Saturday, January 14, 2006

Qi Ku Chips (Arrowroot Chips)

The first photo below is what the Cantonese called Qi Ku. The English name is Arrowroot (thanks Josh for the information!). It is only sold in the market around the new year season. When placed in a shallow vase with water, after a couple of weeks, it will grow into a young plant, which is considered as an auspicious plant for the Lunar New Year. It is also edible. Some use it to boil with pork ribs soup or stir fry with dried shrimps and simmer till softened. The taste is like potato. It can be deep fried into chips and it tastes exactly like Potato Chips. My hair stylist gave me some Qi Ku Chips few years ago and that's when I learnt about turning these into chips.

Actual name in Chinese is called 塘菇 (pronounced as tang2 ku1), Cantonese called this 池菇 (pronounced qi ku) because 池塘 means pond. Therefore 塘菇 and 池菇 are the same.





Qi Ku Chips (Arrowroot Chips)

Ingredients:
Arrowroots, Qi Ku in Cantonese
Some salt
Oil for deep frying


Method:

Wash and peel the skin with a peeler.

Slice thinly and marinate with some salt.

Spread the slices in a big tray and place under the sun to dry. Alternatively can also air-dry it.

Deep fry the chips in hot oil till you are happy!

Drain and place on absorbent paper to soak up excess oil.

When cooled can be kept in airtight container.

* See the golden colour? Hehe... all the Lunar New Year goodies symbolise something auspicious, so I shall name this 黄金满满, meaning filled with gold. *lol*

11 comments:

  1. Wow interesting! I have never seen Qi Ku before. Your chips look like a great snack!

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  2. Its called arrowroot.

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  3. I agree with Ching & also did not see any Qi Ku here. Wish I can try the chips!

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  4. is that arrowroot ??

    My wife just fried abt 10 kg of Qi Ku...think cantonese called them NGAR KU.....

    So, i might just follow u and blog about them later

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  5. Ching & Lin, I am surprised that you have never seen this before.

    Josh, thank-you so much for the information. :)

    Mike, 10kg?????!!!!! OMG! So it is Qi Ku or Ngar Ku now? Haha.. my late FIL told me the name is Qi Ku. Have you heard of the Cantonese joke about Qi Ku Teng? *lol*

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  6. I had this at my friend's hse when my last CNY visit back in sg!!! I almost finished half tin of it. Once starts eating, cannot stop one leh! I love it... :( U are killing me... Eve!!!

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  7. Fonia, my Chips finished so fast! Nothing left for CNY! :(

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  8. Looks yummy..
    I have see this Qi Ku many times but I have no idea how to eat it.
    I saw it in the supermarket this evening when I go shopping :)
    Thanks for sharing, now I know how to eat it :)

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  9. Eve, I've seen them back in Singapore...in fact, my mom sells them too (mom is a veggie hawker) but here in the US, not a single of them in sight!

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  10. Chen, you're welcome! :)

    Lin, oic! :P

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  11. i saw these at tesco and din noe wat to do with it, so i did not buy. now i know.

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