Little Arrowhead Bulbs (Nga Koo) From My Garden.

I did a previous post on "Chinese Arrowhead Shoots Growing In My Garden" and you can click here if you are interested to read about it. And this post is an update on the progress of the arrowhead shoots growing in my garden. Initially, I was very diligent in watering the arrowhead shoots and keeping them moist throughout the day. After a while with a few short holidays in between, I sort of forgotten about the arrowhead shoots. 

Now with the hot season, the leaves of the arrowhead shoots are not as healthy as before. They are no longer dark green and the leaves are smaller in size. I think it is now about 6 months since the shoots appeared and I was curious whether there are arrowheads forming under the shoots.

To satisfy my curiosity, I carefully dug out one of the bigger plants to check and these were what I have found.

I found some small bulbs of nga koo or arrowheads.

The big round one were about the size of a fifty cents coin and there were smaller ones. I returned the arrowhead bulbs to the pots, covered up with soil and hope they will continue to grow. Maybe I will dig out one of the bigger shoots in a few months time to check again.

These are the leaves stalks. They are spongy with air spaces throughout the length of the stalks.

This together with the roots intact, I planted them back into the soil.

Hopefully in a few months time, I will have another update post to share.

Who knows, I might even get to harvest a few arrowheads from my garden. Lol!

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The following photos are for joining Floral Bliss.

These are all from my own garden.

Cactus - Euphorbia Viguieri.

Flowers of Euphorbia Viguieri

Crape Jasmine or Pinwheel flowers

Purple bougainvillea

Linking to Floral Bliss

I am told you can solve all kinds of mysteries.

If you can tell me the meaning of those words,

I will clothe you in purple robes, with a gold chain around your neck,

and make you the third ruler in the kingdom.

(Daniel 5:16, The Living Bible-TLB)

Chinese Arrowhead Shoots Growing In My Garden.

It all started about 2 weeks before the Chinese New Year celebration in the month of January 2017 which is about 2 months ago. I bought some Chinese Arrowheads to fry Arrowhead chips.

Chinese Arrowheads washed and ready for peeling.

Peelings from the Chinese Arrowheads.

Peeled Chinese Arrowheads ready for making crispy chips.

I took the left over shoots and the peelings to bury in the soil of my garden pots to act as natural fertilizers.

One morning while I was watering my plants, I noticed these green shoots growing out of the soil of this big flower pot.

On a closer look, they do look familiar. Then I remembered the Chinese Arrowhead shoots that I buried in the soil. They have sprouted and have pushed through the surface of the soil.

I didn't have them removed. I left them be and expected them to dried up and die after some time. Surprisingly, they survived and continue to grow.

Usually these Arrowheads thrive in ponds, lakes, marshes and paddy fields in most Asian countries e.g. China. But here, they are growing in normal garden soil in my garden.

I am watching to see whether these plants will survive when the hot and dry days return.

Currently, these Chinese Arrowheads plants are almost 2 feet tall. I am curious to see whether these have flowers and whether they will form arrowheads or tubers in the ground. I am now keeping a record on these plants for further updates.

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The following staircase photos are for joining Tuesday's Treasures.

Old antique staircase in Gopeng Museum.

A staircase with wooden and metal railing.

Linking To Tuesday's Treasures & Image-in-ing.

That night, when he (Jacob) stopped to camp at sundown,

he found a rock for a headrest and lay down to sleep,

and dreamed that a staircase reached from earth to heaven,

and he saw the angels of God going up and down upon it.

(Genesis 28:11-12, The Living Bible-TLB)

Frying Arrowhead Chips (Nga Koo) For Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is just about 2 weeks from now and I was reminded of this when my sister gave me a bag of arrowheads (nga ku in Cantonese) last week. My sister and I have been frying our own nga ku chips for the third and fourth year now. Both our families love munching on nga ku chips. Since we consume a lot, it is more economical to fry the chips ourselves.

When my boys were younger, I used to bake and buy cookies for Chinese New Year and Christmas celebration. I no longer bake cookies now because nobody eats them. Now nga ku chips is the most important snack for this festive season.

Last Tuesday, I dropped by at the supermarket and saw the arrowheads selling at MYR 3.88 per kilo. Since it was near dinner time, I saw only one lady choosing from the huge pile of arrowheads. That was the best time to buy my arrowheads without the big crowd. I took my time to choose the arrowheads without having to compete with the other customers. Somehow, competing with other customers is one area I am not good at.

I got so carried away that I didn't realized I have bought almost 10 kg of nga ku! Anyway, I was happy with what I have bought. Being a once a year thing, I spend 2 nights frying my nga ku chips.

This afternoon I was in a mall in Kamunting and I saw that nga ku was also sold there. At the place where the nga ku was placed, there was a chart with pictures showing the steps to prepare and fry nga ku. Now all customers will know how to fry and be able to enjoy nga ku chips, whether they are celebrating the festive season or not.

Day 1 - This was the first batch of arrowheads to be fried. I remembered the first time I bought arrowheads of frying, I didn't know that I must choose the arrowheads with the shoot intact. They are for holding when slicing the arrowheads. That was lesson number 1 that I have learnt from experience.

The arrowheads have been peeled, leaving the shoots of nga ku intact.

Heating up the oil in the frying pan (kuali) for frying. The fire must not be too high and the oil must be of right temperature for frying. To test whether the oil is ready for frying, just drop a slice of arrowhead into the oil. If the slice of arrowhead pops right up on the surface of oil and started frying/bubbling, then it is ready to fry the arrowheads slices.

While waiting for the oil to get heated up, I started slicing the arrowheads, getting them ready for frying. My arrowhead chips are without salt because we prefer the chips plain.

Fry arrowhead slices in small batches so as not to overcrowd in the frying pan. Over crowding will cause uneven frying of arrowhead chips. Fry the arrowhead chip till they are not bubbling in the oil.

When arrowhead chips are light golden, lift them up with a strainer. Let the oil dripped dry and place the chips on kitchen paper towel to absorb the oil. After the chips have cooled down, place them into containers lined with oil absorbing sheets. Allow the chips to totally cooled down before sealing the containers.

Arrowheads peeling and shoots are used for garden compost. Nothing is wasted. It took me 2 days to fry almost 10 kg of arrowheads.

I managed to get about 9 biscuit tins of fried nga ku. The nga ku on sale are placed in the plastic container with the red cover. 1 plastic container of nga ku cost MYR 12 or 13. It is so much cheaper to fry our own nga ku chips and we can munch to our satisfaction.

When you have eaten and are satisfied,

praise the LORD your God for the good land He has given you.

(Deuteronomy 8:10, New International Version-NIV)