Let me introduce to you a very healthy yet delicious product that was promoted as a 100% vegetarian dessert supposedly similar in taste to a Chinese ancient delicacy known as bird's nest.
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Coral Seafood Jelly - made from kappaphycus (known as coral seaweed for layman like myself), it boasts tremendous nutritional value that includes being a natural water based fiber that aids in digestion, improve the immune system, and is rich in collagen, calcium and iron!
Honestly, the benefits sound more like i am promoting a multi-vitamin and minerals pill rather than a dessert. Well, if pills taste this delicious, i would not mind popping a few every few hours!
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There are generally two packaging to choose from; either the 600 grams six-cube pack or the 450 grams nine-cube pack. My family always go for the bigger bag since we can never get enough of it!
A number of recipes are available and the following is a simple lemon and sour plum recipe imparted to me from the lady manning the temporary food kiosk in Northpoint:
Thoroughly clean a fresh lemon and scrape its skin (only the yellow portion) using a peeler. Throw everything into the water (one cube from the 600 grams pack would require roughly 1,500 ml of water) and bring it to boil. The amount of water would determine the sweetness and texture of the eventual product.
I am using two cubes; hence the humongous pot that contained three liters of water! By the way, you have to wait for the water to boil before you add the cubes which feel a bit like rock sugar. In the meantime, enjoy the refreshing citrus fragrance in the kitchen!
Wait for the cubes to dissolve although you may wish to give it an occasional stir every now and then. Once that's done, add in one or two sour plums, boil for a few more minutes and turn off the fire.
At this point, you have to wait patiently for the liquid to cool down (I took my cue by observing the evaporating steam) before transferring it to the container of your choice. Remember the lemon just now? Cut and squeeze half of it into the water and stir for uniformity. Last step: put the container into the fridge!
Compared to typical jelly or even the nutritious konnyaku jelly, this coral seaweed jelly is less sweet, has no artificial flavouring with a texture welcomed by even the elderly and absolutely enjoyable to have on a hot day!
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Where To Get It?
Call the delivery hotline at 8499-8726 between Mondays and Fridays (10am to 5pm). But if you just want to try it out, you can find it at the following outlets:
NTUC Finest and Xtras (300 grams only)
OG (600 grams only)
Yue Hwa Chinese Products (300 grams)
Food Exhibitions (which is where i usually get my orders)
Live in or near to Yishun? You may find the sea bird nest for sale in the small-scale food exhibition on the ground level of Northpoint. I think the exhibition would end this Sunday, 10 November 2013.
Price
4-Cube 600 grams - S$16 a pack