Pickled Cherry Blossom and Saukura Leave Powder

I am always fascinated with the Japanese Cherry Blossoms (樱花) which is also known as Sakura which blooms during the season in from late March till early May but peak in April. Since centuries ago, Cherry blossoms are  pickled to preserve them for occasions whereby the fresh cherry blossoms are soaked in Ume plum vinegar to preserve it's pink color and then pickled in salt.

This pickled method has been developed over the generations to make the unique flavor of cherry blossoms throughout the whole year. Most Japanese used Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms (盐渍樱花) to make Sakura tea which is served on special occasions such as weddings. Or add them into rice and cooked together to create a beautiful and aromatic cherry blossom rice .

Soak the pickled cherry blossom in water for about 10 - 15 minutes to remove the salty taste before using.

Other than the Cherry Blossom flowers, their leaf could be used to make into powder too. This Sakura Leaf Powder (樱花叶粉) can be use in many ways similar to matcha/cocoa powder such as:- add it in cookie' dough, cakes batter or use as decoration on cakes and other desserts to enhance the taste and fragrance.

Going to explore more recipes using these two items soon. So do stay tune over at our recipe site for more update on sweet/savoury dishes using Cherry Blossom.

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MELODY by NESCAFE Dolce Gusto

Recently NESCAFE Dolce Gusto has launched anther new Automatic Beverage system known as MELODY. This sexy smart multo-beverage system is able to churn gourmet artisan beverage such as Black and White Coffee, teas to even hot chocolate. On top of it, it is also the only beverage system that offers cold beverage options such as iced peach tea and iced cappuccino. 

Overview of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY

To make a cup of cafe style beverage, just filled the water tank with water. Switch on the machine and it's exclusive Thermoblock technology will heat-up the water in less than one minute (the powder light will be in green colour which indicate ready for use). Next place your desire flavour capsule on the magnetic capsule holder which ease capsule entry with a soft push.

Pull down the Locking handler to secure the Capsule holder then select from the dosage scroll wheel according to your preferred dosage or intensity of the beverage taste.  This unique patented Custom Control Lever help to put you in control to customize your coffee's strength and mixture (for multi-capsule drinks).

MELODY is also the only system available now that makes both Hot an Cold beverage such as Cappuccino Ice and Peach Tea within a touch button and convenience capsule variants. 

Furthermore with it's All-in-One function, even without a separate milk frother, by using the milk capsules also allows anyone to easily produce frothy foam on varieties like Green Tea Latte and Vanilla Latte Macchiato with the convenience of a single machine.

On top of the existing capsule variants, recently NESCAFE Dolce Gusto has launched another THREE new flavour such as:- 

1. Espresso Intenso produce a 50ml short black coffee with an extra strong intensity which similar to 8 on the strength scale of Espresso range to give you that perk-me-up effect.

2. Cafe Au Lait which is the first and only capsule product that offers coffee with frothy milk in one single capsule in less than 1 minute.

3. Whereas for Grande Intenso, it has an intense and bold flavour that makes a 180ml long black coffee for a slow slips enjoyment.

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY (SG$279) Automatic System and the range of Beverage Capsules are available in all electrical chain stores, selected departmental stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets too. So if you are thinking of getting a small and home use Automatic Beverage machine, perhaps you could consider getting one which makes cafe-style beverage in less than a minute.



*Photos taken using Canon EOS M, M18-55 lens on Manual mode

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Organic Products

NATUREL Organic Brown Rice

There are a few types of Organic Brown Rice available in the supermarkets for you to pick up. Above is what we usually have at home as my kid only prefers this brand. It is easy to cook with an hour of pre-soaked before cooking it using rice cooker (without adding extra amount of water). The texture of the cooked rice is fluffy, slight chewy and most important it does not have an unpleasant or rough taste when consumed.

If you are not use to eat brown rice on it's own. You could mix it using 1:1 ratio (1 cup white rice + 1 cup brown rice) or 1: 0.5 (1 cup white rice + 1/2 brown rice).

Above are a few types of the Organic Soybeans which I use to make our Homemade Soymilk (recipe #1 using Joyoung Soymilk Maker and recipe #2 using Pebblio Home Appliance). But you could always use any brand of soybean despite of whether they are organic or not. Just for your information, soybeans can be easily found in any local supermarkets or grocery stores under the dried beans sections.

Other than making soymilk beverages, you could use these soybean to make Soup, Tofu, Beancurd and etc to.

