Friday, March 29, 2019

Gyeran Mari With Kimchi


Yesterday dinner was light and easy for me. I made Korean egg roll known as Gyeran Mari with my homemade Kimchi to go with Teochew porridge.  I had tummy upset the past few days and having porridge with Gyeran Mari is real comfort food. It is easy to prepare and tasted so good with the hot teochew porridge.

I used the same recipe as the Gyeran Mari which I made some months back and here is the link to the recipe. Instead of adding toasted seaweed to the egg roll , I added kimchi.

Click here for the recipe link


5 Best Racing Suits for Summer Riding


Summer racing season is just around the corner, and now’s the time to start shopping for motorcycle protective gear. Whether you’re looking for maximum flexibility, superior protection or both, here are five of the best racing suits for the upcoming summer riding season.

1.       Alpinestars Motegi 1-Piece Race Suit

This suit is made with full grain bovine leather with multi-stitched panels for tear resistance. Additional features include:

·         Perforated leather torso and arm panels
·         Snap connection system for integration with Alpinestars Nucleon Back Protector
·         Removable mesh liner
·         Zippered expansion gusset in calf panels
·         Reinforced, extended stretch panels

2.       Alpinestars Stella Missile Suit

The new Alpinestars Stella Missile Suit combines a stand-out design with superior comfort and durability. Here are a few additional features of this motorcycle apparel:

·         Genuine bovine leather
·         LED airbag display on sleeve
·         Calf expansion gusset
·         Ergonomic back hump
·         Dynamic Friction Shield (DFS)
·         Tech-Air® compatible
·         Pre-curved leg and sleeve construction

3.       Rev’it! Spitfire One Piece Suit

The Rev’it! Spitfire One Piece Suit is incredibly comfortable and has a distinctive appearance. Additional benefits include:

·         Dual-comp protector
·         Partly perforated outer shell
·         CE-rated armor
·         Multiple stretch panels for maximum comfort and movement
·         Removable mesh liner to keep you cool in the summer heat

4.       Rev’it! Nova One Piece Riding Suit

In addition to its intimidating appearance, the Rev’it! Nova One Piece Riding Suit also offers the following benefits:

·         Dual-comp protector
·         Monaco Performance cowhide
·         Comfort cuffs
·         3D air mesh
·         Safety seams and hip protector inserts

5.       Alpinestars Stella Kira Leather Suit

The Alpinestars Stella Kira Leather Suit features an aggressive design that’s optimized for a comfortable female fit. Additional features include:

·         Pre-curved leg and arm construction
·         Reinforced, multi-layer knees with grippy texture
·         Stretch fabric panels
·         Integrated padding
·         Zippered ventilations

Summer riding can be hot and uncomfortable, but any of these suits will give you maximum ventilation, flexibility, safety and control on the track.



Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Stuffed Veggies With Meat/Fish Paste


Sometimes when I harvested just a few strings of longbeans and a small bittergourd  from the garden, not enough to cook a dish on its own, I will just stuff them with meat paste. Braise the stuffed veggies with a savoury sauce of fermented bean paste and preserved plum and tada.... I have a delicious savoury dish for dinner. The most important element in this dish is the meat paste. A combination of minced meat with fish paste with added chopped onions and white pepper will make a delicious fillings for the homegrown veggies. All the work involved in preparing this dish is worth it when you whip up a dish that is almost as good as the Hakka Yong Taufu.


first give the long beans a quick blanch (just to lightly
soften it so that it will not break when
you coil it into a loop and tuck in the end


stuff the longbeans , bittergourd slices and red chillies
with the seasoned filling of meat/fish paste


once the veggies are stuffed, prepare the
non stick pan for pan frying the stuffed veggies


add a few tbsp of veg oil and pan fry the veggies till 
lightly brown and the meat fillings are cooked thru

prepare the fermented bean paste and plum sauce
for light braising of the cooked stuffed veggies
this is so worth the effort of preparing this dish
yumm!


Stuffed Veggies With Meat/Fish Paste

Ingredients:

8 strings of longbeans - blanch and coil into a small loop
1 bittergourd - cut into 1/4 inch thick slices
4 red chillies - slit and deseed

fillings -  use a pair of chopsticks and stir till paste is sticky
300gms minced meat
50gms fish paste
1 tbsp chopped spring onions
1/8 tsp of ground white pepper
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp of corn starch
1/2 tsp of sesame oil

a few tbsp of cooking oil for pan frying

Sauce:
1 tbsp of chopped garlic
1 tbsp of fermented bean paste ( tauchu)
1 piece of preserved plum - mashed
1/2 tsp of preserved black bean
1/2 tbsp of corn flour +  2 tbsp of water - thickening

Method:
Stuff all the veggies with the above meat filling paste. Add a few tbsp of cooking on a non stick pan and when oil is hot, gently place piece by piece of the stuffed veggies onto the pan and pan fried till the filling is golden brown . Dish up all the cooked stuffed veggies and keep aside

Using back the same pan, add in chopped garlic and saute till fragrant. Add in the fermented bean paste, mashed preserved plum, and preserved black bean and continue to stir fry till fragrant. Add in 1 cup water and thickening and add in the pan fried stuffed veggies and braise them in the sauce cover with lid till the sauce has thicken . Dish up and serve with rice.


