Food from a Garden at SA

There are quite a few edible herbs and plants in my garden. The most beautiful is the kantan or torch ginger. Of course you harvest it for food when it is still a bud, but when it blooms, it is just so, so beautiful.

A beautiful bunga kantan  or torch ginger flower in full bloom (CNB 2011)

The buds are usually halved/quartered and put into asam pedas dishes, even in curries sometimes. It is sliced thinly for laksa (rice noodle in fish stew), also to cook with nasi goreng (fried rice).

Torch ginger buds in my garden (CNB 2011)

Halved bunga kantan ready for a fish asam pedas (CNB 2011)

Nasi goreng with slivers of bunga kantan (CNB 2011)

Curry leaves, as the name connotes, is used to flavour curries. The young leaves may also be eaten raw as ulam (herb).

A curry leaf plant in a container (CNB 2011)

The Pandanus has many purposes in the kitchen and out. Its flavour has been compared to vanilla. But foodwise, the leaves of the pandan are put into nasi lemak, also bubur (porridge) of all kinds.

Pandanus in the kitchen garden (CNB 2011)

Piper sarmentosum or kadok leaves may be eaten raw as ulam or cooked in masak lemak cili padi. Quite sedap, really. You will find that once you grow kadok, it will spread all over your garden. So you will never run out of a vegetable/herb for your meal. The Thai 'salad' dish of miang kam also utilises kadok leaves.

The leaves of the kadok (CNB 2011)

Masak lemak cili padi with kadok leaves (CNB 2011)

There are other edible plants that are easy to grow. If like me, you do not have a large garden, then pots/containers are the answer. You can grow basil, pegaga (Indian liverwort), lemon grass, turmeric or kunyit (whose leaves and rhizomes are used in rendang, curries, etc.). If you check out all these edible plants in the supermarkets, you will find that they can cost quite a bit. So why not save some money, and at the same time save the environment by growing them in your own garden. Go green!