Monday, February 9, 2009

My salty kum kuat 咸柑桔

When I was a kid, I used to see there were a few jars of brown mini shrunk ugly kum kuat underneath the bed of my grand mom. When my grand mom noticed my curiosity, she took one out and put it in a cup and pour in some hot water and put some sugar in it. It turned out to be a very nice hot drink to me. So last year my sister gave me some kum kuats and I was preparing my XO salty kum kuat and I am going to let it stay for at least 5 years to 10 years. My friend had one for 20 years. I tried that one and it's like the taste of dried tangerine peel. Besides, it is so good for the throat. I realise how amazing of our seniors had this recipe. It told the historical food culture of Chinese. I often imagine there might be lots of people who died of food testing. Salutes to them!

1. I made this one just an hour ago. First, I made a big wok of hot boiling water and pour some salt into the water. Then put the rinsed kum kuats in the boiling water. Then don't let it stay too long. Just about 15 seconds! This is to clean it and don't let the tap water on it as it would turn out rotten if there is any unboiled water. So I would first sprinkle the sea salt on them evenly. Let it stay for 2 days until it's a bit shrunk because of the salt. Then pour them into a glass jar (better without any plastic) one layer over the other. Then pour the salt onto it and shake it a little to let the salt to go into it. Or you can do it one layer by one layer. 2. After a few days, it will become softer and then there will be some salty juice on the bottom. It will keep going. Then you just need to mark the date you made it. Put it in a shadowed cool place.

3. OK, this is the one I made in January, 2008, a year ago. It smells so good already. Noted that it went down by half. It was full to the top when I made it. By the way, it's not necessary to put too much salt like what Suzie Wong taught that she even pour in 2 lbs of salt for 2 lbs of kum kuats. She might not know there is a saturation point that the salt can't dissolve if it's too much salt. Normally I would use half pound of salt for about 2-3 lbs of kum kuat. It just depends on the salt covering the kum kuat, but not to squeeze in with salt. Too much salt will become bitter. Anyway, I am not against Suzie Wong as I really like her show which is very entertaining. She might be told of the technique but she might not remember well of some important things.

7 comments:

Nikki said...

我早兩年浸無泡熱水,又部分扯爛了個「定」,個樽又唔係完全密封,不過近排檢查時也尚可以。今年用了滾水洗,但我晾乾就放入樽,無擺兩日,OK嗎?人地用「女兒紅」做嫁妝,我就打算用樽鹹柑桔,都係要用時間釀的!

in the sea said...

Nikki, if you check the Kum Kuat doesn't look rotten and with some mould, then it should be ok. It's not that necessary to put for 2-3 days. It's just because I placed it for 2 -3 days so that I can put more after the Kum Kuat goes down a bit. Remember to use raw salt. Yes, by the time your daughter gets married, it'll be a very good XO to go with her as a gift to her new family. Mmmh.. that will at least another 10-15 years I guess.

Nikki said...

謝謝你的意見,前年的一瓶我查看過應該沒問題,不過表面已是水,只是下面還有二吋左右厚的鹽。

in the sea said...

I think if there is still some salt, that means it's over saturated. Did you put the salt like squeezing the kum kuat without any space?

Stella said...

Yes, SEA's method is the same taught by Ah So.
The salt has to be over the Kum Kuat according to Ah So's "So Good" program in order to keep the freshness.

in the sea said...

Stella, I am not sure if my method is what Suzie Wong does. However, I notice she put a lot of salt in it and even like making like a salt bed. However, I would like to put the salt some by some, until it's to the saturation point. The best is that the juicy is covered onto the top and without any salt left at the bottom.

Stella said...

You mean Ah So's last name is Wong? And her first name is Susie? If yes, her first name does not match her style and personality. I think her first name shall be called Willie or Walla Walla. However, I do like Ah So and her style in the show although she scolds people.