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Mango
............................................................ There are many varieties of mango each with its own followers. My personal favourites are mongoes from India and Pakistan. Most Asian Mangoes have an intense fragrance, unripe mangoes is not sweet and often used in pickles and salads. Powder unripe mango called Amchur is used in Indian as a sour flavouring. Salted mango peel is also a very flavourful vegetable. |
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Mangosteen
............................................................ Garcinia mangostana Known to the Southeast Asian as the queen of fruits, this is a lovely fruit that few could resist. Press to open but watch out for the sap that stains. Discard seeds. |
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Masoor dhal
............................................................ Lens culinaris Also known as pink lentil, whole lentil is brown in colour. This small dhal cooks quickly. |
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Mee Pok
............................................................ A speciality of the Teochews and Hokkiens, this think wheat noodle is very popular in Malaysia and Singapore where it can be found in many hawker dishes. |
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Mee Suah (fine wheat noodle)
............................................................ A speciality of Xiamen, Fujian. It is a very fine dried wheat noodle with a smooth texture used mainly in soup. Sometimes comes salted, taste before adding any seasoning. More about noodles |
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Mint
............................................................ Mint is popular in India, Indochina and sometimes used in Malaysia and Indonesia. It is used fresh in teas and salads, or cooked in curries and various other dishes. The Chinese rarely use mint, employing mint mostly as a medicine. |
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Mustard, meicai (xiancai)
............................................................ Meicai is a tasty preserved leafy mustard that is used to flavour stews and other dishes. It comes in two varieties, a salty type and another salty -sweet (see photo). Taste and soak accordingly before use. |
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Mustard, pickled (xiancai)
............................................................ Made with salt through lactic fermentation, pickled mustard is sour and often rather salty and need to be soaked to remove excess salt. It may come loose in a big urn but usually submerged in brine. Avoid those with leaves as the stems are the delicious parts which should be somewhat crunchy. Known as Xiancai, Suancai, or Xian-suancai in Mandarin. |
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Mustard Seeds (brown / yellow)
............................................................ Brassica nigra / Brassica hirta Dark brown seed with a sharp flavour used mainly in fish curries and pickles. Odourless but become very pungent when ground or moistened. When planted they produce mustard spinach. Yellow variety is rarely used. Fry in oil to release the fragrance. |
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Mushroom, Chinese
............................................................ Donggu(Chinese), Shitake(Japanese) Lentinus edodes Fresh mushrooms are lovely but does not soak up the flavours of a dish as well as dried ones. Use dried mushrooms unless otherwise stated. Rinse briefly in water removing any dirt from the base of the stem, then soak till soft and lightly squeeze before use. Soak thick ones overnight and keep the water to add to the dish. The stems are slightly tough and are often reserved for flavouring soups. Thick ones are prized by the Chinese, the type with white crack lines known as "fa ku" (pattened mushroom) is much sort after but usually overpriced. |
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