The star curse

I remember being a kid and thinking "there's one thing I'll NEVER eat!" whenever I saw a starfruit. I don't know, they just looked so weird... and the skin looked like some sort of larvae... so a fruit that looks like a star-shaped larvae should not be trusted!

Until one day I tried carambola juice. Just one of those powder, artificially flavored juices, you know? It was so sweet and citric and aromatic... but I still wasn't convinced. It wasn't until I was around 27 years old that I tried my first bite of carambola, more commonly known as starfruit. 

carambola

It was love at first bite.
Ever since, whenever I get the chance I like to buy some and eat - I always eat by myself since my husband seems to have the same kind of prejudice I used to.
The past couple of months I had been consuming a bit more of it and as a connected citizen of the year 2012, I always took pictures of it. Then a friend from facebook sent me a message:

"Dear Elize,
I hate to kill the mood, but I should warn you - eating too much starfruit can be bad for your health. Apparently, the fruit has a toxin that is bad for your kidneys (my dad is a doctor and he corroborated  this fact). I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I too love it and feel bad for not being able to eat it very often!"

Heartbroken! Obviously, the first thing I did was google it, and sure enough... here's what I found on wikipedia:

Carambola contains oxalic acid, which can be harmful to individuals suffering from kidney failure, kidney stones, or those under kidney dialysis treatment. Consumption by those with kidney failure can produce hiccups, vomiting, nausea, and mental confusion. Fatal outcomes have been documented in some patients.

So it pains me to say, but if you - just like me - are a starfruit lover and have a certain propensity to kidney problems... stay away from carambola. I don't intend to totally cut it off, but cut back for sure. One way I really enjoy eating my carambola is by cutting three to five slices of it and serving with flan - it's tasty and cuts off the excessive sweet of the flan, and goes really well with the caramel topping. Besides, it's a very cute ornament to the dish. Hope you try it and like it!

flan and starfruit :)

Meatless Monday pre-post

Saturday we went to my husband's parents' house again, and he made some Taiwanese green onion pancakes. I posted the picture on my Instagram account, and it was very popular. A lot of friends asked me for the recipe, so I decided to post it here.

I decided to do it as a pre-post for Meatless Monday, so maybe you can do it tomorrow for an appetizer or even breakfast. The first time I had it was back in California, we used to go to this Asian store called 99 Ranch Market and they sold frozen pancakes... my husband loved it and remembered having it back when he was a kid living in Taiwan. They're very plain (thus, easy to make) but also very tasty.

Ingredients:
. 8oz/200gr of white flour
. 5oz/150ml of luke warm water
. 1/2 cup of chopped green onions
. cooking oil
. salt

Preparation:
Put the flour in a bowl and mix the luke warm water. Knead to form a smooth dough, then cover it and let the dough rest for 15 minutes. Take a pinch of the dough, spread flour on it and over the counter and rolling pin. Flatten the dough, put a little bit of oil and salt then add the green onions. Roll the dough and form a twirl, then flatten it again. At this point, be careful not to add too much oil, because it will make it harder for you to flatten it later (the dough may "pop".
Use a frying pan or wok, add some oil and fry it until golden brown on both sides.

I got this video on youtube so you can watch it and follow step by step how to make this delicious green onion pancake :) I do not own the rights to the video.

 

Enjoy! :)