My Milk Kefir (Real This Time)

1131 days ago

My Kefir grains arrived about a week back and I have been meddling with it and attempting to create a good (or at least acceptable) Kefir drink for me to enjoy....

My Kefir grains arrived about a week back and I have been meddling with it and attempting to create a good (or at least acceptable) Kefir drink for me to enjoy. It has not been easy. Although the steps to make Kefir seemed easy enough – add milk to the Kefir grains, strain after 24 hours and add more milk to the Kefir grains and so on. But we must realize that without the proper utensils, you might find it rather difficult. Your strainer must be big enough or it will take hours to properly strain the Kefir out. The container where the Kefir is fermented must be air-tight covered slightly loose (not air-tight as the grains need to breathe) or ants (or other insects) will invade your Kefir. Of course, it is recommended for the container to be glass.

Anyway, after a few tries, I managed to get a reasonably good tasting Milk Kefir. I was told that the type and quality of milk will also affect the taste of the Kefir. I am very tempted to use fresh milk to make my Kefir but it is a bother as fresh milk usually don’t keep well. UHT milk which I have been using all along seemed to be the best solution. I normally would make about 200ml of Milk Kefir per day and I drink it all. When the grains first arrived, I had to throw away the first few batches of Milk Kefir due to the grains being starved. The journey from Germany to Singapore took about 10 days, so I can understand that the Kefir grains may be stressed and may not produce the best of taste. And after the fourth batch, the resulting Milk Kefir was quite delicious. And now, the rather strong alcoholic aftertaste is very much reduced. You can hardly smell any alcohol when drinking. Yes, it is a bit sour but most fermented milk drinks are sour due to the lactic acid being created by the live cultures. Just that companies selling these drinks added sucrose or fructose to the drink, making it less tart and more appealing to consumers.Take for example Yakult. It tastes just like sugar water.

I normally ferment my Kefir for 24 hours. I like my Kefir to be more sour but due to the time contraints  of work, family and friends, I usually stick to the evening when doing the straining of the Kefir. So it is normally 24 hours or 48 hours. 48 hours would probably make a Kefir which is overly sour and tart.

The view of the milk Kefir from the top.

Milk Kefir!  Doesn’t it look delicious?

Can you see the Delta rivers? This is one of the indication that the thickness and consistency of the Milk Kefir is just right for drinking.

I can see that my Kefir grains are starting to grow. There are a few big ones which had growth quite significantly since I got them. It was very heartening to see my grains growing. All my hard work in caring for the grains seemed to pay off and soon, I can hopefully share the grains with others. If you guys are interested in Kefir, please give me a hoot and I will see whether I can spare some grains.

Kefir Making Equipment

1131 days ago

Kefir – probiotic heaven drink. And it doesn’t taste that bad either. Quite a number of people I know would not have dared to taste Milk Kefir since it has this...

Kefir – probiotic heaven drink. And it doesn’t taste that bad either. Quite a number of people I know would not have dared to taste Milk Kefir since it has this slight rotten egg smell but once you drink it, it isn’t so bad. If you have taken plain yogurt before (unflavoured), it tastes a bit like that except that you can feel a slight alcoholic twang at the end. Overall, I like the taste of yogurt better but this Milk Kefir is supposed to provide more health benefits. Well, as you guys know my health has taken a nosedive and I am trying ways and means to improve it. And thus, every morning, I have been drinking about half a cup of Milk Kefir.

However, I realized that I don’t have the necessary equipment to properly make Kefir. The strainer I have is made of stainless steel and is just too small. The curds will often choke the holes in the strainer and it will take very long for the kefir to strain out. And the food grade plastic container which I used to ferment the Kefir in seems to be a bit out of place. I was also recommended to use a glass container. Of course, I really wonder why food grade plastic containers like PET is not recommended. Beer brewers have been using PET “Better Bottles” to make their beer without the problem of chemicals leeching to their beers and they ferment their beers in these containers for weeks, even months. From what I know, food grade plastics should not be leeching significant amounts of chemicals to affect our health. But what can I say, if the experts tell you to go get glass, you should do it or else!

