Thursday, March 10, 2011

Ubi Badak; everything seems to be purple

Ubi badak, the most colourful of all tubers, is ready to be part of our little vegetable garden in Tanah Merah.  We bought more than we can consume, so one ubi badak stayed at the corner until little  purple shoots and roots appeared. A spot is reserved for ubi badak to grow and climb. At least two tubers that I know of, build tubers in the ground but the plants behave like vines, always looking for something higher to climb, one is ubi badak displayed here, the other is ubi itik.

It is nice to see it's rapid growth. Shoots have that beautiful delicate and tender look. I cant visualise how far the plant will grow because I had never seen one, but I was told by the market seller, that the plants behave like vines and require trellis to aloof high up. I am expecting big tuber to be fully developed by the end of the year, and I wonder if the bamboo trellis can stay steady (not rotting) for so long...


Ubi Badak  

the tuber in November 2010


ubi badak, small cuts.
(photo taken in November 2010)

Ubi badak, 
the tuber is about 10 inches long.
(photo taken in November 2010) 




Ubi Badak, 
the latest addition in our garden, March 2011

ubi badak, an early growth 2 weeks ago

beautiful young leaves of ubi badak



Lower leaves start to turn green
just a touch of green - ubi badak
Ubi Badak, such tender leaves
The tip of ubi badak vine
Ubi badak greening or grinning.

Not many have seen ubi badak plant growing, even the kelantanese. There is so much beauty in the way ubi badak letting out roots, pushing up shoots and the leaves changing colour soft purple to green. No wonder the tuber is so beautiful in colour and exquisite in taste.


bangchik and kakdah
Taman Kota Harmoni

Watch out for Blooming Friday post on Feeling Blue, tomorrow.

20 comments:

  1. Oohhh ubi badak ke namanya.... Hari Jumaat lepas suami tersilap beli. Saya minta belikan keledek yg purple kulitnya, tapi isi putih macam biasa untuk dibuat kuih keria... tapi dia terbeli ubi badak. Tapi saya masih buat kuih keria tu, cuma bila goreng tak tahu bila masaknya, sebab dari awal warnanya gelap... Tapi bila digigit, cantik warna ungu tu :D

    Petangnya saya buat pula pengat pisang & ubi badak, cantik warna pengat saya :D Tapi anak tak suka sebab warnanya :(

    Selalunya ubi ni diguna dalam masakan apa?

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    Replies
    1. Buat bubur, campur santan, sagu dan gula melaka...pergh

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  2. Don't believe I've ever seen this interesting plant...the leaf and vining remind me of the sweet potato! Look forward to seeing the Ubi Badak as it grows.

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  3. Bangchik, very interesting plant this ubi badak, from the colour to the vines and from outside the ubi looks like keladi kan? I think the young shoots can be eaten like the keledek...

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  4. Lovely purple potato! The vines look pretty too!
    How does Ubi badak taste like? like sweet potato?

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  5. The your foliage is pretty! I use bamboo trellises. They are quite good. Should be alright for a year.

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  6. I have tried growing sweet potatoes from those left overs that didnt get eaten.. I had a lot of leaves and vines but no tuber. Hmmm.. maybe I should be more patient. How long does it take to have tuber?

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  7. Btw, the single red young leave of ubi badak is sooo beautiful :D

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  8. Hi Bangchik, we call that 'ubi' too but no badak, haha! There is the white ubi and the purple ubi. I also brought some tubers a few years back and just planted it near some trees, so they just climbed wherever they can hold to reach the light. In Dec when their vines dry up we sometimes gather them and make it to delicacies. Ice cream companies use it too. I love it for dessert.

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  9. Beautiful pics and a delight to see them...^_^

    I wonder whether it taste like sweet potato too coz I remember something like it in the sweet potato dessert that my grandma made when I was very, very young...=P I remember thinking it was very colourful coz it had yellow, orange and purple 'sweet potatoes' and my grandma used to boiled them with water and sugar with a touch of pandan leaves and ginger...=P

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  10. Ohhh I love 'ubi badak', one of my favorite ubi of all time alongside 'ubi gadong' and 'ubi...' err.. another ubi small & black in color favored by many Kelantanese. But ubi badak is so unique as unique as its color, it tastes nothing like sweet potato... it has this texture and stickiness that I found rather exquisite! The white version is rather marvelous too, but taste the same.

