Ingredients to a cook is like dress and jewelry to a woman. A beautiful woman can do nothing with shabby dresses no matter how skilled she is in making herself up Yuan Xical
A prune is a plum that has seen better days Anonymous
A raisin is a worried-looking grape Anonymous
There is much to write for this section. Right now, I just put in ramblings and notes from everywhere; friends, web and myself, about some ingredients.
Choose the crisp, smooth and unblemished ginger. Younger ginger is cheaper, but its flavor is not as stronger and hot as the good old ginger. You can have the ginger fresh in room temperature for about a week at. To keep the ginger fresh for a longer period of time, cover it with napkins and plastic wrap, then put it in the freezer.
To get the best taste of carrot, use the part between the core and the skin.
To get the best taste of turnip, use the beginning part.
To kill a crab, keep the a crab into slow death in the freezer. If you chop it straight away, its flesh will be a bit stiff.
To know whether it has been cooked when you steam a fish, check the colour of the eye. It should be white.
To squeeze lemon properly, press and roll it on the hard surface before hand.
To tenderize a piece of meat, you can cook it with papaya leaves.
To peel a garlic, squash it with a large knife. To keep the ginger fresh for a longer period of time, cover it with napkins and plastic wrap, then put it in the freezer (the same tip as used for ginger).
To remove its bitter taste, cut into pieces, soak them in the salt water, squeeze them after one hour, throw the water and repeat the steps after soaking them for few hours.