http://www.spunwithtears.com/thursday.html
"FOOD" (Fruit, Vegetables, Cookies, Candy, Meals, Food for Animals, Feast, Hungry,...)
This is a meme I got from Jama's site.http://mummyjam.blogspot.com/2009/11/thursday-photo-challenge-food.html
Who doesn't like food?
I grew up in Borneo where we go to the bush or secondary forest where these green ferns grow wild. The good edible ferns are when they are young and the spiral or Koru end is still intact. We pick the young ferns at the base of the ferns at about a foot long. There are brownish hair, and we rub them off before we split them length wise and then cut them about two inches long.
To cook, you give a gentle stir fry with garlic, or you can jazz it up with some cut red chillis or a sambal paste. You mustn't add water, otherwise it gets slimy.
How does it taste like? When I went to Canada, I ate broccoli for the first time. I missed the Borneo baku, and I thought it tasted like baku. When I came to New Zealand, I thought the asparagus taste like baku.
In Singapore, a few markets where there are Malays in the area, they sell the baku. They sometimes also sell them in Kuala Lumpur.
The Japanese eat a similar fern, but my friend W who imported them say that the Japanese ones are different.
Baku are popular these days, they are organic. When I visited Mulu Caves, in the 3 star resort, they served the baku.
Another fern that the Borneo people like to eat is the midin fern. They like to joke that when you eat it, you will become a millionaire. My Singapore Uncle SW Chan from Singapore came to visit Sarawak. He said, at every meal, people told him to eat the midin, and told him the same story.
There are many kinds of ferns in New Zealand, and I have hunger pangs when I see them. Of course, the most famous is our national plant, the silver fern. Our national net ball team is also called silver fern.
4 comments:
Hello Ann,
What an interesting post. I wonder if all ferns are edible in their younger state? We have an abundance of them here in the Pacific northwest with all the rain we get.
I found you through SkyWatch! Love your photos of the ocean and sky.
In Borneo, my people , the Chinese who have migrated 3 generations, we eat 4 kinds of ferns, but if you ask a native, they will tell you everything is edible.
You may not like this, my grand dad used to joke with us," when you are not sure, give some to the dog." Of course, this is a joke.
In New Zealand, the Maoris eat the fiddlesticks of most ferns.
Ann, thank you for your response on my blog. I laughed at your grand dad... sounds a bit like one of my uncles years ago. ;)
Did you have fiddleheads in Canada? They are the young fronds of the ostrich fern and are available only in the spring. Asparagus is also a fern. I love both vegetables.
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