Eating My Way to a Healthier Living!
Life speeds by as one grows older. Time flies and every moment, I find myself rushing here and there, trying to juggle and meet datelines and work responsibility. There are just crazy days, lots of them actually, that I find myself completely exhausted after work hours and settle for takeout or any food that is fast and available. Gone were the days when my mum would take almost a whole day to prepare dinner on the table for us and we were able to sit down together and enjoy a good wholesome meal with the family. Having moved to the city for a quite a while, I admit to losing the reality of what we should really eat and put into our body. It’s not like I don’t know how to cook, it’s just a matter of time and effort. When one reaches home after 8.30pm each day, the energy to prepare a proper meal just is not quite there at times.
Recently, I was invited to attend a three-day event on 18th, 20th and 21st May of Slow Food in the Fast Track organized jointly by nourish! magazine and BTC group held at The Weld, Jalan Raja Chulan a few weeks back. The event was organized in a bid to educate the public with the aim to teach the fast-paced metropolitan society the vital importance of a good diet in promoting and maintaining health, as well as to re-affirm the notions of those who have already adopted to such lifestyles. The result of this is invariably the fostering of a healthy community, which is ideal in the corporate world, where busy days often leave no time for meals, let alone those good enough to sustain and nourish.
Arriving early, the hall was already dressed with participating booths filled with lots of quality and organic products. Participants included Shannon from Just as Delish, Opika, Green Chicken, Jatomi Fitness, Strictly Natural Goat Milk, Shaury Spices, Shirio, MAC Cookware, First Olive (Int) Sdn Bhd and Tupperware.
I was also here for the 2nd edition of nourish! magazine launched at the event. It’s a food magazine like no other. nourish! is filled with lots of what’s happening in the food industry, how everyone should be aware of the country’s natural resources, ingredients and produce, knowledge sharing and recipes from passionate foodies. Do check out nourish! available now at all major bookstores for a copy!
Throughout the day, visitors from the press and the public were treated to an array of activities such as talks on cooking and eating well by industry players, open booths by various vendors in the organic scenes with their products for sale at a special price, a fitness lesson by Jatomi and a Salad ‘Spin off’ competition.
The event kicked off with a fitness lesson by Jatomi fitness.
Chef Ryan Khang of Proud Janny Restaurant and publisher of nourish! magazine shared a talk on organic and healthy living. Armed with a degree in food science, his passionate contribution to the culinary industry is seen through his many acclaimed works in public food events, research on food industry through nourish! magazine and his latest culinary venture of Proud Janny restaurant. He showcased the culinary skills of his team by serving up an organic degustation menu for press members, chalking up the superior flavor of the cuisine to the magic of organics and sustainably-grown food.
I had the honor of judging the Salad Spin Off where three teams from Nutriplus, Jatomi and American Express showed off healthy and delicious salad recipes.
Jatomi’s recipe of Salmon on Greek Salad was rich with omega 3 from the seared marinated soy base salmon with lots of crunch from the greens and toasted bread. Nutriplus team made a lovely Caesar Salad with freshly made Caesar dressing. Taking home the trophy that day was the American Express team with their Sautéed Chicken Breast Salad with Pomegranate. Lean and moist, the chicken breast was brined and cook to a tender bite. The dressing on the salad was vibrantly fresh, tangy and spicy. I like the crisp apple slices in the salad, making it really fruity, crisp and juicy with every bite.
Group photos of the teams and the judges for the Salad Spin Off competition.
En. Azman Zahari, CEO of Green Chicken also gave visitors a great insight to organic and healthy living. Green Chicken is a micro enterprise that deals in free range chickens in Kuala Selangor. Did you know that Green Chicken also provides delivery services when you buy their chicken? More details at www.greenchicken.com.my
We headed on over to lunch at Proud Janny restaurant where I met some new blogger friends, Abbygail from Abbygail’s Kitchen & Esther from The FussFree Chef! Proud Janny serves up an eclectic mix of wholesome Nyonya cuisine intermixed with Western fare, Breakfast fare, artisanal coffees, light sandwiches and cakes & pastries. The restaurant is proudly manned by Chef Ryan, Chef Janet and Chef Loke, featuring dishes all freshly prepared each day with quality and wholesome ingredients.
