Monday, June 1, 2009

Vegetarian Jiu Hu Char – Fried Turnips, Penang Nyonya Style



Jiu Hu Char, (Fried Turnips) is an all time favourite among the Babas and Nyonyas in Penang and it is a must have dish during Chinese festivals. The secret to a good Jiu Hu Char; the dish needs to be simmered for a while to bring out the sweetness of the turnips.
Normal non vegetarian version uses dried cuttle fish slices and sometime also lard. For vegan version, you can replace the cuttle fish with dried bean curd strips.

Ingredients
Turnip, 1 pc, cut into small strips
Carrot, 1 pc, cut into small strips
Bean Curd Strips, cut into small pieces
Garlic, 5 pcs, chopped finely
Vegetarian oyster sauce (optional), 1 table spoon
Light Soya Sauce, 2 table spoon
Salt to taste

Heat up wok and add in 2 table spoons of vegetable oil. Sautéed garlic until fragrant and then add in the bean curd strips. Put in the turnip and carrot. Stir fry until fragrant. Add soya sauce and vegetarian oyster sauce. Add a little water and let the dish simmer for a while or until the turnips turn soft. Add salt to taste. You can wrap the fried turnips with leafy vegetable and eat it with white rice. Alternatively, you can also use the fried turnips to make spring rolls!

3 comments:

Reanaclaire said...

turnip is sengkuang? i tot turnip is white carrot? oh .. i m very poor in this ... my mum loves to cook this dish too during cny.. then wrapped this with lettuce leaves.. best.. right?

Reanaclaire said...

turnip is sengkuang? i tot turnip is white carrot? oh .. i m very poor in this ... my mum loves to cook this dish too during cny.. then wrapped this with lettuce leaves.. best.. right?

Pete said...

Hi Claire : Yes Turnip is sengkuang, actually this is Chinese Turnips. The turnips you see in western counties are different. White carrot is radish. I love to eat them with lettuce leaves also......yummy!