Healthy Boy Thai Dark Thick Soy Sauce - 23.5 oz bottle x 2

Also known as "black" soy sauce. Used in a variety of Thai recipes. Dark soy (in Thai, siu-dahm) is opaque, black, and viscous. The most famous brand and widely used soy sauce in Thailand. Superior quality. Superior quality from Healthy Boy, since 1947. Our Thai customers living in United States are very glad that their favorite soy sauce is now just a few mouse clicks away. Product of Thailand, made using the natural fermentation method in a modern facility with ISO9002 certificate. Additional images, recipes and detailed description at ImportFood.com.

I have been a frequent visitor to Belle & Herbs over the last couple of years and it's my pleasure to write this feature on what in my opinion is one of the best coffee shops/cafes in the Newcastle area. The caf is not just style over substance though.

It is often said that in the North east that they are friendliest people in Britain; therefore all our restaurants in Newcastle and the North East should be friendly!

I will outline some of my favourite restaurants in Newcastle Upon Tyne which I have been to and repeatedly go back to.

If you're looking for food on the go, then Sketches are a good choice. Inspired by travels to Africa, the Caribbean, Italy, France and Spain this Newcastle deli certainly breaks the lunchtime monotony of tuna savouries or chicken salads.

The coffee is excellent and there are a range of tea's, hot chocolate, and cold drinks available including their excellent fresh smoothies. Food wise there is an extensive breakfast menu and impressive list of sandwiches, my favourite being the Christmas sandwich available all year round.

There is nothing like a restaurant which has a good local feel to it. Some place where you can go in and be greeted by someone as though you go there every day.

I came across a new website recently which takes this concept and gets people submitting reviews on restaurants in their local area which means it's from a perspective of people like yourself and not a food critic who dines out every night.

Where are the Best Places to Eat in Newcastle?

Delights such as the range of sandwiches, wraps and toasted Panini to name but a few are locally sourced with the breads being hand pulled and produced just up the road. Overall Sketches provides fantastic value for money and is one of the best places to eat in Newcastle.

Customer service is obviously important to this establishment, and customer comment slips are provided at the end of the meal which is a nice touch.

One big boost for dining in Newcastle is El Castano source as much of their food locally for freshness, and the rest tends to be specially imported directly from Spain. I would whole-heartedly recommend this restaurant for a really enjoyable evening.

COOKING THAI FOOD IN AMERICAN KITCHENS Book 2 with ASEAN Recipes

Now of course, no one is claiming green tea as a cure for cancer, obesity or any of the conditions mentioned above. But there no longer seems any doubt that just a few cups a day of this very inexpensive and simplest of drinks can be an invaluable addition to your daily health regime.

But if there's one single disease that's most characteristic of Western society today it must surely be obesity; as a look around your local gym or shopping mall will quickly confirm. And in truth, many of the killer diseases of affluence, most notably diabetes and cardio-vascular problems, have chronic obesity at their root. Swiss research published by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in November 1999 suggested that green tea possessed thermogenic properties and promoted fat metabolism at a faster rate than could be explained by its caffeine content alone. Or in layman's terms, green tea is a powerful fat burner which can be a very useful tool in any weight loss program.

It was used first as an aid to good digestion, stimulating the absorption of nutrients from food; and also became known as a powerful anti-oxidant and detoxifying agent. These qualities alone, common to all teas, would be more than enough to make it a very valuable health supplement. But there's much more to green tea than this.

The news today is all about the extraordinary growth of the Chinese economy, but is there a danger that in importing Western affluence the Chinese may also import our levels of the characteristic diseases of affluence obesity, diabetes, heart attack, stroke and even cancer?

What makes green tea different from the more common black varieties is the method of production. Crucially, leaves for green tea are steamed rather than fermented, preventing the destruction of the vital EGCG compound. If you'll forgive a little scientific jargon, EGCG is short for Epigallocatechin Gallate, one of a number of catechin polyphenols that occur naturally in tea. EGCG is a very powerful anti-oxidant, the preservation of which has been indicated by research to make green tea anything up to ten times more potent than the more common fermented varieties.

Is This Simple Drink Nature's Most Powerful Anti-Oxidant?

Like EGCG, resveratrol is an anti-oxidant polyphenol, but a 1997 study at the University of Kansas demonstrated that EGCG is up to twice as powerful. Other research has credited EGCG with the ability to reduce total levels of cholesterol as well as improving the ratio of "good" (HDL) cholesterol to "bad" (LDL) cholesterol and protecting against the abnormal blood clotting which is a major risk factor for both heart attacks and strokes - still two of the biggest causes of premature death and disablement in the Western world.

The Chinese approach is becoming increasingly popular in the West, but fortunately there's no need for you wait until you're ill or to consult a specialist practitioner to derive the benefits. As amazing as it may seem, as simple a change as incorporating a few cups of green tea a day in your routine can deliver dramatic improvements in your well being.

The power of EGCG and related compounds in green tea may be illustrated by comparison with the so-called "French paradox". Reputable recent research has indicated that the relatively low incidence of heart disease in France, despite the traditionally high fat national diet, is due to the significant quantities of resveratrol found in the red wine which is also liberally consumed.

Tea became widely known in China during the Tang dynasty (AD 618907) but there's evidence that its health promoting qualities had been known to the enlightened for at least four thousand years.

Perhaps, but probably not, so long as traditional Chinese medicine retains its focus on promoting the balance and harmony of the entire human organism; on unleashing and then harnessing the body's own incredible healing powers.