♂ Raw Nuts (Cashew Almond Walnut Peanut Brazil) - Where To Buy?

Many readers wrote to me and asked where I usually get raw cashews, almonds, walnuts and other types of nuts in Singapore, here is what you ask for. I got most of my non-organic nuts from Mustafa Center, I realised it is much cheaper compared to those from provisional shop and even Pasir Panjang Wholesale Center. Uncle Cook's is the in-house brands of Mustafa and the nuts are mainly from USA and Brazil.

Nuts are great whole food that provide numerous beneficial health qualities, it is high in protein, fibre and good fats for lowering bad cholesterol, reducing inflammation and good for the heart.

I always stock up 1kg of each type of nuts in my store. I used these nuts substantially in my vegan baking and cooking, or simply roast it to make a prefect healthy movie snack, simply endless use of these nuts! Refer below where I elaborate more about my usage for each type of nuts.

Storage tips: Everyone knows this theory that the bigger the quantity you buy, the more the value for money, but make sure you know the proper way to store these goodies. Nuts have a high oil content and this leads to a quick break down when left at room temperature, and they spoil more quickly in warmer climates like Singapore. Nuts are good at room temperature for about one week when opened but they need to be sealed airtight and refrigerated to maintain freshness.  It is difficult to detect if the nuts are gone bad, however some tell-tale signs are they are soft when chewed or the taste may change altogether. To refresh them again, just toast them for a few minutes in Airfryer or oven, click here for the steps.




Uncle Cook's: California Almonds

I usually substitute macadamia, hazelnuts with almond in baking because it is more affordable in Asia, and because it has a really awesome nutty fragrance.

Where to buy?
☼ Almond Nuts
Product of USA
SGD18.80 for 1kg.
Also available in size of 250g and 500g.

Available at Mustafa Center, Singapore.



Uncle Cook's: King of Cashew

I never know cashew nuts can used in so many ways in vegan cooking and baking until I started to have my own kitchen. Cashew are the most widely used nuts in my pantry. I used it for making vegan cream cheese, non-bake cheesecakes and some other vegan baking, and making Vegan Tuna that tastes better than real tuna. I also use it in soup recipes to replace diary milk.

Where to buy?
☼ Cashew Nuts
Product of Brazil
SGD11.90 for 1kg.
Also available in size of 250g and 500g. 

Available at Mustafa Center, Singapore.
 







Uncle Cook's: California Walnuts

Apart from pine nuts, walnut is one of those that are more expensive especially in Asia. Usually I only use in baking recipes that call specifically for walnuts e.g. vegan carrot walnut cake which cannot be replaced with almond.

Where to buy?

☼ Walnuts

Product of USA
SGD12.40 for 500g.
SGD23.90 for 1kg.

Also available in size of 250g.

Available at Mustafa Center, Singapore.

 

There are also many other types of nuts available at Mustafa Center:

• Peanut - SGD2.20 for 500g
• Hazelnut- SGD13.50 for 500g
• Brazil nut - SGD10.90 for 500g
• Pine nut
• Pecan - SGD17.90 for 500g
• Pistachios - SGD19.90 for 1kg
• .. and you name it, they have it!

* Information and prices stated are correct as of August 2014.

☆ Click here to see what other products I regularly get from Mustafa Center.


♥ Learning a new cuisine is actually not that challenging, it is the process of understanding & finding the ingredients in your area which is tedious and time-consuming. Thus, I am most willing to share with readers (Singapore, Malaysia and international) where I get the most value-for-money ingredients that are slightly uncommon. See more of the great, affordable & healthy stuff I am always get.
 

Vegan Roasted Spiced Mixed Nuts (Oven & Air Fryer)

 

After experimenting the awesome Roasted Salted Mixed Nuts with my Philip Airfryer, I am not going to stop right there, I decided to try out these spiced nuts and it turned out great and crunchy to the max! If you like more kick, you can increase the amount of chilli/cayenne powder, likewise if it is for the little kids, you can skip the chilli. Basically there are no rules!

 

 

Nowadays, these spiced nuts happened to be the best snack for the men in my home to go along their beer and wine, they just couldn't stop munching! Find out here on where to buy good and cheap raw nuts in Singapore.

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.

Make 2.5 cups

Ingredients

 1 cup raw almond *

 1 cup raw peanuts *

 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts *

 

Seasoning

 1 tsp chilli/cayenne powder
 2 tsp curry powder

 1/4 tsp cumin powder/seeds

 1 tsp paprika

 1/2 tsp sea salt

 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

 1 Tbsp agave nectar or any natural sweetener you prefer ^

 1 Tbsp olive oil

 

Method

☼ Using Oven:
1. Preheat the oven to 160℃.

2. Evenly spread all nuts on a baking tray with parchment paper. Using a oven thermometer, ensure it is at the right temperature 160℃.  Pop the nuts into the oven for about 9-10 minutes until golden brown. 

3. In a small bowl, mix all of the spices (chili powder through black pepper) until well combined. In another big mixing bowl, mix agave nectar and olive oil until well combined. Set aside. 

