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We are a group of students from National Junior College (Integrated Programme) of 08ip04 in the IP1 level. We are currently working on our SPIRE Project entitled A Dish For A Dash.

It is widely known that health is wealth, as what that is most important in everyone’s life is their health. Health is affected by the nutrients one consumes, consisting of the food you eat everyday. From this, we then have similar interests to research on food and nutrients. We decided to construct healthy and easily accessible recipes for the increasingly hectic lifestyles of Singaporeans, which enables them to enjoy nutritious, yet delicious food to remove oily and other means of unhealthy food from their system. After the project, we hope to raise awarenss of the Singaporeans in what they choose to eat, as “we are what we eat.” We hope to educate the public on realising which ingredients are healthy and how to make delightful combinations, taking into account the time to prepare. Indeed, it will be “A Dish for the Dash.”

A healthy lifestyle for a busy nation is the aim of this project. There is a need to take into consideration the hectic lifestyles of many and how to improve their well-being as an individual, and as a nation. Hence, the recipes that are planned to be prepared have to be a “Dish for A Dash”, the name of the project. The dish has to be nutritious, yet able to be prepared fast enough to fit the demanding schedules of the majority of the population. Since Japanese cuisines are also well-received in the Singaporean environment, a merge with both Japanese and Singaporean taste is most likely to be acceptable among Singaporeans.

For enquiries, please contact us at adishforadash@gmail.com.

OR,

Very conveniently, on our comment page.

Lastly, we thank you for visiting our website (:

Abstract

This project is conducted to find out what are the factors that made Japanese food to be healthier than local food. This is so that we can make use of the knowledge obtained to improve our current diets. Research was done to gain knowledge on the healthy aspects of the ingredients that Japanese make use in their drinks, cooking methods and most importantly, to find out how are Japanese food differs from local cuisine. At the same time, a survey was conducted regarding the awareness of Singaporeans on choosing healthy food. From our research, we can roughly know how to educate them in this area. After gathering all the information and analysing these data, the final products we will come up with would be recipes that can combine the familiar taste of local food with the healthy aspects of the Japanese cuisines. A campaign will be exercised eventually, with blog and distribution of posters to raise awareness amongst local people.

Introduction

It is widely known that health is wealth, as what that is most important in everyone’s life is their health. Health is affected by the nutrients one consumes, consisting of the food you eat everyday this, we then have similar interests to research on food and nutrients. We decided to construct healthy and easily accessible recipes for the increasingly hectic lifestyles of Singaporeans, which enables them to enjoy nutritious, yet delicious food to remove oily and other means of unhealthy food from their system. After the project, we hope to raise awareness of the Singaporeans in what they choose to eat, as “we are what we eat.” We hope to educate the public on realising which ingredients are healthy and how to make delightful combinations, taking into account the time to prepare. Indeed, it will be “A Dish for the Dash.”

A healthy lifestyle for a busy nation is the aim of this project. There is a need to take into consideration the hectic lifestyles of many and how to improve their well-being as an individual, and as a nation. Hence, the recipes that are planned to be prepared have to be a “Dish for A Dash”, the name of the project. The dish has to be nutritious, yet able to be prepared fast enough to fit the demanding schedules of the majority of the population. Since Japanese cuisines are also well-received in the Singaporean environment, a merge with both Japanese and Singaporean taste is most likely to be acceptable among Singaporeans. Hence, we have our hypothesis: Is it possible to create easily prepared, yet healthy fusion dishes from both Japanese and Singaporean cuisines?

Literature Review

The research was inspired by a newspaper article on a combination of chicken rice with sushi called “Roll Call”, dated 29th June 2008 in The Sunday Times. This article was an introduction to the possibilities of the objectives of our project, which is to make recipes out of a fusion of Japanese as well as local Singaporean food for the busier population of Singapore. This was a fresh idea in the food and beverage industry, one that has never been heard of frequently, and it was a daring approach as one never knows whether this unusual combination would be socially accepted. The well-known representative of Singaporean hawker-fare, chicken rice, wrapped with seaweed and topped with Japanese condiments, truly brought the food from both ends of Asia, together.

With this unique concept in mind, it was decided that the fusion of Japanese and local food would be further looked into, now with more guidelines to preparing healthy food for a busy nation. If Singaporeans eat healthier, the health problems as a whole would decrease drastically, and with that, Singaporeans would live longer and are able to serve in the workforce for a longer timeframe, thus lessening the burden of the younger, declining working population. Though the effect would not be immediate, it would be seen gradually over the years, as this would benefit the country’s economy greatly. Through this research, we would be improving the diets of the nation’s population, and indirectly, the growth of Singapore’s economy. The brains of the society will also be nourished with the health benefits of Japanese cuisine.

As for Singaporean cuisine, it has a variety of foods catergorised into the four main ethnic groups; Malay, Chinese, Indian and Western. One example of Malay food is nasi lemak, a plate of rice made with coconut milk accompanied with common side dishes like fried fish, chicken, egg and otah. As for a dish inclined towards the Chinese cuisine, it would be Hainanese chicken rice. The rice is cooked in chicken stock and the steamed chicken is often eaten with chili, ginger or dark soy sauce. Roti prata is an Indian delicacy. It is mainly made up of flour and consumed with curry. Fish and chips is a western foodfare. It is a serving of breaded fish with fries by the side, often eaten with ketchup or mayonnaise sauce. They are generally unhealthy as there is high fat content and fried.