Okay, here comes the pictures! I purchased the Kefir equipment from Sheng Siong near my house.

Komax Tea Strainer and it cost me S$0.90. Best investment ever! This will be used to strain my Kefir and the Kefir grains. Cheap and hopefully lasting.

You cannot see from this picture but it is big and should be large enough for me to strain the Kefir grains from the Kefir. I chose the orange colour tea strainer because that is the only colour available there. Don’t envy me and don’t laugh.

Another picture of the tea strainer. This is where the Kefir will drip down to the bowl or container. All you have to do then is to throw the Kefir grains into another container, add milk and let it ferment for another 24 hours. For the Milk Kefir, you drink it. Or let it “age” for 24-48 more hours. According to Dom the expert in Kefir, aging your Kefir provides some additional health benefits. However, due to space and time constrains, I normally just drink the Kefir immediately after straining.

Glass container. This can contain about 1.5 litres of liquid. You may wonder why I didn’t pay the strainer and the glass container together. Well, first of all I actually only wanted to buy the strainer but afterwards I saw that they have the glass containers in stock as well. So I went back and bought it. For S$6.50, the price is quite reasonable too.

Amazingly, this is how the glass container was wrapped up by the sales lady. What we have here are some Chinese female cheerleaders and what not. Look at the picture of the women on the left. Makes you forget all about the Kefir and the glass container. I like to note for the record that I never drop this wrapped glass container even once during my walk home even with smiling, happy looking cheerleaders.

Yes, that’s the glass container I purchased! Looks quite good isn’t it? It comes with a rubber seal to ensure tightness. I like the design of this container. It looks like those you will find in the high end grocery stores catering to Ang Mo like Jason’s. That’s the rubber seal in the container.

And if you look carefully at the newspaper on the background (which was the newspaper the glass container wrapped in), you can see that it is the obituaries!  Sad.

Okay now, it looks much better without the obituaries in the background. I have added the rubber seal and it is ready for use to make Kefir. Just imagine how the container will look with the Milk Kefir inside. Just heavenly! The major problem I foresee is regarding the seal. Will it be able to last, especially after it is soaked it water and/or Kefir for some time? The last thing I wanted is ants attacking my Kefir grains and they can get through small cracks or leaks in the seal easily.

By the way, this glass container is made in Italy! I love Italy.

There, it confirms that the glass container is made by Fido, Bormioli Rocco in Italy. Oh, the correct term for this glass container is Hermetic Jar. I shall remember it.

And the rubber seal is actually called rubber gaskets and it meets alimentary standards. What mean alimentary standards huh?

Well, that’s all I have for today. Now I will go make some more yogurt. Wish me luck.

What To Look For When Buying Yogurt From The Store?

1133 days ago

As you guys know, store bought yogurt comes in different shapes, sizes and even types. In our local supermarkets, we would see rows and rows of yogurts of different brands, all...

As you guys know, store bought yogurt comes in different shapes, sizes and even types. In our local supermarkets, we would see rows and rows of yogurts of different brands, all vying for your attention and your hard earned money. They even have Greek, Swiss or European style yogurts! Yes, it is very confusing and sometimes even intimidating. Life is like that sometimes. We complain when we don’t have much variety but shy away when we are offered tons of variety. But it does not have to be confusing. A little common sense goes a long way when choosing which yogurt to buy. Too much sugar is unhealthy, too much fat is unhealthy, too much of anything is also unhealthy.

We know that not all yogurts are created equal, some more healthier than others while others just taste better. I am not here to tell you which flavours or brands to choose.  We will leave that to the manufacturer’s marketing department. But this is more like providing you with a general guide to choose the right yogurt, even if you are just looking for some nice delicious afternoon snack. You won’t go wrong with these little tips to help you choose your yogurt. All of these requires you to read the label on the yogurt cup.