4. Remove nuts from oven, pour the roasted nuts into a big mixing bowl of oil mixture, stir. Add spice mixture, stir until evenly coated.

5. Pour nuts back onto baking sheet, baking for another 5-6 minutes or until brown. Turn off the power for the oven, let it sit inside for another 3-5 minutes. The nuts are soft when hot, it will be crunchy when cooled, have faith ;)

6. Cool on tray, and store in air tight container or serve.

☼ Using Airfryer:
1. Preheat the Airfryer to 160℃ for 3 minutes.

2. Pour the nuts and spread evenly in the fryer basket and slide the basket into the Airfryer. Set the timer to 9 minutes. Toss the nuts about 2 times in between frying.

3. In a small bowl, mix all of the spices (chili powder through black pepper) until well combined. In another big mixing bowl, mix agave nectar and olive oil until well combined. Set aside.

4. Pull out the fryer basket, pour the roasted nuts into a big mixing bowl of oil mixture, stir. Add spice mixture, stir until evenly coated.

5. Pour nuts back into fryer basket and slide into Airfryer. Set the timer to 5 minutes and let the cycle finish. Let it sit in Airfryer for another 3-5 minutes. The nuts are soft when hot, it will be crunchy when cooled, have faith ;)

 

6. Cool on fryer basket, and store in air tight container or serve



After 9 minutes from Airfryer

Notes

* You can use any nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts etc) as long as total mixed nuts add up to 2.5 cup.

^ For non-vegan, you may use honey. You may also use molasses or fine brown sugar.

 

♥ You may also like: 

Vegan Roasted Salted Mixed Nuts
(Oven & Air Fryer)



Vegan Parsley-Pesto Sauce

 

Pesto is a sauce originated in Italy that traditionally consists of crushed garlic, basil, pine nuts blended with olive oil and parmesan cheese. But basil and pine nuts are not readily available in Asia, thus here's a twisted version of pesto for us! 

 

 

I am pretty sure there is at least once (or very often!) that you have tons of leftover English parsley in your pantry that you cannot use up in time before it goes bad, and neither do you want to miss out using this green herbs as a beautiful garnishing which perfect your dishes, and for photography. Then, this recipe is perfect for you!

 

 

And if pine nuts are not readily accessible in your local stores, you may replace with walnuts, almond or cashew nuts. To replace diary cheese that is traditionally used in pesto recipes, I used nutritional yeast for that nutty and cheesy taste, you may use also vegan cheese. This is perfect for vegans! I use this pesto sauce for pasta, pizza base, as sandwich spread, as dip for crunchy veggies like carrot, cucumber and celery, and as salad sauce! One sauce, multi-purpose.. love it!

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.
Yield 1 cup

 

Ingredients
 1/4 cup cashew nuts (or pine nuts, walnuts, almond)

 2 1/2 cups fresh parsley, packed
 3 cloves garlic, peeled
 3 Tbsp nutritional yeast
 2 tsp lemon zest 

 1 Tbsp lemon juice
 1/2 tsp salt
 Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

 

Method

1. Toast nuts in a dry pan for 5-6 minutes over medium heat or in Airfryer until lightly golden and fragrant. Remove and set aside to cool.

2. Into a food processor, add nuts and pulse a few times until smaller pieces. Then add the rest of the ingredients (except oil) and blend slowly until smooth. Through the feed tube, pour in the oils until evenly blended

 

3. Transfer to a jar and serve and use as you like!

 

Tips

☼ How to store?

Freeze in ice cube tray or baking mould, remove pesto cubes and place into a bag. It can be stored frozen up to one months.

Vegan Roasted Salted Mixed Nuts (Oven & Air Fryer)

 

Recently I got myself Philip Airfryer, I'm so excited, and my first experiment with it is this salted mixed nuts. Toasting nuts release their essential oils and cause the nuts to become more flavorful and crunchier than in their raw state. Nuts which are high in Omega 3 and fibre are a great way to boost your health. Instead of store-bought potato chips, these roasted nuts is a perfect healthy snack for the family for movies, special occasions and parties. It is also wallet-friendly, now say good bye to the highly processed and salted nuts at supermarkets! Find out here on where to buy good and cheap raw nuts in Singapore.

Do check out my recipe for Roasted Spiced Nuts.

 

Dietary: Vegetarian, Vegan.

Make 2.5 cups

Ingredients
 1 cup raw almond *

 1 cup raw peanuts *

 1/2 cup raw cashew nuts *

 1/2 tsp sea salt

 1 Tbsp olive oil

 

Method
☼ Using Oven:
1. Preheat the oven to 160℃.

 

2. Evenly spread all nuts on a baking tray with parchment paper. Using a oven thermometer, ensure it is at the right temperature 160℃.  Pop the nuts into the oven for about 9-10 minutes until golden brown. 

3. Remove nuts from oven, pour the roasted nuts into a big mixing bowl. Add salt and oil, stir until evenly coated.

4. Pour nuts back onto baking sheet, baking for another 5-6 minutes or until brown. Turn off the power for the oven, let it sit inside for another 3-5 minutes. The nuts are soft when hot, it will be crunchy when cooled, have faith ;)

5. Cool on tray, and store in air tight container or serve.

☼ Using Airfryer:
1. Preheat the Airfryer to 160℃ for 3 minutes.

