Category: Food Allergy Tips


Feb
2013

Living Allergen-Free in KL

categories: Food Allergy Tips

Celiacs or persons with strong food allergies are more likely to be sensitive to other allergens all around them. There is much research done on this and I encourage you to read up if you have some time on your hands.

However, if you’re part of the choir on this one, then you might find the following tips on de-allergenizing your home helpful:

  • Get as much of your food as possible from local and organic sources. Sign up with plotshares like www.vegeboy.com
  • Get a produce wash, such as the one below. Melaleuca, Cosway (Ecomax range), and various brands on www.iherb.com carry a version
  • Use low-impact detergent, such as Seventh Generation, available at Cold Storage and other grocery stores. Alternatively,  Melaleuca and Cosway (Ecomax) also carry versions.
  • Use garbage enzyme or other natural cleaners (vinegar, lemon juice) instead of harsh chemical based ones. We find the garbage enzyme sold at Justlife or BMS Organics an indispensable part of our household supplies.
Biokleen Produce Wash
Produce Wash removes chemicals from your food

 

Hypoallergenic Home Cleaning Supplies
Hypoallergenic Home Cleaning Supplies – Seventh Generation laundry detergent, white vinegar, pure tea tree oil (from Body Shop), garbage enzyme (in plastic bottles on right and in spray bottles)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace,

Daisy


Feb
2013

Satay @ Roadside Stalls in Malaysia $

categories: Eating Out, Food Allergy Tips

PhD students live on rather stringent budgets and consequently, less pricey dining options are handy. I adore the many street food vendors and stalls in Malaysia, with the loud and varied voices in different languages and the amazing smells of lemongrass, chilli and smoke in the air. Eating at any type of hawker stalls is problematic with food allergies as stall operators serve hundreds of meals in short spaces of time. Satay stalls offer a safe bet as long as you aren’t allergic to peanuts.

Satay is a traditional Malay dish, consisting of grilled meat skewers, served with a spicy, peanut sauce, rice moulded into squares, steamed with pandan (screwpine) leaves and wrapped in banana leaves, raw cucumbers and onions. The skewers are meat, either chicken, beef or lamb, marinated in a mix of turmeric, garlic, lemongrass, onions and ginger, with salt to taste. The peanut sauce uses similar spices, peanuts, dried chillies, brown sugar and tamarind pulp for that tangy sour kick. Recipes vary so here is the quiz list before you indulge:

1. Was soy sauce or kicap used?

2. Did they dust the meat with any flour?

3. Is the sauce made with bottled chilli sauce or is it from a jar, tin or packet?

Sometimes, hawkers are sure about the meat but the sauce was made elsewhere. I have the skewers without sauce and they are still spicy, moist morsels of meat when I can’t confirm lack of gluten. During Chinese New Year, I ate thirty-five sticks of chicken satay. A small disclaimer on satay, I have it only from a stand-alone stall where it is the only dish made on the grill as there isn’t the likelihood of cross-contamination.

Kiss kiss,

Bubbles

Found at roadside stalls throughout Malaysia