  1. Look for the expiry date. The freshest yogurt is usually the one that has the longest expiry date, which means that the yogurt has recently arrived. Of course, some yogurt comes with preservatives  to make the product last longer in the shelf. Well, although not all preservatives are bad (some are just Vitamin C), I would recommend you to avoid yogurts that come with any sort of preservatives. A fresh yogurt will usually contain more live cultures.
  2. Live & Active Cultures. Ensure that there are live & active cultures in the ingredients list. Yes, whether or not there are any live cultures in the yogurt will not affect the taste, but the health benefits it confers to the consumer is plentiful than just yogurt without live cultures. Some yogurts are heat treated to lengthen their shelf life, which kills the live cultures. Anyway, the problem in Singapore is that we have no way to know whether the cultures in the yogurt we buy is sufficient to provide any benefit to the consumer. In the US, they have this “Live & Active Cultures” seal to ensure that there are at least 100 million live & active cultures in your yogurt at the time of manufacture. Here, we just cross our fingers and hope for the best loh.
  3. Other than live cultures, you should also check what types of cultures are in the yogurt. Different cultures will provide different benefits to he consumer. The rule of thumb is the more different types of cultures, the better it is for you, health wise. Manufacturers have started to add more cultures into their yogurt as more and more people realized the great potential of eating probiotic foodstuff to their health. Some cultures help to strengthen your immune system, some helps to maintain a healthy gut while others prevent certain types of infections. You should choose the correct cultures if you are aiming for a specific health benefit.
  4. Low-fat or non-fat yogurt should be naturally runny. Store bought low-fat or non-fat yogurt are usually not runny. That means that it has added starch or gelatin or some other thickeners. They do help to mask the tartness of the yogurt but they just add to the weight. So if you purchase a 200g cup of yogurt, perhaps 30% is made up of these “stabilizers”? So natural yogurt is actually the best because they are ALL yogurt if you get my drift.
  5. Look for high calcium yogurt. The best thing about eating yogurt is that they provide you with a good amount of calcium. Some yogurt manufacturers have fortified their yogurt with added calcium which is very good for you since most of us don’t consume enough calcium in our diet. And looking at what our local supermarkets offer, high calcium and normal yogurts cost about the same. And this is true for proteins too. So check your yogurt cups for information on the calcium and protein content of the yogurt.
  6. Not all ugly looking packaging means that the product is of poor quality. A lot of “set” yogurts will tend to have some spillage due to the transfer process. So they will look sort of dirty with some yogurt on the outside of the cup. A visible check on the yogurt cup will tell you whether the yogurt is leaking or not. Most likely the yogurt is fine and you should be able to consume them without any problems. In fact, most “set” yogurts contain just milk and live cultures, making them much better than the sugar flavoured ones. Of course, most people don’t like natural plain yogurt.
  7. If you are looking for just a snack, choose fruit-filled yogurts instead of sugar-filled ones. Yes, it is very difficult to find a commercial yogurt that doesn’t come with sugar, but if there are actual fruit pieces in the yogurt, you will actually consume less sugar (since there are actually less yogurt) if there are fruit pieces in them. Furthermore, they taste great.

There you go. I hope that these little tips will help you choose the type of yogurt to buy. For me, I am not only interested in the taste but I am aiming for something healthy as well, so I would choose a yogurt that has the most types of yogurt cultures, has fruit pieces, contains no preservatives and has as little sugar content as possible. There are even yogurts (like the Marigold yogurt) that contain “prebiotics” that complements the probiotic cultures in the yogurt. It is like eating food for the probiotic cultures.

Magnolia Alive Low Fat Yogurt – Strawberry Flavour

1134 days ago

I really can’t help myself.  No seriously, it is like something in me that needs to go and just buy yogurt from the stores. I believe that it is an addiction....

I really can’t help myself.  No seriously, it is like something in me that needs to go and just buy yogurt from the stores. I believe that it is an addiction. Is there anyone out there who is addicted to store bought yogurt? And worse still, is anyone out there addicted to trying out different types and flavours of yogurt? Most people I know usually stick to one type or brand of yogurt. They taste something they like and they will continue to buy that. For me, even if I enjoy one particular brand of yogurt, I will have this little urge to go and buy some other brand of yogurt to taste.  So here we have what is yet another little review on yet another brand of yogurt. This time, it is on the Magnolia Alive Low Fat Yogurt. The problem with Magnolia brand of yogurt is that you can’t find it at Sheng Siong or at Shop N Save. From what I know, it is only available at NTUC and even that, not all NTUC supermarkets carry them.

