Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Asin-asin ready to go




asin-asin or cekur manis.

Plants put a halt when weather is too hot and unbearable. Shoots are not coming out. Plants somehow quicken the stage of blooming and bearing fruits. I can really understand that, because excessive heat is a stress to them. That will  trigger a signal to the plants to produce babies by flowering and fruiting

I remember how trees are trained to bear fruits. Nangka is the easiest. There are time when trees  keep growing, and  enjoy the growing period so much that they are not keen in fruiting. Father used to take out his parang and slashed the bark a few times. The old way is someone would slash with parang, and shout "Are you going to bear fruits?, otherwise I will do it again tomorrow.." Then someone else will answer "yes, yes, I will bear fruits" on behalf of the tree. In most cases, the tree bear fruits the next season.

It's about inducing stress, giving signal to the tree that are sick and therefore must produce babies. Trees don't seem to talk and walk, but they are methodical, following a standard operating procedure while growing on one particular spot.

Asin-asin is a plant growing well these few years. The shoots are cut off as vegetables, which will end up as masak lemak asin-asin, my favourite. There will be sweet potatoes, asin-asin , shoots, and shrimps, cooked in coconut milk. The plant doesn't seem to grow old, because they are constantly in a renewed stage after regular pruning. They have tiny flowers and I don't know if they end up as seeds. Propagation is always with cuttings.

A few months ago  I just put several stems into the ground, very close, 3 to 4 inches apart. Yes they grow.


bangchik


7 comments:

  1. Bangchik, our Bok choy has begun to 'bolt'! and it's only May. I started the seeds, transplanted the seedlings outside and then our temperatures told the plant it was summer; now it is colder than normal and many are blossoming. Temperatures do play havoc with the plant life.

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  2. i learned a new name for this plant today. In my garden i call it Katuk or Pak Wan. But it makes only sticks and very few sprouts. i have been trying to make it happy, maybe that is the problem ; )

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  3. Our plants react the same way to our dry summer temperatures. They flower quickly and go somewhat dormant until the weather cools again in October.

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  4. wah... best nye, buat masak lemak putih letak keledek... sedapnye...

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  5. Bangchik, masak lemak is almost like a luxury dish for me, (high cholestorel-lah with ccoconut milk!, so I do not cook it often) My mum used to cook this and sambal belacan is a must to go with this dish! Not just yummy, super yummy!

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  6. bangchik..asin-asin sama ke dengan pucuk manis yg selalu jual kat pasar tu?

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  7. ~Diana (Di)
    Thanks for the visit and comment. Sorry about the weather playing havoc to the plants. But the weather will show kindness somewhere along the way.

    ~Julie
    Yes, plants do come in with many names. This plant does have a tendency to get very skinny, especially during hot weather.

    ~Noelle
    We thought plants grow without any form of planning, but they do. And the way they make adjustment is fascinating.

    ~ejaMaria
    Memang sedap. Lebih sedap lagi kalau berkumpul dan makan ramai-ramai. Sedar-sedar sudah licin.

    ~kitchen flavours
    Anything consumed excessively is bad I think. A little bit of each is the safe approach. Masak lemak included.

    ~waliz s
    Asin-asin and cekur manis refer to the same plant.

    ~AaronVFT
    They look cute and really are survivors.

    Thanks everyone. Happy gardening.
    BANGCHIK

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