Healthy Recipes

Tada! I want to quickly take you to Korea for a moment. I’m a Nigerian by birth and citizenship but a Korean by love and heart 😍 . What do I mean? My love for Korean is triple much. This is one of the fun facts you need to know about me. In fact, I see myself travelling to Jeju Island, Seoul or Jeonju one day. I don’t like/watch American movies for so many reasons but I watch Korean movies very well. And I can not watch any Korean movie without learning something new. My favorite Korean actress is Park Min Young. I’ve watched some of her series which are City Hunter, Queen for Seven Days, What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, Her Private Life, etc I also love the fact that Korea promotes herbal medicine very well. Okay, let me not digress too much. You see, anytime I’m watching Korean movies, I look forward to their dishes or meals. The table setting alone is always breathtaking. Korean just have varieties of food ranging from Ddukbokki, Bibimbap, Hangover Stew (Haejangguk), etc Over the years of watching Korean movies, I’ve gotten so much acquainted with some of their meals. I remember how watching a Korean movie one day made me opt for noodles as lunch. Koreans refer to noodles as Ramen. Ramen is commonly used in most Korean movies. I don’t like noodles before but Koreans had made me start falling in love with it so much. My love for Korean dishes had also pushed me to learn how to cook some of them. And obviously when I go to Korea one day, I’ll be able to eat most of their mouth watering foods. Better still, I can just go to any international restaurant in Nigeria and  myself to a Korean dish. So far so good, Kimchi happens to be my Korean best choice. I salivate whenever I see it while watching any Korean movie. Kimchi is not really a dish but something that is vital to any Korean meal. It is a traditional Korean dish consisting of pickled vegetables. It is mainly served as a side dish with every meal, but also can be served as a main dish.  Let me quickly share the little knowledge I have on how to prepare this sumptuous dish. There are varieties of Kimchi ranging from Pa kimchi (green onions), oi sobagi (cucumber), dongchimi (radish water), Bossam kimchi, etc The commonest one is paechu kimchi, made with napa cabbage. And that’s the one we’re looking at today. INGREDIENTS   1 medium head napa cabbage (about 2 pounds) 1/4 cup iodine-free sea salt or kosher salt Water Grated garlic Grated peeled fresh ginger Granulated sugar (optional) Fish sauce or salted shrimp paste 1 to 5 tablespoons Korean red pepper flakes (gochugaru) 8 ounces Korean radish or daikon radish, peeled and cut into matchsticks 4 medium scallions   PROCEDURES 1) The first thing is to cut the cabbage. Cut the cabbage lengthwise through the stem into quarters and add salt to the cabbage. Massage the salt into the cabbage until it starts to soften a bit. Then, add enough water to cover the cabbage and place a heavy something like a rod on top of the cabbage to weigh it down. This is to squeeze out the brine in the cabbage. Allow this to stand for 2 to 4 hours. 2) Blend the garlic, ginger, sugar, and fish sauce, shrimp paste and stir into a smooth paste. Stir in the gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes). Use 1 tablespoon for mild and up to 5 tablespoons for spicy taste. Then, set aside until the cabbage is ready. 3) Once the cabbage is ready, combine with the vegetables and spice paste made. Then, add the radish and scallions radish, green onions, mustard greens, garlic mixture, chili powder thoroughly using your hands. Note: It’s advisable to put on long gloves while making kimchi. This is to protect your hands from burns and stains! 5) Pack the kimchi, seal and place jar. Let the jar stand at cool room temperature for 1 to 5 days in order to ferment. Refrigerate when ready. Kimchi is best eaten about 3 or 4 weeks after preparation.     Like I said earlier, Kimchi can be eaten alone but it is mostly added to soup, as a side dish, or with veggie burgers. When Kimchi gets too fermented to eat alone, one can also make hot pots, flatcakes, dumplings with it. Kimchi has been proven to be very much healthy. It helps in weight loss and having healthy skin. It is also full of probiotics, vitamin A, B and C, and antioxidants, It’s also been discovered that it can even help cure some diseases like diabetes. The vegetables (radish, cabbage and scallion) have amazing health benefits  which I’ll love to share with you one day. Thanks for going with me to Korea 🥰😍Gamsahabnida🥰🥰❤

Yoooo! It’s another time to talk about food. Why food? It’s simply because we’re what we feed on whether spiritually or physically? If one will be healthy in your body, spirit, soul and mind, one needs the substance called Food. Having said that, let’s go down to business. There are these 2 canteens (owned by Igbo women) located close to my primary place of assignment (PPA). These women have really captured my heart with their Igbo soups. I only go to those shops to eat solid foods and not the regular rice. Yesterday was not an exception, I ate this correct Edikang Ibong soup that made my stomach rejoice. Let’s quickly talk about this soup called Edikang Ibong. The Nigerian Edikang Ikong soup or simply Vegetable Soup is native to the Efiks, people from Akwa Ibom and Cross River states of Nigeria. It is a general notion that the Edikang Ikong soup is very nutritious and this is absolutely true. The vegetables made in preparation of this soup are superb. Prepared with a generous quantity of pumpkin leaves and water leaves coupled with dried fish and assorted meats, this Nigerian soup recipe is nourishing in every sense of the word. INGREDIENTS 1kg Pumpkin leaves also known as Ikong Ubong /Ugu leaves 500g Water leaves (Talinum Triangulare) 600g of assorted meat: cow tripe (shaki), snails, cow’s skin(kanda) Stockfish(optional) Smoked/dried fish Pepper Salt Ground crayfish (to taste) 200ml Palm oil 1 cup Periwinkle 2 medium onions 1-2 stock cubes Alternative vegetables for those who cannot buy water leaves and pumpkin leaves: 1kg normal frozen spinach 200g ground frozen spinach 250g lamb’s lettuce (canonigos in Spanish) Defrost the frozen spinach, cut the normal frozen one into tiny pieces and mix with the ground frozen spinach. Wring out the water from these and add them when the written recipe requires you to add the pumpkin leaves. Wash, pick and cut the Lamb’s Lettuce into tiny pieces. Add them when the written recipe requires you to add water leaves. METHOD OF PREPARATION 1. When the meat is done, add a generous amount of palm oil, the ground crayfish and pepper and leave to boil for about 10 minutes. The palm oil serves as the liquid in the Edikang Ikong soup. You should try as much as possible to make it the only liquid in the soup. 2. Add the periwinkle and water leaves, leave to cook for another 5 minutes. You may have to cook for less time at this stage so that the water leaves are not over-cooked. 3. Now, add the pumpkin leaves and salt to taste. Stir the contents of the pot very well and turn off the heat. Cover the pot and leave to stand for about 5 minutes. 4. That’s it! Serve with Garri (Eba) , Semolina Fufu , Amala, Cassava Fufu or Pounded Yam.

Oh Ye lover of beans, have you ever heard of “Ekuru” before? If not, ermmmm, you are missing a big time. What makes me love Ekuru more is the

  This is the season of corn (literally called maize) and I have been enjoying it’s season…At a point, I kept wondering if there are varieties of food I can prepare with corn. The first food

  “Darling, I am in the airport now. I will be home in couple of minutes” My husband’s voice ranged out of the phone. It was a bombshell! “Dear, do you mean you are already in Lagos?” “Ah ah!…darling, of course. The plane landed few minutes ago” “Oh! Welcome. I will be expecting you” my heart started beating fast. “I hope…” he was saying but I had already dropped the call. I picked my purse and phone and down the stairs I descended.