Perhaps it is an more exclusive brand? However, I have seen Magnolia Alive Yogurt selling at some smaller supermart stores which aren’t popular or that well-known like NTUC or Sheng Siong. Of course, they carry the smaller size cups instead of what I have purchased – the 1 kg tub. Yes you heard me right, I purchased a 1 kg tub of yogurt and all the yogurt is meant for me. My family members don’t like yogurt, even store bought ones. No matter how I try to convince them on the health benefits of eating yogurt, it seem to me that fermented foodstuff doesn’t appeal to them at all. I had hoped that by making my own yogurt, they would get interested in yogurt and learn to appreciate eating the probiotic cultured milk product but alas it didn’t work. They are still averse to yogurt as before. Well, this is their loss.

Anyway, I was an NTUC and I bought myself a 1kg tub of Magnolia Alive Low Fat Yogurt – Strawberry Flavour!

Boohooo! No discount or anything. The price is S$6.60 for the tub of yogurt. Costly unlike the Marigold one I purchased a few days back for S$5.10.  That’s about S$1.50 difference.

Low Fat Yogurt with Strawberries! Cool. And did you know that F&N owns Magnolia? I have absolutely no idea. And yes, it has indeed a very nice packaging. I guess that we are so used to flimsy yogurt packaging that this time of firm and attractive plastic yogurt packaging easily catches our attention among the huge array of yogurts on the supermarket shelf.

Food that does more? What the heck does that mean? Well, at Alive, they understand the effects foods have on each other and so they combine foods that have the right benefits for you. Combinations are specially created for your body.  So I guess that means that they mix foods to help complement each other and provide you with the maximum health benefits. Furthermore, strawberries are great tasting fruits with an antioxidant. The Yogurt contains live probiotic cultures for a healthy digestive system. So this combination will awaken your taste-buds. Okay, good deal here.

And who in the world does not like strawberries? They should be shot! Probably the only fruit out there that is put on everything from pancakes to jams to ice cream to cakes and yes, of course in yogurt. I had always enjoyed Strawberry yogurt since I was young.

Now let’s check the ingredients – Milk solids, Strawberry fruits, sugar, permitted stabiliser, Halal gelatin, Antioxidant (vitamin C), Yogurt Cultures like s.thermophilus, bifidobacterium, l.acidophilus and l.bulgaricus. Cool, 4 live cultures in the yogurt! If I am not wrong, the Easiyo Yogurt comes with these 4 yogurt cultures as well. Must be probiotic heaven. Only if did they contain l.casei bacteria, then it would be a “complete” probiotic food for everyone to enjoy. And oh, the Alive Yogurt does not come with preservatives! Another plus for Magnolia Alive Low Fat Yogurt. It also contains real fruit pieces! Of course, like most commercial yogurts, they contain stabilizers and gelatin.

This yogurt is made in Malaysia by the way.

View from the top. Nothing interesting here but I like the slogan – uncover the goodness! Just below is the yogurt.

Ahhh….scooped out the yogurt into a bowl. Just look at the yogurt and envy, my friends! It tastes great without any lingering yogurt (tart) flavour. I doubt that they can go wrong with adding strawberries to yogurt. However, I need to point out that the Alive yogurt is a bit watery( or runny). One would expect that the resulting homemade yogurt is runny IF the milk used is low fat. But in this case they have added additives like stabilizers and gelatin, it just shouldn’t be so runny. Well, then perhaps the reason is because they are fruit pieces in the yogurt?

That’s all for now, so good bye guys and have a happy new year!

SK Full Cream UHT Milk

1134 days ago

Went on yet another shopping spree yesterday. This time, I bought 3 packs of SK Full Cream UHT Milk to make even more cultured milk products. They were on offer, so...

Went on yet another shopping spree yesterday. This time, I bought 3 packs of SK Full Cream UHT Milk to make even more cultured milk products. They were on offer, so I grabbed them. Not exactly cheapest I have seen but they will do. And it was on sale at the Save N Save next to my house and what is more convenient for me, to walk about 1 kilometer to NTUC or to buy milk just downstairs? This is a no brainer.

