We did a lot of digging this week and one of the happy digging time was taking out the jicama/mexican turnip or in Malaysia known as sengkuang' tubers out from the soil. Now I need some ideas from other gardeners how to enjoy this sengkuang, Any favourite dishes? Facebook buddy gardeners has introduce me to Nyonya dish 'Ju Hu Char' which is jicama stir-fry with dried cuttlefish which I would like to try as soon as I get some dried cuttlefish.
Sengkuang grows easily in the tropics as it loves heat and high humidity. Definitely a good plant for novice gardener in tropics to try. For juicy tubers will need lots of water. Not enough water will cause the growing tubers to crack which happened when we tried growing them in Adelaide that have really dry summer because we did not water enough the plants in summer as we should. Infrequent consistent watering during drought season might resulted in crack tubers. It was a tricky attempts at growing sengkuang in Mediterranean climate but so easily grown here in the tropics. Experiencing different climate growing sengkuang was to me a valuable one. Don't judge by the size of the sengkuang tubers, younger tubers are more sweeter than the older ones.
Sprouted sengkuang seeds poking out.
Sengkuang actually does not require many space to grow. In fact it can also be grown in containers which we did in our previous home with limited space (link). Sengkuang plants is a half-climber. When the plants are small you train them up and later on they find their own way. If you don't have a rich fertile soil, you can grow sengkuang plant first as they are legume, a natural nitrogen-fixer.
Dried Sengkuang Seed pods. The sengkuang beans are not edible.
Sengkuang Seeds.
I am giving away some sengkuang seeds for 3 gardeners randomly picked from the comments. Will announce the recipient at my next post.
Have a lovely weekend.
hi diana, i was os ignorant before reading this- never knew senkuang can be grown locally and they are twining creepers! i thought they are like turnips or kohlrabi..heh heh, you got great harvest- your lemon fuiting a lot too.
ReplyDeleteMakan mentah memang sedap..buat inti popia pun sedap..pecal pun sedap..
ReplyDeleteMakan mentah sedap.
ReplyDeleteTambah kuah rojak lagi sedap.
I'm totally ignorant about how turnips grow so I'm really surprised by this new revealation from you. When I think of turnip I instantly think of popiah. I love the way you dress up your harvest with Bauhenia kockiana and Ternatea clitorea.
ReplyDeletemakan mentah time cuaca panas ni sedap. buat rojak atau inti popia.
ReplyDeleteI tried to grow jicama before and never got very big tubers, I would love to try again - maybe your seeds will do better! I heard that you need to cut back the flowers to force the bulbs to grow bigger. I love them raw just as they are!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what I would do with them and whether or not you'd be allowed to send seeds to Vic so don't worry about including me but I am fascinated by the plant and all those interesting fruits you harvested. Calamansi and Nam Nam fruits look really good.
ReplyDeletersnya ornag letak dlm rojak sedap kan...takpun makanlah gitu...ingat sengkuang tanam drp ubinya ..rupanya ade seeds..
ReplyDeletei wan the seeds. Tq!! belum pernah tanam sengkung ni. Kalao beanya pun boleh dimakan kan best...i usually stir fry them ja..or make popia
ReplyDeletePlease don't include me in the draw as these wouldn't grow in my location. But have to sat it's really interesting seeing the unusual (to me) things that you are growing.
ReplyDeleteHi Diana, like Sue I don't wish to be included in your draw, but I just wanted to say that the Aquilegia plants that I grew from seeds you sent me last year are just beginning to put up their new leaves, so I will hopefully soon be able to see what colour they are (you remember you refused to tell me?!)
ReplyDeleteThose Jicama plants are very wierd - a "turnip" that grows like a bean??
Hi Diana,
ReplyDeleteLove all your harvest! Especially your sengkuang! I did thought of growing sengkuang before. Since this is suitable for container growing, I would love to try it!
How would you know it is time to harvest? The pods are quite big!
You have a wonderful harvest of the lemons! I've just spotted one lemon on my little plant a couple of days ago!
Wish you a wonderful week!
bole share gambar pokok lemon & kat mana nk dapat benih dia kat malaysia?
ReplyDeleteotherwise boleh tolong propagate batang dia untuk saya ?
Thanks
mcm2 ada kat rumah dia... seronoknya time harvest tu kan...
ReplyDeleteBestnye tanam sengkuang kat rumah..
