Taiwan Fair of Fruits and Vegetables 2011, Jaya Grocer, Empire Shopping Gallery (23 July - 14 August)

Eat your fruits and vegetables to stay healthy.

The WHO recommends eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables per day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and obesity. In various countries around the world, such as UK and US, there are programs called 5 a day which encourages the consumption of at least five 80g portions of fruits and vegetables each day in line with the WHO's recommendations.

Although there is no such program in Malaysia, in our home we consume a lot of fruits and vegetables each day to stay healthy as they contain various types of fibre, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.

Euro-Atlantic recently launched their second Taiwan Fair in Jaya Grocer, Empire Shopping Gallery Subang, which promotes quality fruit and vegetable produce from Taiwan. I was introduced to several Taiwan fresh produce such as Taiwan golden mangoes, Kyoho grapes, white bittergourd, guava, carrots, green bamboo shoots, water bamboo shoots, sweet musk melon, President pears, sweet pears and red plums. The highlight of the event was the cutting of 2 giant oblong shaped watermelon weighing about 20kg each by representatives from the Taiwan Trade Centre and District Farmers Association in Taiwan. After the jumbo watermelon cutting ceremony, we were invited to taste some of these fresh produce .... we happily indulged, after all fruits and vegetables are good for you, right?

The cutting ceremony of the jumbo watermelon

The Taiwan Fair is officially launched

You can purchase the jumbo watermelon for RM128/pc.

The Kyoho grapes (RM13.90/pack) were incredibly sweet, with a lovely fragrance and meaty flesh. We just couldn't stop popping these into our mouths! The Kyoho grapes is a slip-skin variety, meaning the skin is easily separated from the fruit. The skin and seeds are not edible since they are bitter, but the flesh is juicy with a high sugar content and moderate acidity.

Baby C gave her stamp of approval to the juicy Sweet Pear (RM13.90/pack), she finished a whole pear on her own.

Did you know that Taiwan is the world's premier grower of guavas? They are able to produce this savoury fruit all twelves months of the year. Guava has a superb nutritional content as they are an excellent source of Vitamin C. I found the Taiwan guava (RM8.90/kg) to be sweet and tender, which does not require too much chewing.

The white bittergourd (RM16.90/kg) , a unique variety from Taiwan is said to possess medicinal properties and can help to improve appetite. One of the most popular ways to consume it is by juicing it and adding honey and lemon. Other ways of cooking it is in stews, steamed or stir fried.

Plums contain various antioxidants which delay the ageing process and high level of dietary fibre. Only the plums in Taiwan are red and best consumed when slightly soft.

There are two types of mangoes sold here, we prefer the Taiwan Apple Mango (RM27.90/kg). Though small in size, it was big on mango flavour, has very little fibres, with an orange-yellow flesh and lusciously sweet. It is rich in carotene, mineral, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C. The Taiwan Golden Mangoes is much larger in size and is available for RM14.99/pc.

Taiwan Golden Mango and Taiwan Apple Mango

Taiwan Musk Melon

Water bamboo shoots and green bamboo shoots

Some finger food served to the guests

The Taiwan Fair at Empire Shopping Gallery will run until August 14, 2011. Visit them this weekend (30-31 July) for some free sampling at these outlets.

The Taiwan Fair is also held at Mercato Sri Hartamas from July 23 to August 14. Other supermarkets in the Klang Valley where these Taiwan fruits and vegetables will be available are Jusco in Midvalley and Bandar Utama, Urban Food in SS2 Mall and Carrefour in Tropicana Mall.

Location: Jaya Grocer, Lower Ground Floor, Empire Shopping Gallery, SS16, Jalan SS16/1, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

GPS Coordinates: 3.082033, 101.583200