Teczcape-An Escape to Food

Sometimes it is congee with side-dishes and other times, it might be steamed rice in place of the rice porridge/congee. Such a meal is quite commonly Asian, or perhaps just typical in my home. We grew up with such meals back in Asia.

Today let us have a bowl of rice with side-dishes.


Dried Krill and Cabbage Rice, together with Green Onion, Daikon Omelette and Kale Stir-Fry is a tasty homey meal that can be easily put together.

Some meal examples that comes with side-dishes:
Steamed Rice with steamed or blanched side-dishes
Vegetable Couscous with Teriyaki Chicken, and Seaweed Soup
Steamed Rice with Grilled Mackerel, Garlic Spinach, Steamed Beets

Sharing with Hearth and Soul

Tag: krill rice, garlic kale

Similar to chayote and the other melons and gourds, Hairy Gourd (a.k.a Jointed Gourd 节瓜) - most often used in Asian/Chinese cooking - is an ingredient that is often consumed in summer, with benefits of alleviating inner body heat and detoxification.

Unlike winter melon 冬瓜 which is considered "cooling" (yin) and perhaps too "cooling" for the chilly fall/winter months, hairy melon is relatively "neutral" - often recommended by Chinese physicians if one cannot take too much "cooling" food. That also means hairy melon can be consumed even when summer is past, and when autumn falls in.


Hairy gourd has mild sweet and succulent flesh, good for making soups, quick-stews and stir-fries.

Following this Krill (Dried Shrimps) Cabbage Rice, here comes the amp-up version with more ingredients. I love this combo.


The mixed-grain rice (五谷米）used here consists of brown rice, oat, barley, buckwheat, red lentils and more. What else is mixed into the "rice" ?

How does this bowl of rice look?


Basic? Simple? Strange? Unfamiliar? Well...

Fragrant, delicious, homey, easy to prepare and cook.  LOVEeeee!

I love it when Whole Foods Market have their organic winter greens (kale, collard greens) on sale. Normally, a bunch will be $1.99; but during a sale event, it's 2 bunches for $3 (one for $1.50).

Spot the shrimps!

Having done kale and collard green stir-fries with garlic previously (and know it works well), this stir-fry is a more glorified version with mushrooms and carrots.

Do you know that salmon feeds on krill as fish food for the signature orange flesh and the Omega-3? Yes, that's partially where the Omega-3 in salmon is coming from. Imagine a simplified food chain of krill <-- salmon <-- us. We eat the salmon and salmon feeds on krill. Well, you should have also come across Krill Oil as the ultimate pure "fish" oil super rich in essential DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid) and EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid) Omega 3. So, if salmon is good for us, then krill is even better, considering krill is found in the lower food chain.

Dried Krill

The krill  磷虾 used here is different from those 虾米 typically used in Singapore. Krill, also known as okiami in Japan, a type of plankton, is even smaller than dried shrimp 虾米 that is often considered a type of crustacean.