Top 6 Writing Guidelines For Quality Content Marketing


To be a successful digital marketer for brands, there is a need to increase traffic to my website . But then again , not all traffic is good traffic.  I need to produce meaningful creations to draw audience to my site. I must know my niche, okay, so it is all about food and food photography and recipes. So getting down to create my own recipes takes time and food styling is another thing to improve too.  But still not good enough to draw audiences . Sometimes, I find I am losing many readers in a day which is bad for a blogger of a decade old. A blogger friend told me that blogging is just not writing out recipes but it is also important to note how I can add value to other people’s  lives too.  Engaging my readers may be a good thing therefore there must be a comment column on my website for queries.  Establish a social media  presence on Twitter, Instagram  and Facebook will help too.  There are so many things to do for my website  and my research on how to be a good digital marketer for brands leads me to this wonderful article by MyEmma - 6 top writing Guidelines for quality Content Marketing which enlightened me in ways to draw traffic to my website, thus making me a successful digital marketer for brands.



 Article Source : My Emma

For most marketers, content marketing asset creation is a major part of their overall workday.

In fact, 53% of marketers cite blog and article writing as their number one inbound marketing technique. That’s because these online written assets increase brand awareness, drive web traffic, and establish authority in the market.

It’s important for brands to produce content each and every day. This content comes in many forms, the most traditional being a blog. But these content marketing creation strategies also include writing up marketing assets, creating case studies, building multimedia campaigns, and more.

Online articles, however, are often the biggest challenge for digital marketers. Because of their frequency and direct impact, it’s hard to maintain consistency and carve out time for them.

Blogs drive organic traffic. They inform through valuable insights that align brands as leaders in their field. They make complex concepts more approachable and intriguing. And they work as a platform that bridges that technical gap. Yet while blog creation is a major aspect of a successful content marketing strategy, creating this quality content isn’t as easy as you might think.

                                
              
image source : Orbit Media

That’s a lot of time spent on a single piece of content. And if you’re part of a small digital marketing team, you might not have that much time each and every day to brainstorm, outline, write, edit, format, review, and publish a blog.

So how can you streamline your article writing process to ensure you’re creating valuable, quality content without sacrificing vital time and resources?

It’s an age-old question, it seems. Writers have been asking themselves this question for centuries. But for the modern marketer, time is really of the essence. And with the hundreds of untrustworthy sources out there, you want to make sure that your brand isn’t wasting your reader’s time with lackluster blogs and articles.

 Before you set out on your blog writing journey, make sure you and your digital marketing team keep these helpful tips in mind. They’ll help you develop quality content without dominating your entire life.

1. Be original.

78% of CMOs believe custom content is the future of content marketing. That’s because this original, engaging content drives more unique traffic. By writing about evergreen topics, you keeps the relevant, engaging traffic rolling in.

But when you take the next step and think outside the box to create more original content, you separate yourself from the competition.

Ask questions your audience might be asking, and make sure you answer them in ways that they may not be expecting. Provide them with new insights, new research, and new information. This will keep them coming to your website over others because you have something different to offer than the competition.

The first step in creating original content is to create content that other brands haven’t thought of yet.

Of course, this isn’t the easiest process. And it definitely takes some time to get started. But once you do, you’ll be one step closer to securing more conversions.
  
2. Do thorough research.

Another aspect of a successful, quality content marketing strategy is research.

Of course, when writing about technical topics, you want to do research and show that you’re a thought leader. But this research is equally important whether you’re talking about blockchain evolutions or paint colors.

Make sure you take the time to research. Researching will ensure your solutions are relevant, your statistics are up-to-date, and your sources continue to be strong and true.

Research is the backbone of a successful content marketing strategy. And it’s another piece of the puzzle that definitely takes time and care. But it’s also one of those avenues that ensures brand success in the long run because it provides your audience with valuable information that they actually want to share with their audience. And the more shares you have, the more traffic you see to your website.

3. Stay on top of evolving content marketing trends with Google Alerts.

Google is a valuable resource for content marketers thanks to tools like Google Trends and Google News. These sources allow marketers to set up alerts when there are certain keywords and topics being talked about.

These tools are perfect for finding new topics to write about and new conversations to jump in on.

