Pesticide-Free Sweet Potatoes

Last week I chanced upon some super slim and short pesticide-free sweet potatoes at the night market.  These purple and orange sweet potatoes are farmed by Orang Asli in Pahang and according to the organic vegetables seller, they are pesticide-free.  The skin can be eaten and the flesh has no thread-like veins.

Some of the purple sweet potatoes are about the size of my fingers. Never have I seen such slim sweet potatoes in my life!



Just like human fingers, some of the purple sweet potatoes are fat and stumpy while some are slim and long.




We had them steamed ~ the flesh is soft, smooth and free from thread-like veins/fibers.



These sweet potatoes are sold at RM12 for 3 packets.  These tubers are one of the best I've tasted. They'll taste even better when roasted.

Ice Plant

We had our first taste of Ice Plant vegetable at Copper Mansion Restaurant during CNY this year. The Ice Plant was one of the ingredients in the 'loh sang' dish along with fried crispy salmon fish skin and other vegetables. It was the best 'loh sang' that I had ever tasted - super fresh and  delish.  I couldn't get enough of the Ice Plant and asked the waitress what vegetable it was and she told us 'suet choy' (ice vegetable). I thought that it was iceberg lettuce but it's not, though the texture is similar to lettuce.

A month later, I stumbled upon Ice Plant at my regular organic vegetable stall at the night market.  The seller was raving about it and gave me 100% reassurance that I would love the Ice Plant.  The leaves consist mainly of water/juice and are slightly salty. The texture is very smooth and crunchy  and chock-full of nutrition. But the price tag is very hefty - RM15 for a small punnet. I can chomp down the entire pack myself. They are so juicy and refreshing that I can eat them on their own without any salad dressing.




Ice Plant is named so because of its cool frosted look. The Ice Plant is a unique vegetable that originated in South Africa. Tiny crystalline beads of bladder cells filled with salt water cover its stems and leaves, which not only makes the ice plant a lovely decorative succulent (look how it glistens in the sun!) but renders it a fascinating culinary ingredient.


Nutritional Value
As it is mainly made of water, the ice plant is low in calories. What it is high in, though are vitamins A, B and C, mineral salts, and isoflavones – a class of phytochemicals that help protect the body against breast cancer, menopausal symptoms, heart disease, osteoporosis and a host of other disorders.   The juice of Ice Plant leaves have antiseptic properties that may be used topically for infections or taken orally for digestive problems. The Ice Plant makes a great addition to any diet, whether you are health conscious or not.

Cass' dinner of Korean rice, homemade kimchi, avocado, sauteed mushrooms with curry leaves, cauliflower, braised pork and Ice Plant.  Super healthy and yums!

Organic / Naturally Grown Vegetables - How Do You Verify?

I bought this bundle of organic sawi from my regular organic veggie seller this morning. I just love to see the tiny worm holes on the leaves of vegetables. This way, I am almost assured that the veggies were grown without the use of pesticides and bugs repellents.

There is this self-claimed organic veggie stall at the night market that claim that all their vegetables and fruits are naturally grown without the use of pesticides in Cameron Highlands. However, their veggies are free from worm holes, huge and can last pretty long in the fridge too!  I feel really dubious about their claim, yet many people flock to buy their veggies and paying two to three-fold!  Most of all, there is no certification whatsoever to confirm their claim that their produce are organic or grown naturally.



 

Don't you just love to see holes on your vegetables like me? ;)

I only buy organic produce if I see a sticker of certification on the packaging.  Do you buy so-called organic produce that have no sticker of certification on the packaging?