SOY SAUCE

Soy sauce is one of the world's oldest condiment and was initially developed in China but development into the modern soy sauce that is used world wide took place in Japan. (History of Soy sauce)

As a condiment, soy sauce is a flavour enhancer and is used extensively in Asian cuisines. Its use is not limited to Asian cuisines as soy sauce has found wide use in Western cuisines and is requested in dishes like pasta, soups and stews.It is the reason that the condiment is stacked in shelves of shops all over the world.

Personally, I use it when making tomato sauce based pasta, stews such as ndengu (green grams), kidney beans, soya chunks and in meat such as fish, chicken and beef. I use dark soy sauce, it is strong so a little goes a long way.

Of importance to note is that soy sauce contains a lot of salt in form of sodium. This is because soy sauce is made from fermentation of soy beans (soya beans) and wheat in brine, and using microorganisms such as Aspergillus soyae, Lactobacillus and yeast that aid in fermentation. (Making soy sauce).

Nutritional information of the soy sauce I use

From the nutritional information obtained, 1 tbsp (15 ml) has 1301 mg of sodium in this particular product. The upper safe limit of  daily sodium intake is at less than 2300 mg. Special groups such as those with hypertension may require less sodium intake. (less than 1500 mg per day)

As a rule, when using soy sauce to enhance flavour in dishes, reduce the table salt content that one normally use by half to compensate for the excess sodium. Over salting food is a common problem when using soy sauce so watch out when using soy sauce.

Enjoy the richness that soy sauce impacts in dishes from the rich colour, flavour and aroma.

KIENYEJI CHICKEN

Kienyeji (from mwenyeji) translates to local or native. Kienyeji chicken is the local breed of chicken found in Kenya. It is also known as road runner chicken and there are various breeds of the kienyeji chicken.

 As expected this bird is very sweet but has very tough meat. The meat is so tough that the only way I would recommended cooking this bird is by boiling and nothing less. Do not roast in the oven and certainly do not grill over charcoal. I have tried both methods with disastrous results.

When boiling there is a trick to it, do not stop boiling until part of the meat has come off the bone. The drumstick is the marker I use to check if this chicken is ready. The lower end will come off the bone and the bone will be left bare as the meat peels away and shrinks. By this time the meat will be tender enough for the urban young ones.

There are two ways of achieving the perfect kienyeji chicken; if you have time then slow-cooking will do but if you are impatient then boiling under the highest heat available also works.

A common mistake is to reduce the heat and stop boiling early because of fear that the chicken will disintegrate. The kienyeji chicken is not as tender as the exotic breeds so it will not disintegrate under high heat. In fact, it remains intact and  I have managed to boil the chicken for about 2 hours. This also means that the chicken requires little supervision as boiling takes hours.

Recipe: Easy road runner

Ingredients

• 1 road runner chicken
• 2 red onions
• 1 stalk of leek
• 3 spring onions
• Black pepper and salt (seasoning)
• Chili peppers (optional) 

Method

1. Prepare the chicken, leek, red onions and spring onions by chopping and dicing.
2. In a big saucepan put the diced chicken, onions and leek. There is no need for oil/fat.
3. (Optional) Add 1 or 2 whole chili peppers depending on the heat level preference. Cut open the chili to infuse more heat.
4. Add a little cold water and boil under medium to high heat until the meat comes off the bone. Adjust the water level to obtain the preferred thickness and quantity of soup.
5. Season.
6. Serve and enjoy.

HUMANS DID NOT EVOLVE FROM MONKEYS

One of the most popular points used to discredit the theory of evolution is that humans evolved from monkeys. However, that is not true. Humans and monkeys shared a common ancestor before they diverged into their different lineages and into their present form observed in modern day.

Previously used methods of determining evolutionary relationships were based on morphology (physical), behavioral and palaeontological data but biochemical methods have gained prominence in recent times and biochemistry is being used to study evolutionary relationships.

Based on evidences from these 4 sources, it is has been shown that chimpanzees, gorillas and humans share common ancestry, and that the Asiatic apes (gibbons and orangutans) diverged much earlier from our common ancestor. The man-chimpanzee-gorilla lineage separation may have taken place at around 4-6 million years ago.

Abbreviations: CC=Common Chimpanzee; PC=Pygmy chimpanzee; 
GO=Gorilla; HO=man; OR=Orangutan; GB=Gibbon;
 OWM=Old World Monkeys

From the table above, humans are a "pure line." and so are gorillas and chimpanzees. Humans did not evolve from monkeys but humans do share a common ancestor with the monkeys i.e chimpanzees and gorillas. As a result, humans have a lot in common with chimpanzees and gorillas who are our closest relatives.

REFERENCES

Hixson, E. J., & Brown , M. W. (1986). A comparison of small ribosomal RNA genes from the mitochondrial DNA of the great apes and humans: Sequence, structure, evolution and phylogenetic implications. Molecular Biology and Evolution, 3(1), 1-18.

Zihlman, A. L., Cronin, J. E., Cramer , D. L., & Sarich, V. M. (1978). Pygmy chimpanzee as a possible prototype for the common ancestor of humans, chimpanzees and gorillas. Nature, 275(5682), 744-746.

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