ReplyDeletei also used to have a pomelo plant in my house but the pomelos are not really edible. It was planted in a big pot, not on ground and the fruits did not grow big. anyway, the main purpose we planted that is for the leaves. I usually cook sengkuang like the ju hu char, but simple one..just put shredded carrots, shredded turnips and some dried shrimps..sometimes chinese also put in pork. You can also add sengkuang to make vegetable stock..letak soy beans, sengkuang, carrot..pun okay:)
ReplyDeletesalam dari bunda
ReplyDeleteWhat interesting plants you always have and great photos too.
ReplyDeleteThose leaves are amazing as well! The sengkuangs must be really sweet. Love this tuber. Julienne it and just stir fry with dried shrimps or some minced meat. Add some carrots for the colour.
ReplyDeleteI have a flooded area behind my house. I think I can make good use of the seed in Mantin.
ReplyDeleteI never seen sengkuang plant before! I thought they were like keladi! Hahahhaaa....I'm just so ignorant! I love sengkuang! Especially in rojak buah!
ReplyDeleteSaya baru nak semai hujung minggu ni. Harap menjadi (exclude me from the draw as dah byk seeds beli hari tu ;))
ReplyDeleteHow lovely that you are back in tropic and can grow such plants. Also, you can garden 365 days which is not possible here.
ReplyDeleteHi.. I love your blog! very nice garden and house.. I hope you don't mind I save some pics from your blog to stare at.. :)
ReplyDeleteNever knew Sengkuang plant looks like a beans/pea plant.
ReplyDeleteNow I know. I had used Sengkuang cut in small pieces together with Guava and mixed with green salad tossed with a little honey, olive oil and lemon/lime juice.
I enjoyed it - maybe you can try it if you enjoy green salads.
The way you planted the sengkuang vines makes your yard pretty ;-) I love this tuber for its juicy, sweet and crunchy textured flesh.
ReplyDeletewah hasil2 yang berbaloi ye..
ReplyDeleteCookingvarieties~Sengkuang tubers also been frequently call ubi sengkuang as we harvest the ubi. I have several plants creeping more than 2 metres.
ReplyDeleteKak Mar~ Popia dan pecal sedap bunyinya tu...nak kena buat kuah kacang ni.
Rainfield61~ Kena buat banyak stok kuah rojak.
Stiletto~ Bauhenia kockiana and Ternatea clitorea has been booming very generously.
Rini Jy~ Memang best makan masa cuaca panas...sejuk rasa sengkuang.
Africanaussie~They do well if the soil is moist. Yes for big tubers we have to be diligent cutting back the flowers.
Liz~ The calamansi tree has been growing tall after I returned. Not as easy to harvest as it was used to be.
UmmuAidan~Daripada ubinya pun boleh juga tanam. Tapi dari biji pun mudah.
Olive~ Stir fry dengan udang kering campur cili kampung sedap saya cuba.
Sue~ I have grown them in Adelaide but it so easy to grow them here now in the tropics.
Mark~Hope the aquilegia plants will bloom for you soon when spring comes. Sengkuang is not in the same group as turnip , I think because of the resemblance it calls Mexican Turnip.
Joyce~ I usually wait for about 6 months and start to harvest a few of them. Hope you enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year very much.
aky103~ Nanti saya share gambar pokok lemon. Pokok lemon ni mak saya yang tanam dah lama dah sejak saya sekolah lagi.
MaDiHaA~ Seronok time harvest tapi agak ambil masa. Jadi saya harvest buah lemon seminggu sekali.
Helentea~ Sengkuang ni memang senang nak tumbuh tak perlu banyak penjagaan.
Lena ~ Thanks for the tips. Our pamelo also only give us small fruits tak cukup kasih sayang maybe hehehe...
ReplyDeleteBunda~ Salam Bunda.
Kelli~ I wish I can grow flowers as good as you.
Stephanie~ The young ones are much sweeter.
Kenneth~ Flooded area good to plant yam.
Malar~ Sengkuang are in the same group with kacang panjang.
Zamzurina~InsyAllah menjadi.
KL~ We do have wet and dry season.
Mariez~ Thank you for the visit.
James Missier~ Sounds good will like to try.
Kesuma Angsana~ Syukur alhamdulillah.
My brother cuts jicama into thin strips like french fries and tosses them with lime juice, hot sauce (such as Rooster or Tabasco), and a pinch of salt for snacking. Cilantro would also be good in this.
ReplyDelete