Family, Friends and Food.....Meeting Moringa

I first posted this on my Facebook in April 2012. I've added more information and links.

11 April 2012: I brought home the Drumstick Veg for my sister to cook curry. My Filipino domestic help saw it and went “Malunggay”. A Pinnnnnnggggg went off in my head! I finally connected that the fruit (yes the drumstick is not a veg but the fruit) comes from “The Miracle Tree” Moringa Oleifera. Others refer to Moringa as horseradish tree, benzolive tree, kelor, marango, mlonge, moonga, nébéday, saijhan, sajna or Ben oil tree.

FRUIT (drumstick)

Fruit or what we commonly call Drumstick. Some health benefits taken off Moringa websites:
• 4 x more Vitamin A (beta-carotene) than carrots
• More Vitamin C than oranges
• More Calcium and 2x protein found in Milk
• More Potassium than Bananas
• 3 x more iron than Spinach
• Helps balance Cholesterol and Sugar levels
• Contains Zinc, Amino Acids
• Helps increase Immune System, Stimulates Cell Structure of the Body, Stimulate Metabolism and Digestive Powers
• Promotes well being and is a useful non sugar based energy
• Increases breast milk in mothers
• Anti Bacterial properties


 
LEAVES

The Indians have known the health benefits of the Moringa, locally called Murungakai in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, for a long time and there are recipes for the Leaves and Fruit on various websites. The Filipinos have a few dishes made with Moringa as do the Burmese, Thais, Indonesians and Malaysians who call it kelor.

 
Chinese-Peranakan Cuisine Cooks?
Still blur! So I went back to Little India last night (12 April) and bought extremely fresh leaves (seems they come from Malaysia) and the fruit (which comes from India).

In Singapore Moringa I believe can be bought mainly from Little India, Serangoon Road. A pity the local folks have yet to learn and reap the benefits of Moringa. Then I would just need to walk to my wet market whenever I fancied a pick me up!

It was great fun figuring out what to do with the Moringa especially the leaves. Here are some useful links:

http://www.moringatreeoflife.com/Recipes.html

http://chackoskitchen.com/2011/03/drumstick-and-raw-mango-sambar/

How much Moringa leaves should you eat?

• One half cup cooked leaves will meet your day's need for Vitamins A and C.
• One half cup pods, raw, will supply your Vitamin C need for the day

My Experiments

Pork Ball Soup

13 April: My very first Moringa Leaves Porkball Cauliflower Soup. The leaves were bland so didn't change the soup's taste. I did not over boil them and they remind me of kau keh veggy--the leaves of the wolfberry plant hence its reputation for being good for one's eyes. I think the leaves would work well in the Chinese 3 eggs (regular, salt and century)  dish we eat in the restaurants.
  

Drumstick Fish Curry

Sayur Lodeh

Omelette

 15 April: moringa-ed out at Dinner. We had the following: 
*Dish 1-Drumstick Fish Curry (Indian). Been a while since I cooked this curry. The drumstick was yums!
 
*Dish 2- Moringa Leaves Lemak ala Sayur Lodeh (Peranakan). Leaves perk the Lemak up.

* Dish 3 -Moringa Leaves Onion Omelette: can't really taste the leaves....like a regular omelette only packed with more vitamins.

Tinola Chicken

16 April: I finished the last bits of Moringa Leaves by cooking Tinola, a Filipino soup-based dish traditionally done with chicken, wedges of green papaya (here the papaya is beginning to ripen) and chilli pepper leaves (substituted with Moringa Leaves). The soup is flavoured with onions, garlic, ginger and fish sauce.

Pork Chop

18 April: found a final lot of moringa leaves hiding in the fridge. Boiled them at the last minute with the potatoes to keep the nutrients. Our dinner tonight--crumbed pork chop with baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.

moringa potato-fish crumble

19 April: Moringa fish crumble pie using the leftover mash from last night. Seabass fillet was seasoned with salt and pepper, pan fried and then mixed into the leftover mash. Just before grilling, crushed biscuits (crackers or marie) were sprinkled over lightly buttered mash and grilled till brown and crunchy.