Nasi Ulam with Percik Chicken & Acar Salad
Showcasing a Nyonya testament, the nasi ulam is filled with loads of raw herbs for that distinctive flavor of a herb rice salad. Served with a chicken Maryland cooked al a Percik style, the tender confit chook was redolent of spices with a nutty finish. Fresh green vegetables and herbs is another addition in making this dish a healthier option. A dollop of spicy sambal added more oomph to the dish!
Sunkiss Rice with Tamarind Prawns, Chicken Lobak, Sambal Hebe & Sauté Vegetables
My first having rice flavored with citrus and I simply adored it. The fluffy tangy rice was filled with sweet orange flavor notes and tasted light and fresh. Tamarind prawns, another Nyonya signature, partners along with pieces of chicken rolls makes a good balance of protein to accompany the rice. Jazzing up the rice was a good dosage of dried shrimp sambal, spicy and pungent in full glory. I would have love some kind of gravy or curry with this dish for extra flavors.
Herbs Baked Free-Range Chicken Leg
Going back to roots, the chicken was earthy and delicious. Seasoned with herbs and served on mashed potatoes, roast root vegetables and a pool of brown gravy, this is a dish that reeks of comfort food at its best.
Salmon Kerabu Sandwich is Crystal Bread
A myriad of flavours, the mango kerabu sends shocks of delicious flavors to one’s senses. Sour, sweet, spicy and savory, the mango kerabu works beautifully with a spicy salmon filling sitting proudly on the restaurant’s homemade crystal bread. It’s a burst of citrus sourness with slight mango sweetness and spicy while the salmon filling was almost creamy, contrasting well with the light crispy crystal bread.
I was curious about crystal bread. Chef Loke who makes this fresh daily was proud to show us his crystal bread, a bread so light and crisp, it was truly delightful as a sandwich. Crystal bread is made from natural fermentation and needs time to sit and develop into its texture and flavors. It is intensely fluffy and filled with lot of air holes in the bread. Chef Loke recommended toasted the bread for full satisfaction.
Dessert
The best part of the meal is definitely dessert time! We savor luscious homemade cakes made in Proud Janny’s kitchen. Cakes and pastries are available daily and one never knows what the kitchen might surprise you with. Of the three slices, everyone fell hard for the White Chocolate Cake with Toffee Bavarian Cream and Brittany Salt Flakes. The cake is an utter sin on its own but worth every single calorie. The combination is just gorgeous with lots of deep rich caramel notes and heightens to the max with salt flakes. Crunchy bits of toffee bits added texture to the cake. I wanted more of this cake but they ran out… make sure to order this if you are at Proud Janny!
Salted Caramel & Chocolate Cake is also delicious with its rich dark chocolate and caramel combination. The cake is quite dense and every bite is a chocolate lover’s dream. Another cake (if I m not mistaken) is a Chocolate and Coffee combination. Fluffy and moist from a good soaking, the cake is also really good due to the rich ganache.
Proud Janny also serves hearty Western and local breakfast, pastas and more. Check out there facebook at www.facebook.com/proudjanny for more details.
Shannon also has some of her healthy snacks for sale at Proud Janny!
It was certainly a fruitful event filled with lots of information and goodies. You can check out a video clip of th event! Thanks to Shannon for the lovely invite and to the organizers of the event! Eating healthy contributes a lot to our general health living and also helps save the earth. There are plenty of quick shortcuts to eating healthy and making the effort to do an extra step of using organic and quality produce is certainly a great start… especially if the food is going into our bodies!