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Pebblio Tofu And Soymilk Maker

Recently I have a chance to test out this new Tofu And Soymilk Maker from Pebblio which is a new Home Appliance designed in Singapore. Beside its simple, easy and no mess operations in making Tofu, Soymilk/ Pudding and etc you could also use it to great many others nutritious, healthy soup and beverages for your family members or loved ones too.

Pebblio Tofu and Soymilk Maker comes in 3 different body parts such as the Control Panel, Stainless Steel Contain (with filter in it) and the Tofu Box Container for collecting the soymilk/beverage and making Tofu.

Above shows the Control Panel of the Tofu and Soymilk Maker which is quite straight forward to use with basic functions preset to make "Tofu, Soymilk and Curd". On top of it you could also reheat the existing beverage or boil soup using the "Boil" button.

~ TIMER helps to preset time to operate the appliance.

~ POUR helps to release the contents into the tofu box container.  But for "Curd Function" the appliance will automatically release contents to the box after the preset program is completed.

~ BLEND helps to either blend the soup or bean mixture if there is a need to blend again after the preset program.

~ STOP/START allows the machine operate automatically after 30 seconds if you do not press the START functions. Whereas to STOP appliance completely, just press the STOP button and hold for a few seconds until it turns off.

This is the Stainless Steel Container with removable Cloth Filter (easily removed and washable) which helps to filter out the bean residues before flushing the soymilk/beverage into the Tofu Box Container. 

There are a total of 5 pieces Filter Cloth given in the box which you could rotate and use it for soymilk, juice, soup or etc for hygienic purpose or personal preference. For your information, each piece of filter cloth is washable and could be re-used (on daily basis) up to 6 months depending on the wear and tear and usage. 

The inner view of the Stainless Steel Container where the Cloth Filter is attached. This appliance can make up to 2.2 litres of soymilk with 2 cups (measuring cup included with the appliances) of soybeans which is about 180g.

Lastly, the machine also comes with a Tofu Box Cover, a piece of "cheese/tofu cloth" together with the Tofu Box which is use for collecting the ready soymilk or beverage. If you have the ingredient to make Tofu, this Tofu Box can also be used using the Tofu Preset Program too.

Currently Pebblio is the sole distributor for this Tofu And Soymilk Home Appliance and they are going to channel out the products to retail shops soon but meanwhile you could purchase it online via their website here or thru their sales enquire email @ sales@pebblio.com. Retail price of this appliance is of Singapore Dollar S$250.00 (without GST) excluding delivery charges.

* All related Photos and Recipes of Pebblio Tofu And Soymilk Maker are ©Copyright by Ellena Guan of Cuisine Paradise. All rights reserved. Product merchants or anyone related are "Prohibited" from using my work (photographs, content and recipes) for commercial purposes without my written consent.

Do stay tune for more related recipes (updated on 07 Mar 13:- recipes HERE) using this new Pebblio Tofu And Soymilk Home Appliance soon.

PEBBLIO
Tofu And Soymilk Home Appliance
161 Kallang Way
#05-11
Singapore 349247
Telephone: (65)3152 5957

Website: http://pebblio.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pebblio

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Chia Seeds - 奇异籽

Recently I get to know a new "superfood" ingredient from one of my friend, Alice (she is someone who always shared information on amazing healthy food products with me whenever she tried) as well as some read up from food magazines. For this post, I am sharing my new love which is known as "Chia Seeds (奇异籽)" which offers amazing wholefood nutritional benefits.

Chia seeds are small round ivory to charcoal coloured seeds that form a gel when mixed together with liquid. They are two type of chia seeds available in the supermarkets or some organic shops (Supernature) which are either Black (shown above) or White Chia Seeds (available in150g/500g pouch. I bought mine from The Chia Co (S$15.00 / 150g pouch, orange colour packing) from NTUC Fairprice under the organic products section.

[Benefits] Chia is a wholegrain that tastes great and easy to include in our daily diet to improve our health. Beside with it loaded with essential fatty acids, Chia seeds help to improve skin from inside out which also makes it a complete beauty food that benefits hair and nails too. Furthermore Chia is the richest combined plant source of:-

~ Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acid;
~ Dietary Fibre;
~ Protein;
~ Antioxidants;
~ Essential Vitamins and Minerals

[How To Use Chia Seeds] Chia has a delicious light nutty flavour which can be use to sprinkle on salad; add to soup; blended into smoothies; baked into breads, cakes, cookies or even added to cereal or oats porridge. Below some some of the recipes which I have included Chia Seeds in it.

Apple, Oat And Walnut Crumble	Pumpkin Granola Bar	Longan And Cranberry Yogurt Cake
Orange Chiffon Cake	Lemon Butter Cake

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