Kunyit – turmeric rhizome – Curcuma longa

Kunyit is the Malay word for turmeric. It is from the ginger family. The Chinese call it yellow ginger (ooi keoh in Hokkien and wong keong in Cantonese and Hakka) after its deep orange coloured rhizome. It is used in South Asian curries and Nyonya recipes. Turmeric root has a sharp and distinct aroma in addition to its food colouring properties which makes it an indispensable ingredient in some of Malaysia’s popular dishes.

Turmeric for cooking is prepared in three major ways. The first method is made into a paste by either pouding (tumbuk) or grounding (giling) with a granite mortar and pestle. The other method is to boil the rhizomes for several hours, then dry it in a hot oven and finally ground it into powder. This entails a lot of labour. Nowadays, it is easier and cheaper to buy turmeric power from the grocery store. The third method is to deep fry the root slices in oil to flavour it.

Kunyit – turmeric rhizome – Curcuma longa.

Turmeric in paste or powder form when added with chilli, shallots and other spices is used to cook curries. One or the other can also be used for making turmeric rice called nasi kunyit in Malay or ooi keoh pui in Chinese. Both can also be used to marinate and coat fish for deep frying which is one of my favourite. Turmeric flavoured cooking oil is used for deep frying fish for acar hu (Nyonya fish pickle).

Other than the tree types of preparation, turmeric is also finely chopped and added to nasi ulam. This is a dish of cooked rice mixed with finely shredded herbs like daun kaduk, daun cekur, lemon grass, shallots, kerisik (dry fried grated coconut), pounded salted fish and dried prawns. Like many Nyonya recipes, it takes a lot of time and effort to prepare, not counting shopping for the difficult to get ingredients which are available in selected wet markets only.

Freshly sliced turmeric.

Besides being used an ingredient for delicious food, turmeric is widely used as skin care and for minor ailments. Its extract is added to bath soaps and facial masks. Curcumin, a compound found in turmeric is believed to be anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and antioxidant. With all these beneficial properties, I am glad that some of my favourite Nyonya food uses turmeric extensively.

Cekur – sand ginger – Kaempferia galanga Linn.

Both the leaves and rhizomes of cekur are aromatic. They are used regularly in Nyonya recipes. The leaves are finely shredded and commonly used in popular Nyonya dishes such as nasi ulam (Nyonya rice salad) and perut ikan (pickled fish stomach, vegetables and herbs curry).

Cekur – sand ginger – Kaempferia galanga Linn.

The rhizomes are small as compared to regular ginger. Their highly distinct smell is essential in Nyonya delicacies like Nyonya chang (Nyonya rice dumpling), chai thau kuih (radish cake), rempah udang (spicy dried prawns in glutinous rice roll) and hong bak (braised pork in aromatic spices).

The cekur plant – leaves, rhizome and roots.

My late-mother had a simple recipe for cekur leaves that I used to enjoy eating as a kid. She would pound a handful of dried prawns and a couple of red chillies until they are mashed. That is eaten with four or five pieces of finely shredded cekur leaves. Unfortunately, when I was in my mid-twenties, I would get gastric pain each time I had hong bak, nasi ulam or anything that had cekur in it. I had to reluctantly cut down on these dishes. I never did find out why cekur caused this.

Close-up of the cekur rhizome.

Cekur propogates well in black soil with good amount of moisture and some shade. It can either be cultivated on the ground or in pots from a whole plant – leaves, rhizomes and roots. The rhizomes are highly prized. They are harvested by manually digging them out during the dry season when the leaves dry up and the rhizomes are enlarged.

Perut ikan – pickled fish stomach.

Perut ikan means fish stomach in the Malay language. It is also the name of the popular Nyonya curry of which the main ingredient is pickled fish stomach. The perut ikan in the image above were given to me by my former neighbour who is a fishmonger at the Rifle Range wet market in Penang. He kept the fish stomachs that he usually discarded and pickled them in a glass jar for me.

The method of preserving the stomach is very simple. The stomach is first cut into strips. This allows for a more thorough preservation and easier storage. The strips are cleaned and drained. Coarse salt is added and mixed well. They are then packed into a glass jar, sealed and kept for several months.

The stomachs from larger fishes are preferred as they are thicker. Thicker stomachs are also chewier. In the olden days larger fishes were served only during festivals. Stomachs from these fishes were pickled as and when they were available. They were salted and kept until there were sufficient quantity for cooking. Nowadays, bottled perut ikan can be bought at selected wet markets. If it is not available, one can get fresh fish stomachs from the wet market and pickle it with little effort.

Daun kaduk – wild betel leaf.

Kaduk is also known as wild betel. It is related to the betel plant (Piper betle). The leaves of the betel plant known as sirih in Malay are chewed with sliced areca nuts and lime in South and Southeast Asia. The kaduk leaves have a similar albeit milder pungent aroma as the sirih. Both also look similar in shape and texture except the sirih leaf is firmer to the touch.

The kaduk plant in my garden.

Kaduk is one of the most versatile herb yet it is one of the most unappreciated. It propagates prolifically in a shaded and moist environment, and quickly takes over vacant plots of land. As such, it is considered a nuisance sometimes and cleared away as weeds. It can be found in the urban areas as well as the suburbs and kampungs.

Kaduk plants thriving in slightly shaded and moist environment.

The leaves of the plant are called daun kaduk, daun being the Malay word for leaf. It is the main ingredient for favourite Peranakan dishes such as perut ikan, steamed otak-otak and nasi ulam. The pungent aroma of daun kaduk makes these dishes unique in taste and smell. Eating dishes cooked with daun kaduk is an acquired taste due to its unusual aroma and slightly bitter taste.

Daun kaduk – wild betel leaves.

Research has discovered that daun kaduk contains high amounts of antioxidant called naringenin which could scavenge free-radicals and is anti-inflammatory. It is also traditionally used for minor ailments such as toothache and constipation. I have used daun kaduk to reduce flatulence many times. My favourite recipe for this purpose is to cook the leaves in a soup of omelette stir fried with garlic and dried shrimps.

Daun kaduk – wild betel leaf.

For all its usefulness, it is a surprise that daun kaduk is not given the due respect it deserves in the kitchen and local dishes save for what it has been traditionally used for. As for me, I will take every available opportunity to savour dishes cooked with this amazing leaf known as daun kaduk.