Use of Blender or Chopper

As far as possible make full use of these time-saving gadgets. The electric chopper does a fine job, even with chilli seeds. If you feel the result is still not fine enough, a grinding stone can be used after blending.

A good liquidizer does an excellent job except with chilli seeds. However, frying the blended ingredients will take a little longer because of the extra water added. Always remember to slice ingredients, especially lemon grass and galingale, before blending, chopping or pounding.

To soften banana leaves for wrapping 'kuih' or foods to make your food more fragrance and delicious, either scald in boiling water or pass quickly over flame. If time permits, sun banana leaves for 2 hours. This gives them a better fragrance

To substitute honey for sugar in recipes, start by substituting up to half of the sugar called for. With a little experimentation, honey can replace all the sugar in some recipes.

When baking with honey, remember the following:

Reduce any liquid called for by 1/4 cup for each cup of honey used.

Add l/2 teaspoon baking soda for each cup of honey used.

Reduce oven temperature by 25 F to prevent over-browning. Because of its high fructose content, honey has a higher sweetening power than sugar. This means you can use less honey than sugar to achieve the desired sweetness.
When measuring honey, coat the measuring cup with non-stick cooking spray or vegetable oil before adding the honey.

The honey will slide right out.

To retain honey's wonderfully luxuriant texture, always store it at room temperature; never in the refrigerator. If your honey becomes cloudy, don't worry. It's just crystallization, a natural process.

Place your honey jar in warm water until the crystals disappear. If you're in a hurry, place it in a microwave-safe container and heat it in the microwave on HIGH for 2-3 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.

Remember, never boil or scorch honey.

1. Cut the root off last;
2. Refrigerate before cutting;
3. Peel them under cold water;
4. Have a fan behind you or alongside to blow the vapors away;
5. Place a piece of bread on the knife tip to absorb the fumes;
6. Chew gum while peeling and slicing onions.
7. Cut onions on a piece of kitchen paper, this absorbs the chemical irritant (syn-propanethial-S-oxide)
8. Have someone else cut them for you!.

To make coconut milk from grated coconut - fresh or dessicated - add warm water and leave to stand. Squeeze out the liquid and discard coconut. You can also use creamed coconut instead of fresh. Thick coconut milk is made with 1/4 pint (150ml) warm water and 2 ounces (50g) creamed coconut stirred together until the creamed coconut dissolves.