One of the reasons why a lot of yiu chai was grown in the 50's and 60's was because the Foochows also enjoyed eating salted vegetables especially as a side dish to go with porridge.
It is quite easy to make our own kiam chye or geng chai (salted vegetables)
Ingredients
2 kg yiu chai or gua chai rinsed and drained.
150 g coarse salt
Brining solution
4 l of water
5 Tbsp salt
40 g ginger, sliced.
1/2tsp tumeric powder
1 Tbsp rice flour mixed with 4 Tbsp water
You would need one earthern jar or glass jar, a good cover and some strings. a piece of cloth.
1. Rub salt in between the leaves and stem and then aside for about 6 hours or overnight to draw out the moisture and to wilt the vegetables.
2. Bring water to boil with all other brining ingredients. Leave to cool.
3. Squeeze moisture from the vegetables and then pack them into the jar.
4. Pour the cool brining solution into the jar to keep the vegetables covered.
5. Cover the top with a piece of plastic, tie it up with a string, then cover with the lid and leave in a cool place for about a week.
6. Check on the vegetables from time to time and skim off the whitish layer that appears on the surface.
7. After a week, remove the vegetables without squeezing out any liquid, discarding the brining solution .
8. The salted vegetables or geng chai can be stored in a tupperware container and refrigerated up to 2 months. It can be stir fried even after a week.
My late maternal grandmother loved to make salted vegetables this way. From time to time, the family also made salted eggs.
We must never lose our traditional way of preparing food.
Foochow families practised subsistence farming and were very frugal in their outlook and nothing was really wasted.
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