Coming up with blog ideas can be a challenging process. After writing hundreds of blogs, it might seem impossible to come up with a new idea. And scrolling through your newsfeed and media sites might take up too much time with no results. But that’s the beauty of these digital alerts. They’re always bringing you new and exciting topics your brand may be interested in.

So if you’re looking for exciting, innovative content to tackle, setting up these types of alerts is a great start. It could help you become the first source of a breaking news story. And if you’re first on the scene, your audience will take note.

4. Make your content actionable.

Another helpful tip for creating quality content is in the messaging.

Your blog is meant to be informative. It’s not necessarily meant to be promotional, touting your brand’s success with every article. But, it’s important that you incorporate valuable CTAs throughout the piece so that the reader knows where to look for more helpful information.

These CTAs can be embedded naturally throughout the content, or they can be layered in CTA boxes that stand out from the rest of the text. Whatever that may be, make sure you create a sense of urgency that gives your audience something else to do when they’re finished reading.

We do this with our blog posts as you can see below.

image source : My Emma

                                                       

As you can see, we have a bolded CTA at the bottom of our blog posts as well as a feature that leads readers along their informative journey. We want them to keep reading and keep learning. And your brand should, too.

5. Create content with social and other initiatives in mind.

Of course, it’s important that you’re creating content with your audience and your industry in mind. But something a lot of content marketers forget is that these blogs can’t just live on the blogging platform itself. In order for these blogs to make an impact, they have to be shareable across a number of platforms, including social media accounts, email campaigns, and more. 

Businesses with blogs generate two times more traffic from their email marketing initiatives over brands without blogs. That’s why it’s important to write articles that are relevant and engaging. They need to be able to drive traffic from all points of origin. Otherwise, why are you even creating these assets in the first place?

If you’re looking to create quality content, make sure it’s built to survive across your platforms and digital campaigns.

6. Consider outsourcing your content marketing initiatives.

66% of content marketers outsource at least part of their content marketing creation process.

Outsourcing your blog writing isn’t a bad thing. It doesn’t mean your brand doesn’t care. It doesn’t mean your team is lazy. And it certainly doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to create quality content yourselves. Sometimes, it’s just more efficient to work with outside agencies and freelancers to create these content pieces. 

Your blog is a valuable resource for your brand and your audience. It requires constant upkeep. You need to make sure that your team is constantly uploading new content and providing your audience with valuable insights. That being said, you might not have time each and every day to sit down and write a blog.

But taking time to vet your freelancer team and edit blog posts is a substantially smaller burder than writing these articles yourself. So give this process a little bit of time up front thoroughly evaluate your team of freelance writers or your content marketing agency, then you can rest a bit more on autopilot thereafter.

And even if your freelancers are great, you are still the expert on your brand. A little care needs to be given to making sure your freelanced content is on-brand, credible, well-researched, and engaging. But again—this will take you much less time than actually writing each post yourself.

If you’re going to outsource, you need to be smart about it. Take the time to vet potential candidates. Ensure they understand your brand and the tasks at hand. These writers should be experts—if not about your brand, at least about the content they’re creating.

The results, if done correctly, can easily spell content success for your brand.

Wrap Up

As a digital marketer, it’s important to focus on your content marketing strategy. One extremely valuable area you should keep in mind is blogging. Blogs drive traffic to your website and give your consumers constant content engage in.

Make sure you’re creating quality content without sacrificing valuable resources. Your digital marketing team needs to be original and create well-researched, relevant, and actionable content that keeps your other marketing strategies in mind.

That being said, article writing takes time—time not all content marketers have. If this is the case for you and your team, outsourcing is a great solution. 


Saturday, March 2, 2019

Egg Omelette With Purslane


When my gardener friend Alice Chooi shared on facebook that purslane can be eaten, I look around for it and managed to plant them in my lil space where I planted all my edibles. They grow fast under full sun. Each time I wanted something light and easy, I will make an egg omelette with the homegrown Purslane . Purslane is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and many other nutrients too. Sometimes they are called a superfood for its many health benefits. Taste good in salad and for this cooking, I added them to my egg omelette.. Yummz! 

  Easy to prepare and so full of nutrients in an omelette


Ingredients:

2 eggs - whisked
Pinch of sea salt
A dash of white pepper
2 tbsp od chopped carrots
1 red chillies - chopped
small handful of purslane - washed and drained
1 tsp of rice bran oil or vegetable oil for frying

Method:
Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl, add in chopped carrots, chillies, salt and white pepper. Give it another stir till well combine. Once it is done, add a tsp of rice bran oil onto a non stick pan  Once oil is hot, pour in the egg mixture and cook under low heat tii half set. Put in the purslane to cover top surface of the omelette then flip over to form half moon. Once the omelette is completely cooked through, dish up and serve with rice.

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