3 packets of 1 litre SK Full Cream Milk for S$5.05.  The cheapest I can find at Shop N Save and still need to buy 3 packets. Makes me wonder why are prices so much different in various supermarkets chains? I have seen very cheap foodstuff from Shop N Save too, even compared to NTUC or Sheng Siong. If you remember, the Dutch Lady UHT Full Cream Milk I purchased recently is only S$1.60 per pack! Looks like the price wars between these supermarket chains are non-existence.

Yes, 100% Fresh Milk! Hooray! And look at that poor little cow at the bottom. Looks a bit pathetic to have 1 cow in such a big field.

Product of Indonesia? I didn’t know the Indonesia has a lot of cows. Hope that they don’t go the way of China and start adding “stuff” to their milk. What is the taste difference between the milk from the cows in Indonesia and the cows in Australia? I guess due to the fact that the Australian cows have bigger space to roam and better quality of grass to eat, the milk produced by Australian cows will be better? No idea. Hey, this is distributed by Japfa Food Distributors based in Kallang. Are they the same ones that bring in the Japfa fruit drinks?

Yes, the ingredients are just full cream fresh milk which have been Ultra Heat Treated. Great!

Anyway, I have attempted to make Yakult with milk and some Yakult starter (which is actually some of the Yakult drink). The result was actually successful. I had used the Easiyo yogurt maker to make my Yakult. The temperature needed for fermentation is 37 °C which is lower than that needed by the yogurt cultures. So instead of adding boiling water to the baffel level in the Easiyo Flask, I added boiling water to about 3/4 full and fermented for a day. It sort of works. Truthfully, I have no idea whether it worked or not since I have not tasted Yakult in it’s true form. The Yakult we buy are mixed with fruit juices and sugars, so the drinker will probably not know what pure Yakult actually tastes like. Well….

Dutch Lady Full Cream Milk (UHT)

1135 days ago

Yup, it is yet another UHT milk review thingy. Well, this is not really a review, more like a showcase of what I had purchased for myself. I am planning to...

Yup, it is yet another UHT milk review thingy. Well, this is not really a review, more like a showcase of what I had purchased for myself. I am planning to use the Dutch Lady UHT Fresh Milk to make either yogurt or Yakult. Yes, you can make Yakult from milk and a Yakult starter which consist of Yakult. Just like ALL fermented milk products, you just add a little of the previous batch into milk and it let ferment for a few hours or for a few days depending on what you are planning to culture. It is easy but I guess a lot of people are just put off by the fact that it is a fermented product and it is homemade. Truthfully, if I am not into cultured milk products, I would have to agree with them that it would take a lot of guts to try one of these homemade cultured products. But after reading on the Internet, I found that it is actually pretty safe. Unless the utensils for fermenting the milk is unhygienic or the fermenting temperature wrong, you will find that the result will almost always be a success.

Anyway, let’s not get into fermenting the milk first. It is better to concentrate on the milk itself. Without milk, all sorts of Yakult or Vitagen or Yogurt cannot be made since these are usually made from lactic bacteria. Yes, milk contains lactose which these lactic bacteria eats and reproduce themselves. And from what I heard, the final taste of the cultured milk will also depend on the quality of the milk.

Cheap no? 2 packs of 1 litre Dutch Lady UHT Fresh Milk costs about S$3.30.  I got this on offer so don’t expect the price to be so low everyday.

Ya, UHT Fresh Milk. And even better, the milk is imported from Australia. No, not Holland, they don’t have cows there anymore. They may have coffee shops that sells weed and drugs but definitely no cows left. And since it is from Australia, it gives you a peace of mind that you are not drinking Melamine contaminated milk. Don’t you just hate greedy people trying to make a buck off something that people drink? Oh, the expiry date of this milk is 6th July 2009! That is one long lasting milk.

Another view of the Dutch Lady UHT Fresh Milk.  The green Milk looks oddly delicious……for Aliens!

Yes, Australia all the way. Moo!  Friesland Foods is a Holland based company.