2. Pour the nuts and spread evenly in the fryer basket and slide the basket into the Airfryer. Set the timer to 9 minutes. Toss the nuts about 2 times in between frying.

3. Pull out the fryer basket, pour the roasted nuts into a big mixing bowl. Add salt and oil, stir until evenly coated.

4. Pour nuts back into fryer basket and slide into Airfryer. Set the timer to 5 minutes and let the cycle finish. Let it sit in Airfryer for another 3-5 minutes. The nuts are soft when hot, it will be crunchy when cooled, have faith ;)

5. Cool on fryer basket, and store in air tight container or serve.
 

After mixing in the oil, going for the second round of roasting.

Notes

* You can use any nuts (walnuts, brazil nuts etc) as long as total mixed nuts add up to 2.5 cup.

 

♥ You may also like: 

Vegan Roasted Spiced Mixed Nuts
(Oven & Air Fryer)



 

 

 

♂ Whole Wheat Pastry Flour - Where To Buy?

When it comes to baking and cooking, it is strictly no refined flour for me, especially when we already have enough of these when we are eating out. Why is refined white flour so bad? Read below. Baking with whole wheat is not as easy as baking with refined flour because of the lack of gluten, but this whole wheat pastry solve this problem.

 

Do not confuse whole wheat pastry  flour with the regular whole wheat flour. Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from low-protein soft spring wheat, whereas regular whole wheat flour is milled from hard red wheat. The softer wheat has a lower protein content than wheat and makes a desirable flour for pastry baking.  

 

How to use?

I have been swearing by whole wheat pastry flour when it comes to baking, literally all sorts of baking like muffin, donuts, cookies, cakes etc, basically anything in baking. It can be used to replace any all-purpose, plain and cake flour in the recipe, 1 for 1. Check out my list of baking recipes using whole wheat pastry flour. Hey, baking can be healthy too. Ditch those refined all-purpose and plain flour, get healthy today! Trust me, no one can tell the difference, LOL.

 

These are the two brands that are the most value-for-money I found in Singapore.



TOP's Brand - Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

Where to buy?

SGD2.30 for 500gm.

Available at:-

☼ Yes Natural Organic
Location: Clementi & Geylang, Singapore.

☼ Organic Paradise
Location: Cuppage Plaza #01-25/27 Singapore 228796


Bob's Red Mill - Organic Whole Wheat Pastry Flour

Where to buy?

In Singapore

SGD3.00 at 680g. (Equivalent to SGD2.20 per 500g)

Available at Mustafa Center, Singapore.

Exact location: Level 2, Row 9-11.

 

Also available at a higher price at about SGD4.90.

I have seen it at:-

☼ Giant Hyper @ Vivo City

☼ Cold Storage @ Peninsula Plaza

Notice the vast difference in price between in Mustafa and the rest of the supermarket Click here to see what other products I regularly get from Mustafa.


Online
☼ SGD10.51 at 2.27kg (Equivalent to SGD2.30 per 500g)
Available at iHerb.

☼ USD8.69 at 2.27kg
Available at Amazon.
 

Differences Between Whole Wheat and Refined Wheat/White Flour 

We are all aware that refined white/bread flour are harmful. During the refining process, whole wheat grain are heavily processed that almost all the vitamins, minerals and protein are lost. Even if it is enriched flour, it only adds few vitamins and nothing else.  During the refining process, the endosperm is the only portion of the grain used to make white breads, pastas etc. When the bran and germ are removed, one quarter of the protein content is lost, along with several key nutrients.

Whole wheat grains are power packed with nutrients that are made up of the entire or "whole" grain, including the bran, germ, and endosperm.

Here's a snapshot to let you have a good understanding. To read more about the refined flour, click here. Would you pay extra for the whole wheat flour instead? Oh, hell yes for me!
 

Harmful Effects But Truth of Refined Flour
 • Nutritional loss from whole wheat grains
 • Rise in insulin
 • Glycaemic Index (GI) disorders
 • Inflammation
 • Food cravings
 • Metabolic slowdown
 • Food allergies/Intolerances
 • Acid-alkaline imbalance
 • Fattening
 • Natural insecticide
 

Main Benefits of Whole Grains

 • Stroke risk reduced
 • Type 2 diabetes risk reduced
 • Heart disease risk reduced
 • Better weight maintenance

 • Asthma risk reduced
 • Healthier carotid arteries
 • Inflammatory disease risk reduced
 • Lower risk of colorectal cancer
 • Healthier blood pressure levels
 • Less gum disease and tooth loss

 

♥ Learning a new cuisine is actually not that challenging, it is the process of understanding & finding the ingredients in your area which is tedious and time-consuming. Thus, I am most willing to share with readers (Singapore, Malaysia and international) where I get the most value-for-money ingredients that are slightly uncommon. See more of the great, affordable & healthy stuff I am always get.

 

☆ You may also like

 

Whole Wheat Flour - Where to buy?