The Soup Queen

Remember my joy at re-discovering mugwort or Ai Ye atop a hill in Balik Pulau?  Well, guess what? I am growing them in my garden now.  The recent rainy weather has helped. The plants are flourishing.  And mugwort is a plant that keeps on propagating too. Each time I pluck off the leaves, I stick its stem back into the earth or pot of soil and the stem soon starts growing!  I love making omelette with mugwort leaves. There's something about the distinct fragrance of this plant that I crave.  I also am a big believer that if I crave something, my body is telling me I need the nutrients in that particular type of food. So I go ahead and indulge myself.  Still I find that my own mugwort leaves aren't as pungent as the ones my mom-in-law grows in her garden in Kuching. It must be the weather!  Ai Ye or mugwort plants happily growing in my garden Anyway, when my mugwort plants start to grow all over, I start pl...

Ai Ye leaves or mugwort (artemisia vulgaris) One of the herbs which I liked a lot is this herb - Artemisia Vulgaris. However I didn't know its name before this. I got to know this herb thanks to my mother-in-law. Whenever we visit her in Kuching, I'd go looking at her garden and she'd have these patch of plants in the garden. She used to call them "hnia" which I think is the name of the herb in Hokkien dialect.  Now this "hnia" has a peculiar taste which is an acquired taste. You either like it or you hate it. My mom-in-law would pluck the young leaves of this plant and fry them up with egg,  in an omelette. She would serve this with the other dishes at lunch or dinner. The downside to this herb was that it made one release gas (a.k.a fart!).  She said it was good for getting rid of "wind" and the herb was good for women.  I always wanted to bring some of the herb home to plant in my own garden BUT my husband detested the her...

I've written about kachama or kachangma before. Even included a recipe with photos back in 2008. Kachama chicken is best eaten with dark soya sauce However, back then, I never knew what kachama was called in English. I tried looking high and low and could never find the name. If only I knew, I could google for it. Heck, I only know how it looks like dried and chopped up! Finally one day I chanced upon a herb called Motherwort which was listed as an ingredient in one of my client's products. She confirmed that yes, this herb is quite popular in Sarawak. I don't remember how I counter-checked but in the end, I realized kachama is Motherwort. In Mandarin, it is called Yi Mu Cao. Now this herb is, like its name suggests, benefits the mother! Well, in Sarawak, kachama cooked with chicken is traditionally served as a confinement food to help moms get rid of 'wind' or "angin". This is evident from the plethora of "angin"-busting ingredi...