Home-made Ribena

During our desaru trip, one of the attractions is the desaru fruit farm. It's educational if you follow the guide throughout the farm tour as they will tell you many interesting facts and uses of the plants and fruits. Otherwise, you will find the farm a bit disappointing cos there isn't that much of fruits available in the plantation as well as very limited fruits available for sale; maybe not the season??

However, we were lucky on the day of our trip as we witnessed the birth of the kid (baby goat) and the mummy goat was licking the kid, with her supposedly placenta (??) still hanging loose.

Anyone heard of Malaysia Ribena? Not that the ribena syrup is manufactured in Malaysia, but the drink that uses one of the flowers - roselle - to concort the drink which is similar in taste to ribena as told by the guide. Initially thought that roselle is only available in Malaysia, not until i went to the supermart this morning and saw that fresh roselle fruit is available in S'pore too. Then i realised that actually i had seen dried roselle sold at many medical halls and some provision shops here, why it didn't ring a bell then? I like it when i saw the packaging that shouted "Singapore Farm Organic Farming", "No fungicide", "No pesticide", "No bleaching", "No preservatives", and it's reasonably priced - $2.60 for 200gm.

It is even more comforting to know from Kin Yan Agrotech's website that the health benefits of roselle fruit are unlimited:- Prevents inflammation of the urinary tract and kidneys- Roselle juice helps in the digestion process- The petals can decrease blood density- Helps those who lack vitamin C- Acts as toxic filter in the body.

Making the roselle fruit drink is very easy. Just boil 3 litres of water and put 200g roselle fruit into the pot and continue to boil for 30mins. Add 100g rock sugar and continue to boil for a further 2-3 mins, and a healthy home-made ribena drink is ready to be served.