Thursday 1 July 2010

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Rhubarb Oatmeal Cake/Rabarber Havregyrn Kage/大黄燕麦片蛋糕[dà huáng yàn mài piàn dàn gāo]


Ingredients:
- 2 large stalks of rhubarb (150 - 200g)
- 1.5 TBS maple syrup or honey *
- 1 tsp vanilla extract (I use the homemade version)

Dough:
- 1 TBS maple syrup for the oatmeal dough
- 50g oatmeal
- 1 egg
* you can also substitute with 40g cane sugar (out of which 1.5 TBS for the oatmeal dough) and you can adjust it according to your taste

Directions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 200° C.
2. Wash and cut the stalks into small pieces about 1 inch each.
3. Stir in maple syrup (or sugar) and vanilla into the rhubarb in an oven-proof bowl.
4. Beat egg together with maple syrup (or sugar) and add oatmeal.
5. Spread mixture on top of the rhubarb.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes and ready to serve :-) (Preferably leave it outside to cool down for 5 minute before serving)

Nutritional Value:
Rhubarb provides a good source of vitamin C, fiber, and calcium.

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Additional Comments:
My in-laws have rhubarb grown in the garden of their summerhouse. Last weekend, we went to visit them, and my father-in-law cut some rhubarb for me to bring home. And I am very curious that it actually can be eaten. This all seems so exotic to me as a Singaporean! I baked it for our couch time this evening, and got a lot of compliments from Daddy FECS :-D. He loves it!

Rhubarb has big leaves and reddish stems. The stalk is the part that is eaten and it has a sweet and sour taste, and are used to make desserts and jams in Denmark. The leaves are apparently said to be toxic. Apart from the leaves, various other parts of the plants have medicinal uses.

Even though rhubarb is a vegetable, it is most often treated as a fruit. Since rhubarb is primarily used for jam, cake or pie, it's nicknamed the "pie plant".

In fact, rhubarb has been used for medical purposes by the Chinese for thousands of years and appears in The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic which is traditionally attributed to Shen Nung, the Yan Emperor, but is thought to have been compiled in about 2700 BC.

Why do I bother to write all these down? Knowing about the background of food helps a child to eat better. One day when J is older, I would love to tell with him about rhubarb, as it is soooo much part of Danish culture, and it is surprising to know that it also has been part of the ancient Chinese culture too. Hey, Danish and Chinese culture share many things in common, and it would be nice for J to know that, bridging the gap between Danish and Chinese culture :-)

References:
http://www.dk-kogebogen.dk/info/link-til-os/frugt-gront/frugt/rabarber.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhubarb

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/news/?p=1155

http://www.everynutrient.com/healthbenefitsofrhubarb.html

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