Okay, check out the opening instructions. First you unscrew the cap, the pull the ring-pull and tear off the pull-tab and pour. Hope that it is not too difficult. And just look at the ingredients they have in the milk – well, it is just milk although it has been Ultra Heat Treated to make it able to last a long long time.

Anyway, do you guys remember the logo of Dutch Lady? It used to be a Dutch girl with a windmill in the background. Now it seemed that Holland is no longer famous for it’s windmills and beautiful dutch females and thus they changed it to the new logo you see above. Boring.

Some Simple Tips To Stay Healthy

1136 days ago

“I am a small small small small bird. I try to fly but cannot fly very high.” – A mandarin song just waiting to be made fun of. First of all,...

“I am a small small small small bird. I try to fly but cannot fly very high.” – A mandarin song just waiting to be made fun of.

First of all, I am not a health expert. And secondly I am not some fitness instructor or some extremely muscular guy who everyone envies and tries their best to be like. I am just a skinny fellow who happened to fall very ill a few months back and now I am attempting to nurse myself back to health. I must say it was not easy. Just imagine falling ill with a high fever, cough, cold and all the crap that comes with it and now trying my best to get into some resemblance of health. Yes, I am not fit to begin with but I am not that kind that falls ill easily. In fact, my company even gave me monetary award for not taking a single day of sick leave for 3 straight years. But recently, that has not been the case. I guess that is the problem when we get older – our immune system slows down and we get sick much easier. Plus everyday I spend my time in the comforts of the air-conditioned office and the only time I leave the office is for lunch and when I return home. Basically that’s life me for too. I go to work and then return home, mentally tired and just wanting to relax. Yes, you know the feeling right? Most of us Singaporeans are in the exact same boat as me. Stress, long working hours, our social life and so on, just makes us want to return home and sit on the sofa to watch some TV. We hardly exercise at all. And how about our diet. Just look around Singapore, everywhere is fried oily food and if you think of eating fresh food, we just have to look at our wallet. And sad to say, the quality of food in Singapore is so bad that only fried oily stuff can mask the horrid taste.

Anyway, if you are thinking of some simple and easy ways to stay healthy, I have some tips ready for you. It is not that difficult to follow. I mean if I can follow them, so can you. Most of them just requires barely 15 minutes of your time per day as I understand that most of us are just too busy. So here goes:

  1.  The problem with Singapore is that we can’t easily find healthy food. Sure there are some specialty stores here and there but they do cost a bomb which makes it beyond the means of most Singaporeans. I have a simple suggestion for you. Eat different variety of food! You don’t have to eat fried rice everyday right (even though Singapore is supposed to be fried rice paradise)? How about eating more green vegetables with your economic rice today? How about tofu? How about eating fish ball noodle & soup? How about Bian Mian? They may not be that tasty but eating a big variety of foodstuff provides you with the different nutrients your body needs to stay healthy. You don’t need expensive organic milk just to stay healthy just a good moderate diet.
  2. Eat fresh foods is better than eating processed foods. Well fresh fruits and vegetables are not that expensive. In fact if you look around the markets you can find them pretty easily and cheaply. Fruits can keep for days in the fridge, so buy in bulk to save money and store in your home.
  3. Exercise. When I reach home, all I want to do is to rest or sleep. Seriously, most of us are so stressed and overworked that we just don’t have the energy to exercise. Well, try my method. Stop a bus stop before your actual stop and walk the rest of the way. Hey, it is just one stop and the little exercise you get is good for you, especially before a meal. If you are trying to exercise, try to get a friend or a family member to go along with you. That way, you guys can motivate each other as we tend to give up exercising even before we begin. Even a slow stroll around your block is better than sitting in your living room eating potato chips.
  4. Sleep early. No kidding. Sleeping early really helps. Of course, this is not always possible due to work or family commitments. The best is to try. You feel refresh when you have enough sleep and you are ready for the day’s work when you awaken. If you have problems sleeping, try to relax by reading a book or listening to nice smoothing music before sleeping. I used to have problems sleeping at night but I solved that by relaxing myself at night. That means no more computer games before I sleep.Try to find a rhythm for your body to relax and stick to it.
  5. Learn to relax. Singapore is a very stressful and unforgiving place. It has gotten much worse in the past few years. But there is nothing we can do about it, so why worry? Relax and enjoy your life.  Read a book, watch a movie, go out with your friends and visit the zoo. Or just get a hobby. Do you like stamps? Well, you can collect stamps and become a nerd. Or if you are like me, you can make yogurt. I enjoy making yogurt and I of course like yogurt. It makes me happy to see yogurt being made my yours truly.
  6. Breathing Exercises. They are simple, fast and effective. Just breathe deeply in through your nose, hold for about 5-6 seconds and exhale through your mouth. Do this about 4 times in succession. You will find your body more relax and energetic after that. I normally do this about 2-3 times per day.

