Putting colours onto food to trigger taste buds
MIRI: Colour professor Jill Morton once said colours of food you consume on a daily basis affect your psychology and appetite heavily.
Red, yellow, green and white are the colours of vegetables and fruits, hence in a way it triggers the taste buds and the urge to eat.
The plant is no stranger in Asian cuisine. It has been long used to create a natural dye for edible dishes. The most popular dishes in Malaysia using this organic dye are Nasi Kerabu and Malay glutinous rice dish called Kuih Ketam.
The ‘Blue’ Cuisines
How about the colour blue? Despite the fact that blue is in the same category as black and purple which are said to help suppress appetite as the colour blue is often said to be the colour of spoilt/poisonous food, it could be the other way in some parts of the world.
In fact, the popularity of Butterfly Pea flower being used in cooking is on the rise recently, encouraging suppliers to import more of its petals from West Malaysia and foreign countries.
The Borneo Post interviewed Sin Yean Yean, an avid cook who loves to try out new cuisine, who accepted the challenge to prepare a full table of gourmet food using the floral ingredient.
Nyonya dumpling, blue agaragar, Ayam Asam Pedas with Nasi Biru, Snow Swallow with Yellow Rock Sugar and Blue Bell juice, Non-Bake Blue Cheese Cake and sushi rolls are the dishes Sin had prepared.
Right before she introduced each of the dishes, Sin gave an insight into the Butterfly pea plant which is scientifically known by its species name, Clitoria ternatea.
“The plant is no stranger in Asian cuisine. It has been long used to create a natural dye for edible dishes. The most popular dishes in Malaysia using this organic dye are Nasi Kerabu and a Malay glutinous rice dish called Kuih Ketam.
“But do you know that the use of Butterfly Pea flower could also be traced back to the Peranakan when it was often used to produce Nyonya glutinous rice dumpling (or Nyonya Chang)?”
She said the organic dye is derived from the petals.
The petals, she explained while demonstrating the steps, are steeped in boiled water until the desired pigment is reached.
“There are several steps to achieve the desired periwinkle hue because different methods could affect the organic colour pigmentation.”
Sin, who took the painstaking effort by steeping 400 to 500 petals in one go, said such a way could create a concentrated colour which could then be diluted according to the preference for the dish.
Apart from colouring food, Sin emphasised that the organic dye does not affect the food’s taste and flavour. As an example, she said the blue layer on the Non-Bake Blue Cheese Cake was applied after the cake was near completion and the agar was made separately before adding it as a finishing touch on top of the cake.
Another dessert Sin made was Snow Swallow with Yellow Rock Sugar and Blue Bell Juice, a nutritious drink made from plants.
“Snow Swallow is often likened to bird’s nest, in terms of nutrient value and its texture. The original colour of the dessert is milky. I added blue bell juice to make it more colourful just like threelayered drink – blue, transparent and white colour.”
Nyonya Chang, according to Sin, is an old recipe she got from her great aunt. The ingredients needed are glutinous rice which is soaked in blue juice to create an indigo blue colour, pork and nut fillings, mushroom, salted egg and seasoning powder.
“The flavour very much depends on one’s preference. My recipe is more to locals’ taste, with more seasoning.”
Right before it is wrapped in bamboo leaves, the indigo rice is soaked overnight and rinsed and thereafter added to the dumpling before it is immersed in boiling water to be cooked. The benefit of Butterfly Pea
The beautiful flower, according to Sin, provides great benefit to the body when consuming it in the long term.
If one bothers to look up for the beneficial health effect of the Butterfly Pea plant, it is easy to find that the plant is
Sin Yean Yean
a c t u a l ly a natural ant ioxidant , said Sin. “Consuming it as tea could help control high blood pressure and help blood circulation. Apart from these, I have noticed that when one consumes it long enough, it enables the body to release a nice scent of Butterfly Pea, which is nice,” she added. Sin opined that using the plant for commercial purposes may not be economically wise due to the large quantity needed. “Though more people have realised the great benefit of Butterfly Pea and its beautiful organic dye; it is not wise to use it for commercial purposes because they would need hundreds of petals daily. Hence, I’ve noticed that restaurants usually use food colouring to substitute the organic dye.”
Because fresh flowers are not easily available, the dried flower petals could be found in local markets which are sold at RM5 per packet of 20 petals.
“Whilst there are also suppliers from West Malaysia who sell it by kilograms at a few dozen ringgit, I prefer fresh flowers because the colour derived from them is nicer and brighter compared to the dried ones.”
Sin even took the extra effort to buy Butterfly Pea seeds and sow them at several empty spots which belong to her relatives and friends, so that she could get unlimited fresh stock of Butterfly Pea flowers. After completing the cooking challenge using only Butterfly Pea flowers, Sin admitted that it was no easy task.
“Deriving the colour is not easy, and controlling the hue according to the food is even more difficult. I have to say that using food colouring is more time and moneysaving,” she admitted.