Peek into the Spice Trade

I was checking what’s on sale on Regency’s site, and the first item that was on the list was allspice. I use allspice for quite a few dishes from oven baked chicken drumsticks to tomato-based Indian curry. When I first heard of allspice, I thought it was a blend of spices. But actually, they are dried unripe berries! Once you smell its aroma, you know why they were given the name, allspice. This aromatic spice is very useful and I use this every time I make tofu burger. Today I like to share a recipe for tomato-based lentil soup using...

I have been to Okinawa only once, and that was when I had just broken up with my first relationship (hahaha, I wanted to enjoy life even though I was still sad, so I chose to travel alone. While I was there, I tried local cuisines such as Okinawa soba and goya chanpuru. I also tried yummy sweets, sata andagi. They were so good. But taco rice! I missed taco rice while I was there. So I cooked my own version when I came back. Different households have a different way of cooking taco rice. Many people use lettuce and...

Long Pepper Indonesia has been very popular in ancient times, for its medical and dietary properties not only in Asia, but widely used by the Greeks and the Romans. As a matter of fact, it is one of the earliest spices to have reached Europe, and was used as a currency!  After the introduction of the black pepper in Europe, because of it’s higher price, the fame of the long pepper quickly faded away. Let’s see where the Long Pepper is placed nowadays.  Long Pepper is a close relative to Black Pepper, with similar taste but hotter and slightly sweeter than...

This is a recipe for homemade ketchup using fully ripened tomatoes. I hope you will like them Tips: (1) Please have your sterilized clean glass jar ready before making this. (2) If you don’t mind bumpy texture, you can omit the use of blender. (3) Each tomato differs in its acidity and sweetness. Please adjust the amount of vinegar and sugar to your taste. (4) You can also add chopped carrots or celery into the tomato mixture.                             Recipe: Homemade Ketchup Yield: About 1 cup Ingredients 1kg fully ripened tomatoes...

I was again checking what’s on sale at Regency Spices this morning, and I saw tarragon flakes! I have hardly seen fresh tarragon sold in Hong Kong’s supermarkets (maybe I wasn’t looking carefully enough?) Tarragon when combined with homemade mayonnaise or some nice seasonings like the Jamaican Jerk Chicken Spicesmakes for a really good sandwich.                      Recipe: Chicken Sandwich with Tarragon Serving: 2 Ingredients 1 clove garlic 2-3 tsp Jamaican Jerk Seasoning 2 tablespoon cooking wine 220g chicken breast 2 tablespoon lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon skin, zest ½ apple 4 tablespoon mayonnaise (if you have...