Well, these are some of my tips to stay healthy. Yes, they are pretty general but I guess they have helped me a lot. Hopefully they will help you too.

Homemade Yogurt Using Emmi Yogurt Starter

1137 days ago

If you guys remember a few days back, I had made a batch of yogurt using the Emmi Premium Yogurt. I added a little of the Emmi Premium Yogurt to 1...

If you guys remember a few days back, I had made a batch of yogurt using the Emmi Premium Yogurt. I added a little of the Emmi Premium Yogurt to 1 litre of full cream milk (I like my yogurt creamy and delicious) into my Easiyo yogurt jar and allowed it to set for 24 hours. However, what surprised me was the result. This is not the first time I made yogurt using yogurt starters. Normally I would get a very creamy, firm but rather tart yogurt (mainly due to the fact I ferment for 24 hours). That’s the way I like my yogurt. But when I use the Emmi Yogurt as my starter, the result was very surprising indeed. It came out a bit watery and there was very little sourness. No, I had done it the same way as before and was rather shocked that it was not thick as previous batches. However, I must admit that it taste pretty good. Yes, it was a bit runny and watery but “smooth tasting”. My mother usually don’t like the yogurt I made, complaining that it was too sour for her. But this time, she liked it a lot and she asked me to make her some more the same way. And this is a “Wow” for me.

Well, could it be the yogurt starter is different from my previous batches? All the other batches I had used the Easiyo yogurt (NOT from those Easiyo sachets) to make my yogurt and they do contain different live cultures in them. Could the different types of lactic bacteria have such an effect on the taste and texture of the yogurt? Or could it be the type of milk I used. I always used full cream milk to make my yogurt as I am not watching my weight. Although they are of different brands, all are fresh milk. I had read that yogurt makers claim that the quality of brand do make a difference in the resulting yogurt. I had expected some taste difference, yes. But this yogurt tastes and feels very different from the rest. I doubt that the type of milk will make such a difference, especially when we are talking about the texture and the tartness of the yogurt.For the other factors, I had done the exact same thing as the previous attempts. I ferment them for 24 hours. I used about a spoon of yogurt to act as my starter. I used the same Easiyo yogurt container and flask. What other factors could there be?

One of my friends told me that it could be due to the fact that the yogurt cultures in the starter is weak/unhealthy/old/dying and thus unable to complete the task of fermenting the milk to yogurt. Well, it makes sense but from the label, the expiry date of the yogurt is still a long way. Could I have gotten a bad batch of yogurt? Who knows?

Well, I guess I will be making yet another batch of yogurt using the same Emmi Yogurt Starter and see whether I can duplicate the result. If it works, then this will be my method of making yogurt when doing one for my mother or for my family. I still like my yogurt thick and sour so I might not use this Emmi Yogurt as my starter for those meant for myself. At least I influenced someone else to eat my yogurt. Nobody in my family seems to enjoy eating yogurt, even those store bought ones. Well, what can I say except that they don’t know what they are missing.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

1137 days ago

Ha, I woke up early today just to wish you guys a Merry Christmas! Let’s all relax and enjoy ourselves, because in just 7 more days, we will have to party...

Ha, I woke up early today just to wish you guys a Merry Christmas! Let’s all relax and enjoy ourselves, because in just 7 more days, we will have to party very hard due to the New Year. Yup, that is why most people will look forward to December. It’s holiday season. We get to do what we want and there is no work! Isn’t it great if you don’t have to see your boss’s ugly blacken face and you don’t have to rush any report or anything. You can even wake up late (if you choose to), eat fattening logcakes and spend yourself into debt. Life is just great!