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  11. >>>iamsterdam<<<
    Dont mistaken ubi badak with purple sweet potato or ubi keledek ungu. Ubi badak besar, sebesar kepala orang.. Cara tumbuh ubi badak lain, sebab dia memanjat. Ubi keledek merangkak je. Daun ubi badak sebesar tapak tangan, manakala daun ubi keledek sebesar cawan.

    Ubi badak sedap dibuat pengat (or serawa bagi orang utara). Rebus gitu saja pun sedap. Orang sini tak goreng ubi badak. Aiskrim juga ada perisa ubi badak, dengan nama yam, warnanya ungu.

    ~bangchik and kakdah.

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  12. ((((Theanne and Baron))))
    In a way they are similar to purple sweet potato. But taste and growing behaviour is different. Ubi badak climbs, sweet potato crawls..

    (((p3chandan)))
    Ubi badak is sold only in Kelantan I think. Famous in Tanah Merah, where the various ubi (Ubi kemili, ubi badak, ubi itik, ubi gadong) are sold at roadside stalls. The season is Dec, Jan, Feb. (macam winter, musim sejuk kita)

    (((Malay-Kadazan girl)))
    The leaves resemble sireh more than keledek.

    (((Malar)))
    Taste is 100 percent keladi rather than keledek. Funny because, foliage is a little bit like sweet potato but taste is keladi, very sticky.

    (((Stephanie)))
    Our trellis use bamboo from previous trellis. The leg will rot soon I think. But we have quite a stock to replace when necessary.

    ~bangchik and kakdah

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  13. Food so delicious!
    I have tried sweet potatoes in Putrajaya, not for tubers but as ground cover. For ubi badak, the season is grow now in Mac and harvest in Dec.

    i amsterdam
    Yes, ubi badak is flamboyant, being beautiful above the ground, and quitely building up delicious tubers underneath.

    Andrea
    by the way, badak is rhinoceros. I wonder if ubi badak is a delicacy to rhinoceros in the wild, or just to acknowledge the large ubi, as big as rhinoceros.

    tooey2010
    ubi badak is not sweet potato. It is mildly sweet, but rather sticky, more like keladi. I dont think ubi badak is sold anywhere else in Malaysia except Kelantan, especially Tanah Merah.

    ROUGH.ROSA
    In case you forgot about the little black ubi..., they are ubi kemili to the rest, but ubi keling to kelantanese.
    A friend Sopian, buy ubi badak every week non-stop whenever the season is on.

    bangchik and kakdah

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  14. Ubi Badak- my childhood comfort food, sure to bring back the smile to my cold shivering after-main-hujan face during musim bah

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  15. FreesiaStar
    Childhood comfort zone, ubi badak is sold at make-shift stalls close to gertak panjang Tanah Merah. No more now, until next monsoon months.

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  16. Ohhh I love 'ubi badak', one of my favorite ubi of all time alongside 'ubi gadong' and 'ubi...' err.. another ubi small & black in color favored by many Kelantanese. But ubi badak is so unique as unique as its color, it tastes nothing like sweet potato... it has this texture and stickiness that I found rather exquisite! The white version is rather marvelous too, but taste the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha.... its ubi kemili, those small black in colour. Kelantanese call them ubi keling i think....

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  17. Saya ada tanam ubi badak ni. Saya dapat bibit dari Sarawak pada tahun 2018. Saya tanam sama seperti tanam ubi keledek. Pada mulanya sehinggalah ke hari ini, saya tak tau apa nama ubi ni. Sehingga terjumpa dalm pencarian nama ubi jenis Sarek, kemudian keluarlah jenis² nama ubi sehinggalah ternampak gambar ubi badak ni.

    Bibit awal yang saya tanam dulu saya susah tuai, tapi isinya tak besar. Kemudian saya tanam semula. Baru² ni saya cuba tuai selepas 6 bulan semai. Saya dapat isi yg agak besar sikit dari awal penanaman. Memang sesap isi ubi ni. Macam isi keladi.

    Kemudian saya balik ke tapak tanaman pertama saya semai ubi badak ni, saya agak teruja jg bila saya korek sehingga lebih satu kaki dalamnya. Ternyata ubi ini boleh membesar dalam jangka masa yang lama. Mungkin seusia 2 tahun.

    Bila dipengat, rasanya kurang enak pula. Barangkali terlalu tua sudah? 😁😁

    😁😁Barulah saya tahu nama ubi ni. Saya akan cuba mengusahakan ubi badak ini di daerah saya. Sebab ada orang berminat nak beli semasa saya pos gambar ubi ni ke dalam akaun facebook saya. 👌

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