter of soy sauce before making your gravy. It will sure add a kick to that brown gravy of yours. 

Here at Dinasou.com, where you can Shop, Save & Earn, we have a variety of soy sauces and in varying volumes. Check them out below. Alternatively, you can go to our website and key in 'soy sauce' in the search box. You'll get to see the whole shebang.

Kewpie Sesame Soy Sauce. 1L for RM31.10
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MCM Prime Light Soy Sauce. 5.5kg for RM22.50
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Lee Kum Kee Seasoned Soy Sauce for Seafood. 410ml for RM8.70
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I hate menstrual cramps! Hey, there are Chinese herbs that can help ...

Taken from Flickr.com

Hey, that time of the month is really a pain in the a$$, right, ladies? Want to try out something safe and has no side effects? Try out the herbs below, which you can get at any Chinese herbal shops. 

1. Dong Gui (Chinese Angelica or Angelica Sinensis)

    This herb is used to regulate the menstrual cycle and help alleviate menstrual cramps. It has been dubbed as the "female ginseng" due to such abilities. Other benefits of Dong Gui include re-establishing a menstrual cycle after a user stops taking birth control pills; ease PMS and help improve on conditions of anemia; and relieve symptoms of menopause. It is able to alleviate menstrual cramping by relaxing the muscles of the uterus and dilating the blood vessels, due to the coumarin chemicals present in the herb. 

2. Chuan Xiong (Chuanxiong Rhizoma)

    Since the Song Dynasty, Chinese women have used to take this herb in combination with three other herbs: Chinese foxglove, red peony and angelica. Chuan Xiong is combined with these three herbs to make soup as a blood tonic to alleviate PMS, cut down on menstrual pain and improve overall health, especially postpartum health. 

3. Bai Shao (White Peony Root)

    Among its benefits is blood circulation improvement and nourishment. It also inhibits the excessive synthesis of prostaglandins that may lead to an over-active uterus and endometrial pain. The inhibition of prostaglandins is due to the fact that Bai Shao can strengthen the liver, in turn increases the efficiency of protein and fat metabolism, resulting in the inhibition of excessive prostaglandins. 

4. Yi Mu Cao (Chinese Motherwort)

    Apart from treating menstrual problems, the leaves of Yi Mu Cao have been used to clear blood clots that occur in menstrual disorders and after childbirth, as well as improve blood circulation. 

5. Yan Hu Suo (Corydalis Rhizome)

    This herb helps relieve pain and strengthen blood circulation. When used together with Chuan Xiong, it can help relieve body aches and headaches. This herb contains the active chemical di-tetrahydropalmatine (THP), a neuroactive alkaloid with analgesic action that alleviates cramping pain. 

Source: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007

On Brand Street, Dinasou.com sells a line of herbal sanitary napkins called HiBIS. To know more, click here.

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Tips on losing weight with Honey!

Firstly, you must bear in mind that honey is a natural sweetener, unlike high processed table sugar, high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners. So, it is better to use honey as replacement for the sugar or artificial sweetener you use in your drinks and foods. So, now you might be thinking: "How much honey can I consume on a daily basis?". Before we answer that, we want you to know that one basic principle of weight gain is this:

Anything excessive is not good, even honey. When you take in more than what your body needs, whether it's sugar, fat or honey, the extra calories are stored as fat.

Okay, back to answering that question. Honey is basically sugar, which is a form of carbohydrate or energy-giving food. Nevertheless, it is natural and contains goodness that high processed table sugar or white sugar doesn't have. If you didn't know it already, table sugar or white sugar only contain empty calories, compared to honey.

Fact #1: One tablespoon of honey has 64 calories, and one tablespoon of sugar has 46 calories. But we only need 1 tablespoon of honey to make something sweet as compared to processed sugar, where you need 2 tablespoons of it to make your drink/food sweet. So, you do the math. How much calories are you consuming when you take honey and how much if you use sugar. It's just that simple.

Fact #2: Raw honey, a natural sweetener, is not subject to heating or any form of processing. Comparatively, sugar that is derived from the sugar cane plant is highly processed, and during such processes, all naturally occurring trace minerals are removed from the sugar cane plant. The end result is processed sugar that is devoid of nutrition such as vitamins, minerals and important enzymes. All that is left after all that processing are empty calories. Whereas commercial pasturized honey only has one step of processing that will prevent crystallization and yeast fermentation during storage. That process is just heating.

Generally, 3 to 5 tablespoons of honey per day is sufficient.

But now you're going to ask, "How exactly does consuming honey make me lose weight?". There are at least a couple of tips we can share with you.

Tip #1: Mix honey with cinnamon.

- Put half a teaspoon of cinnamon powder and a teaspoon of honey in a cup and mix into a paste.

- Pour a cup of boiling water into the mixture and let it sit for half an hour. Don't forget to cover the cup.

- Stir and filter, using a coffee filter for example, to remove any particles.

- Take this in the morning with an empty stomach at least half an hour before breakfast.

Although it is not widely proven, some people have found that taking cinnamon with honey can help with weight loss as it improves metabolism and regulates sugar level, resulting in weight loss.

Tip #2: Take honey with lemon.

Taking honey with lemon as part of a detoxification process can aid in losing weight. Fasting on honey and lemon juice, an alkaline food, is highly beneficial in helping obese people lose weight, at the same time maintaining energy and appetite.

- Mix one teaspoon of raw honey (unheated) with the juice of two teaspoons of lime or lemon juice in a glass of warm water. Make sure that it is not boiling hot water.

- Drink this concoction once in the morning on an empty stomach.

- This concoction not only works as a detox tonic, it also works as a digestive tonic, so you can take it after a big and oily meal.

However, we want you to bear in mind that depending solely on these tips to lose weight is not enough. You need to have a balanced diet, and a well-regulated exercise regime would also help a lot in your aim to lose weight.

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Leven Virgin Forest Honey
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4 tips on drinking coffee in a healthier way

Do you know that drinking too much coffee, which contains caffeine, can put a pressure on the stomach, kidneys, liver and andrenal glands? When the body is trying to get rid of the excess caffeine, it will also result in the excretion of vital vitamins and minerals. These are just some of the negative effects of drinking too much coffee. So, you should always bear in mind the adage: "Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing".

Luckily there are tips on how to drink coffee in a healthier way. Here are 4 of them:

1. Change to organically grown coffee

    Those that are grown the conventional way are exposed to too much pesticides. Choose coffee brands that have entered fairtrade practices with farmers who grow organic coffee.

2. Avoid flavoured coffees, and no sugar please.

    Flavoured coffees (Yeah, we know some of you love 'em), are full of artificial flavourings. So, we don't want that, do we? And on that note, try as much to put as little sugar as possible in your coffee.

3. Drink only ONE cup of coffee per day

    We know this is too much to ask for coffee lovers out there, but we're not asking you to cut down from drinking 10 cups of coffee per day to just 1 cup of coffee per day on the first day itself. Gradually cut down the number to eight for the first week, and six for the following week and so on. This enables you to wean off the need for that caffeine fix without shocking your system. The ideal amount of coffee that your liver can handle is eight ounces per day. That's doable, right?

4. Just ENJOY that one cup of coffee.

    Why should you be made to feel guilty about the simple pleasures of life, which includes drinking coffee? Just make sure that it is organic, ground-at-home coffee. After all, stressing about drinking coffee will only add unnecessary stress on yourself, and stress is a major factor in depleting the nutrients out of your body. So, just ENJOY your cup of coffee. Remember, MODERATION IS KEY.

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