Arrowhead Root Wrap (Nga Ku)

Arrowhead Root Wrap

(Nga Ku Wrap)

[Recipe Source : by Amy Cheong, Desirable Recipes]

This is a very humble dish. My mother cooks this dish

without fail every year during Chinese New Year reunion dinner.

When I married my husband, I introduced this dish to

my mother in law and she cooks it too every year during

Chinese New Year. For the first few years, only my sister in law,

Sook Yen and myself love it very much and then subsequent

years, my other sisters in laws and brothers in law joined us in liking

this dish. So, this dish had become part of the family reunion dish.

A lot of people do not know about this dish because

it is cooked only by the original Cantonese people.

Local lettuce or ice berg lettuce.

Few pieces of Nga Ku.

Close up picture of Nga Ku.

Malaysian only get this Nga Ku once a year

during Chinese New Year flown from China.

Wash and drain the local lettuce.

Wash, peel the skin and slice the Nga Ku to

your desire sizes.

Get ready :-

Sweet Sauce (Hoisin Sauce), if you like Chilli Sauce...by all means use it.

Local Lettuce.

Cooked Nga Ku (please click here for more details on how to cook Nga Ku).

Make sure your cooked Nga Ku is NOT piping hot when you wrap it

because later your local lettuce will become too soft to handle if you

place the piping hot Nga Ku instead of cold Nga Ku.

There are many ways to eat this cooked Nga Ku,

1) you can eat it with rice directly.

2) eat it immediately after wrapping it.

3) eat it later after wrapping it.

We all prefer to eat it immediately after wrapping it

and also especially after eating all our other reunion dishes.

This dish will be the last dish to eat because we need to use

both of my hands......messy a little bit lor....but worth it!!!

Spread some sweet sauce and lay a few pieces

of cooked Nga Ku.

Wrap one side to the middle.

And then another side to the middle.

Now, eat it immediately..........don't wait .......

It gives you fresh taste from the local lettuce,

crunchy bite from the Nga Ku and sweetness from the

sweet sauce and Nga Ku.

or (another method of eating this dish).......

Lay down the Local Lettuce and spread some sweet sauce.

Put some few pieces of the cooked Nga Ku in the middle.

Wrap it as per the picture shown.

Roll it until to the end.

After reading my lengthy notes, sure you must be put off to cook it.

Please, don't be .... it is a very simple dish to cook.

It is just my notes, don't be put off. Just try it out, no harm doing it.

:)

I am wishing all my family, friends and colleagues a

Very Happy Chinese New Year and may this Dragon Year

(my year...ha ha ha ...old already) bring you and your family

Good Health, Good Fortune and Longevity.

I am submitting this post to Aspiring Bakers #15 : Auspicious Dishes for

CNY (January 2012) which is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

Crispy Yam Nest / Crispy Taro Nest

Crispy Yam Nest / Crispy Taro Nest

Hi, I am back.

Today, I made Crispy Yam. Some people called it Taro or

Keladi in Bahasa Malaysia.

Every year without fail, my mother will make it for

Chinese New Year and it will be gone before the

end of the Chinese New Year.

1 Yam (519 g).

50 g Sesame Seeds.

50 g Rice Flour.

1/4 cup (6 ml) Water.

Wash the Yam, peel the outer skin and julienne.

(Note : PLEASE BE REMINDED not to wash the Yam

after you have julienne it. If not, your Yam will

become soggy)

I prefer to use knife to julienne the Yam because I can

control the thickness of the Yam. As my son said "Like a Boss"

After julienne the Yam, the weight is 407 g.

(Note : PLEASE BE REMINDED not to wash the Yam

after you have julienne it. If not your Yam will

become soggy.)

Mix the Yam with Sesame Seeds and Rice Flour until well combined.

You will notice that you can't see the Sesame Seeds.

Where is it? Well, it is hiding at the bottom.

Pour in 1/4 cup (6 ml) of Water and sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of Salt,

then mix again until well combined.

With the water poured in, the Sesame Seeds will

stick to the Yam and Rice Flour.

(Note : Don't be too greedy with the Rice Flour......

your Yam will be hard as rock.)

Heat up cooking oil.

Make like a nest.

Push the Yam into the boiling oil with high fire.

Once the Yam slightly brown in colour,

then turn it over and fried further.

Keep on turning and turning until it is well fried.

Do not over fried because it will be bitter in taste.

(Note : Remember that once you have occupied the Yam

inside the pan, turn the fire into medium until the Yam is fully cooked.

Repeat from high fire to medium fire until finished.)

You will notice that the oil has 90% stop sizzling,

it's mean that the Yam is fully cooked.

Scoop it out and drain the oil by using paper tower.

Let it 100% cool before putting into container.

End result!

It is very crispy.....you won't regret it.

I have made two medium size containers and

I think it will be gone by end of next week.

Wishing all Chinese A Very Happy Gong Xi Fa Cai.

May this Dragon Year brings you and your family

with joy, longevity and prosperity.