The other day, aku teringin nak masak lamb so I went to Giant to look for fresh Rosemary as one of the ingredients. Tapi tak jumpa. Instead I saw something else.
Adalah sungguh sexcited bila ternampak these water chestnut look alike.
Last year, bedmate brought back a bottle of arrowhead/arrow root/ngaku chips back. One of his colleagues was dating a Chinese girl and introduced him to the chips.
It was so tasty that I decided to make them myself but because it was ending of the Lunar festival, they were not much to be found.
Yes, it’s seasonal plant [vege ke fruits, aku pun tak sure] which explained my joy when I saw them.
Macam water chestnut kan?
When choosing your arrowhaed, make sure you choose the bigger ones sebab senang nak slice [especially bila pakai slicer] and make sure the bottom tak ada crack.
Ok, I found few recipes only that cook this plant as sayur as in lauk pauklah. Tapi aku lebih berminat nak buat chips dari memakan sayur hehe, jadi hari ini, kita akan melihat cara memasak arrowhead chips.
- Firstly, potong atas and bawah dia, jangan potong banyak, sikit je cukup, lepas tu peel the skin. Peeling the skin nicely will make the kerepek look nice, tak macam aku punya sebab aku malas nak buat bebetul hehe. Itu nanti tunjuk gambar.
- Bila dah siap, slice the arrowhead macam nak buat potato chips. Slicing using a slicer is an added advantage sebab kalau tebal dia tak sedap, kene nipis-nipis. But be careful, do not slice your jari.
- Wash them and after that soak with a little bit of salt. Tak payah banyak-banyak sangat, they have their own unique flavour so the small amout of salt is used just to enhance the taste.
- Part ni yang aku malas sikit. After one hour, angkat and jemur sampai kering. Kalau tak kering, nanti kuali akan meletup-letup. Lagi lama jemur, especially bawah matahari, lagi setapppp dia rasa.
- Langkah seterusnya, bila dah kering, bolehla membuat persediaan untuk menggoreng.
- Place the fresh kerepek dia atas kitchen towel untuk serap minyak. Let it cool for a while, kalau tak kurang sedap sebab still lembik lagi.
- Serve and enjoy. Krup krap
Excuse the bad quality, mana nak makan, mana nak ambik gambar :P
If you peel the skin properly, you would not see the dark brown ring around the kerepek, and if you fry it properly, bukan sambil fry, sambil fb, sambil tweet, the kerepek will be fried evenly bukan macam aku punya hehe.
Aku sangat takut masa nak slice-slice ni sebab ada pengalaman ngeri masa tolong mak grate nenas nak buat tart dulu, akibatnya, hasil potongan aku adalah keji. Takut punya pasal hehe
Hasil yang keji
Water + salt
Soak for about 1 hour so the rasa adalah sebati.
Ini baru 1 tray
Hazab ok nak jemur. Sebab kalau jemur dekat tempat rendah, kucing aku yang beruk tu mesti akan menjadikan bahan untuk main/kencing atau pun dan dan tulaa nak bergaduh. Kalau dekat tempat yang tinggi and tak nampak, squirrel pulak makan. Last last jemur atas kereta. Boleh?
Api sederhana besar. Jangan terlalu panas dan terlalu tak panas [apakah?]. Kalau panas sangat nanti dia jadi macam ni
Sobs
Kalau tak cukup panas pulak, dia akan jadi lembik instead of crunchy.
So, bila minyak dah ok, masukkan the cebisan satu persatu. Yeee satu persatu sebab kalau tak nanti dia melekat.
Nampak tak cebisan yang dah hangus tu?
Make sure you keep an eye on them sebab dia cepat berubah kaler, waktu tegah di masak you will see some bubbles. When you can no longer see the bubbles and the colours turns golden brown, angkat.
If you skipped merendam dalam air masin tadi, you can sprinkle some salt now.
Walaupun buruk, tetapi rasanya menyelerakannnnn.
Budak berpeluh baru lepas excersie yang tak sabar-sabar nak makan.
The taste is like potato chips tapi sedikit compact and alaaa, tak retila aku nak explain, kene makan dulu baru tahu. But I have to warn you, it’s addictive!
Anyway, I told my parents about it and I told them nanti when they get back from Terengganu, I will give them a tupperware. They asked me what is it and I told themlah, it’s arrowhead from China and can only get around CNY. Tetiba ayah aku tanya
“Ehh, janganlah entah-entah ada babi dekat dalam tu?”
WTF okkkkkkkk? Katanya tumbuh-tumbuhannn. He sengih-sengih only when I explained it to him.
I also told swirly about it [ok, sebenarnya kitorang main teka-teki tapi tu tak penting], dimana dia dengan sedihnya bertanya
“You think by the time I got back, still can find or not?”
Alololo sedihnya dia comel tuuu. I told him, maybe cannotla but don’t worry, I will buy now and fry for you then I will store them in some air tight container, ok?
Lepas tu terus happy. Heh.