Furthermore, Japanese food has one superior point above Singaporean food – it is healthier to a certain extent. As a substitute for Ajinomoto (MSG), the Japanese people use Mushroom Tea instead as a natural seasoning to enhance the flavour of their food. To fuse both cuisines, the familarity of Singapore food must be retained, yet with the elements of Japanese food.

Once the topic was decided, the process of researching comes in. The research was divided into five parts, namely:

1. Average life expectancy comparison of the Japanese as compared to the rest of the world
2. Health benefits of green tea
3. Unique Chinese, Malay and Indian styles of cooking
4. Japanese style of cooking
5. Main dishes that the Japanese often have everyday and where these food come from

Methodology

The methods that were used to investigate the project’s objective vary. Information was researched, pertaining to the project’s aim, using the Internet, where the information was retrieved from many different websites. It is also a good avenue for retrieving past data, or articles written a long while back. For example, archives were useful to this project, as they contain a collection of past information, all located within one single space. Background knowledge as well as inspiration for the recipes was drawn from newspapers and books, as articles written by other people provide refreshingly new perspectives.

Reports from the newspapers were a convenient source when data was being collated, as the articles are authentic, due to the fact that they are published by Singapore Press Holdings. Other than that, data regarding the public’s views about the objective was collated using online surveys.

Research for the preparation methods of the recipes was collected in the form of an email to Japanese chefs (but we have yet to receive the replies from them). This was done to get some real life experience from an expert in this topic, so as to further ensure our research is accurate and credible. A wide range of resources was used for this project, as each different aspect of the project required individual areas of research.

However, these sources have their shortcomings as well. For instance, in the case of the Internet, the credibility of some sources is questionable and infringement of copyright issues might occur. Also, the content from some sources are not phrased correctly, leading to misunderstanding of the information. Hence, the information used for the project comes only from reliable sites, such as online encyclopedias. The source of information in the form of opinions from others might also be a one-sided view, hence it might be biased. Therefore, the preparation methods suggested will not be followed exactly. They will just serve as a reference point for the creation of the project’s recipes.

Email Response from Japanese Chef

Conclusion

Our end products for this SPIRE Project, A Dish For A Dash, include various ways of advertising for our recipes created. For instance, we have created an online blog for convenient and easy access to the recipes; posters that will be pasted around our school; and lastly, a compilation of our recipes. Therefore, our aim would be to persuade people in taking up healthy eating habits, and in our case, it would be to promote the fusion of Japanese and local food in order to strike this balance. We have come up with several recipes to prove that it is indeed possible to lead a healthy lifestyle, and appeal to people’s taste. Furthermore, people nowadays lead hectic lifestyles, and we aim to help them stay healthy with the coming up of recipes that does not require a huge amount of preparation time. This would allow them to whip up dishes that are tasty and at the same time, less time-consuming.

Dry bean curd with nattos

What you need:

one dry bean curd

30g of nattos

How to prepare:

1. Slice the bean curd into 15 rectangular, bite-sized cubes
2. Place one tablespoon of nattos onto the top of the dry bean curds
3. Steam for 15 minutes
4. Serve with soya sauce

Mushroom soup with wanton

What you need:

500ml of water (as it boils, some water would evaporate, leaving just enough soup)

2 teaspoons of mushroom tea

5 wantons

Other mushrooms added for consumer’s own choice for garnishing

How to prepare:

1. Boil the 800ml of water.
2. While waiting for the water to boil, cook the wantons and the other mushrooms for garnish by putting them all into another pot of hot boiling water.
3. Add the teaspoons of mushroom tea once the water has been boiled.
4. After 5 minutes, add the cooked wantons and mushrooms into the soup and it will be ready for consumption.

Roti prata with Japanese curry

What you need:

Four pieces of roti prata

175ml of hot water

One quarter of Japanese curry condiments

How to prepare:

1. Pour 600ml of hot water onto the condiments of the Japanese curry and stir until the condiments are evenly mixed
2. Wait for one minute for the curry to stew
3. Warm up the frozen roti prata in the microwave
4. After warming the roti prata, dry the excess oil off the surface of the roti prata with kitchen towel.
5. Dip roti prata into the Japanese curry and enjoy it!

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We have completed our SPIRE Project, and we would first like to express our heartfelt appreciation the people who have extended their help to us in one way or another. Without their guidance, assistance and last but not least, support, we might not have been able to experience working towards such a wonderful project.

We convey our sincere gratitude to:

Ms Chua Siok Kheng, for being a great and supportive mentor throughout our whole SPIRE journey, assisting us whenever we were in doubt; And

Mr Alvin Chan, Deputy Executive Chef of Kuishinbo Japanese Restaurant, for his advice on the cooking methods for Japanese food; and also his candid opinions on the fusion of Japanese and Singaporean delights.

******

References/Bibliography

Wikipedia members. Wikipedia List of Life Expectancy Page (2008). Retrieved 17 September 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_expectancy

Wikipedia members. Wikiepdia Life Expectancy Page (2008). Retrieved 17 September 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_expectancy

Roxanne Khamsi. NewScientist (2006). Retrieved 17 Sept. 2008 from http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10062-green-tea-makes-for-healthier-hearts.html

Wikipedia members. Green Tea- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. (2008). Retrieved 17 Sept. 2008 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_tea

David Mendosa. The Glycemic Index (2008). Retrieved 17 Sept. 2008 from http://www.mendosa.com/gi.htm

The University of Sydney. The Glycemic Index (2008). Retrieved 17 Sept. 2008 from http://www.glycemicindex.com