Yakult Cultured Milk Drink – AceLight

1139 days ago

Well, the cultured milk thingy caught me and I went to NTUC to buy myself some Yakult. If you are living in Singapore and have not heard of Yakult, you are...

Well, the cultured milk thingy caught me and I went to NTUC to buy myself some Yakult. If you are living in Singapore and have not heard of Yakult, you are either living in an underwater flat or underneath Mount Faber. Everywhere you go in Singapore, you can see ads for Yakult. We know that they say it is good for you and you should drink about 1 bottle per day. However the bottle they have in mind is such a small one, I doubt that it has enough of it to be of any use. Well, that is my opinion anyway. Definitely not backed up by any facts or through experiments.

It is also not surprising that not many people know that Yakult is a cultured milk drink. Cultured as in being “cultured” by bacteria. In this case, the milk is being cultured by good bacteria. And the idea is just the same as in yogurt, buttermilk, Kim Chi and other fermented dairy or vegetables. They are all cultured by good bacteria. And we now know that good bacteria is beneficial to your overall health, especially to your intestines. What is cool is that I have been drinking Yakult since I was young. I remembered that it cost about 35 cents per bottle and the caps can be used to exchange for toys and gifts. After school, that’s what I would normally do at my local provision shop. I would buy a bottle of Yakult, drink it, then exchange the cap for a toy. Don’t you miss the days when stuff was cheap in Singapore? Nowadays, what can you really buy in Singapore for 35 cents? It is like living in inflation city.

Anyway, before we all despair, please take a look at the photos of the Yakult Cultured Milk Drink.

It costs S$3.65 for 5 tiny bottles of Yakult (80ml). I am not kidding you. This means that it is priced at 75 cents per bottle! And this is for a 5 pack Yakult. If you buy separately, I am sure it will be even more expensive. Singapore, the place where inflation will kill you but not the rich.

Worldwide Probiotics drink! And yes, this is a Cultured Milk Drink. See I didn’t bluff you. Not too sure what is the difference between Ace Light and the original Yakult though. They both taste the same to me but seeing the name “Light”, it most likely mean that this has less sugar. Well, I still find it a bit too sweet.

Yakult is kind enough to tell their customers where to open. Just press on the areas marked “Open here”. Cool, I didn’t know it was that simple.  Oh, each bottle contains 30 billion live lactobacillus casei Shirota strain from Japan! Wow, this really is probiotic heaven! I was just wondering whether this is enough to make a difference in our intestines?

It states that the lactobacillus casei Shirota strain reaches the intestines alive where it helps to increase beneficial bacteria, decrease harmful bacteria and improve the environment of the intestines thus helping to maintain intestinal health. Cool, just like Yogurt only more expensive. I often wondered whether yogurt or Yakult has more live cultures when we consume them? Ha, our Yakult is manufactured in Malaysia.

Okay, now to the ingredients of Yakult. It contains Fructose, Maltitol, Dried skim milk, glucose, flavouring and live lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. Amazing, tons of simple sugars like Fructose and Glucose and even complex ones like Maltitol. It is no wonder everyone is complaining that Yakult is just so sweet. The good thing is that it attracts kids to drink Yakult instead of other soda drinks. At least it comes with some probiotic bacteria, right? If I am a parent, I would want my kids to drink Yakult instead of gassy soda drinks which comes with nothing more than sugar and water.

The tiny bottle of Ace Light Yakult in all it’s glory. You can finish this in just 2 mouthful. 80ml costs about 75 cents. Heart-pain, man. I still can’t figure out why are they charging so much for such a tiny bottle of milk? Is there something special about the milk they use or it is because the culture is difficult to ferment?

Anyway, if you guys are interested, I am going to culture Yakult by incubating milk with some Yakult starter. I believe that the temperature to ferment the milk with the Yakult bacteria is the same as the temperature to ferment yogurt. With any luck, we will have a lot of Yakult to drink at a fraction of the cost. YAKULT!

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