Introducing local herbs to new palates
AT one glance, the array of green leaves and local herbs which sat nestled in their terracotta pots at the front of INTI’s Alkira Restaurant looked like ordinary shrubbery.
These leaves and herbs are more commonly known in Malay as ‘ulam’.
They are the unsung heroes that breathe life and pack in a punch of flavours to many Southeast Asian cuisines.
INTI’s chef and culinary arts lecturer, Chef Eddie Tan is passionate about bringing ulam back to the heart of local cuisines and introducing them to the palates of today’s Gen Y and Gen Z consumers.
Chef Eddie is under the supervision of Dr. Eric Olmedo, a principal fellow from the Institute of Ethnic Studies at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
He is part of a three-country collaborative research focused on intergenerational knowledge transference, which aims to understand the properties and benefits of indigenous plants and bring in age-old knowledge of nutrition to become more relevant for young people today.
Led by principal researcher, Dr Hart Nadav Feuer from Kyoto University, the research which involves Malaysia, Japan and Cambodia is funded by the Toyota Foundation in supporting the researchers’ efforts towards food sustainability and knowledge transference.
The Toyota Foundation awards grants to research and projects in a wide variety of areas relating to human and natural environments, social welfare, and education and culture.
Chef Eddie, who is part of the Malaysian research team, focuses his findings on urban dwellers and the incorporation of ulam to be palatable to urbanites’ diet.
He recently hosted his research counterparts from Japan and Cambodia at a checkpoint event held at INTI International College Subang. Chef Eddie had the opportunity to share his findings and host a food tasting session with the incorporation of ulam on the menu that was prepared by INTI’s first year culinary arts students.
“I feel privileged to be part of this research team to do my bid in raising awareness of the many properties and benefits of these local herbs.
“I believe getting students involved in the process was a key aspect to this project.
“Having them in the mix allowed us to understand the younger generations’ food preferences,” he said.
It also gave Chef Eddie the opportunity to expose the students to creating a dish using one of the many local plants.
“It was interesting to see how they took on the challenge, did research on their own native dishes and practised in teams to come up with interesting dishes that highlighted the different types of ulam.
“It was great exposure for these first year culinary arts students to present their dishes to my research counterparts and further explain the usage of ulam, the cooking techniques and other ingredients used to enhance the ulam flavors,” said Chef Eddie.
With nine out of the 10 students not having been previously exposed to ulam in their meals, it was a culinary experience for them to discover flavour profiles, textures and complementing ingredients to highlight the ulam in their cooking.
The students who come from Indonesia, Pakistan, South Korea and Malaysia, were divided into teams and assigned a specific plant to creatively incorporate in a dish that is familiar to their palates while ensuring that the plant remained the star of the dish.
Dr Hart said the students pushed the boundaries on creativity to make the plants edible.
“I can see them being integrated into menus in restaurants. This exercise is a great way to create awareness,” he said, adding that he hoped the findings of the research will impact the lives of today’s generation and well into the future.
The students are all in their first year of study in the culinary arts programme at INTI. Aside from enhancing their culinary skills, the students also used the event as a platform to sharpen their soft skills which include communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.
“This was a very interesting experience for us as most of us had not worked with these plants before. “We didn’t know what to do with it at first but after doing our research and consulting Chef Eddie, we came up with recipes which would enhance the flavours of the plant,” said Choi Jung Wook from South Korea.