The Torch Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan) ia a beautiful flower that is aromatic and used in various Malaysian cuisine with the most well-known being Assam Laksa. There are several different colors for these flowers including various shades of pink, white and red. At the farm, we have the white and pink flowers. The most commonly found are the pink flowers. As with many flowers, these flowers will last about one week, less if it is fully bloomed. The flavor and aromatics from the flowers gets more intense from the bud stage, the stage that we most commonly find at the market, to full bloom.
Under good growing conditions, the torch ginger plant produces flowers year-round. It does especially well in areas where there is lots of rainfall. It is a tropical flowering plant that thrives in hot, humid weather and requires substantial room as it is a rhizome-plant that will spread and the leaf stalk can grow to over 3 meters tall.
Due to the short “shelf-life” and the number of fresh flowers that went to waste because I couldn’t consume or use it in time, I decided to experiment dehydrating the flower as a means to enable it to have a longer “shelf-life” and reduce wastage. At the same time, this also meant that I can have it readily available at home whenever I wanted to use them in cooking. By dehydrating it, it also makes it easier to store as it can be stored in a cool, dry place. It is important to use freshly harvested flowers to produce quality dehydrated flowers. The dehydrated flowers can be used in cooking similar to the fresh bunga kantan for soupy dishes or in a broth. I have also used it during the cooking process of plain, white rice. It imparts an aroma to the rice which makes it very inviting. Bearing in mind that dehyrated torch ginger flowers are about 10% in quantity of the fresh flowers, a little goes a long way.
I have experimented various ways of storing it as we do live in a humid, tropical country. It is best stored in an air-tight container which can be placed in a cool, dry area or in the refrigerator. To store it even longer, it can be placed in a freezer bag and stored in the freezer. I have experimented storing it in the freezer for 18 months. It retains its pink color for the duration.
During the dehydration process, the flowers will reduce to about 10% of its original size. I use a dehydrator for many reasons namely:
- it ensures even drying
- the drying time is consistent – no dependence on whether it is a sunny day or not
- prevents exposure to contaminants
- minimizes loss of flavor
- almost negligible impact of oxidization.
I do not dry it out in the open, under the sun as it is then exposed to possible contaminants as well as impact of oxidization is higher. This can especially be seen in the change in color of the flowers – it will turn beige or brown. Drying it in the sun also makes the drying time uncertain as it will be dependent on the weather and temperature of the day. It is also prone to uneven drying.
To make it easier to transport and store, I have packed them in resealable packs. Being lightweight, it is easy to transport. The resealable pack makes it easier to store as once the pack is open, it can just be resealed to close it. Each pack contains 9-12 flowers, depending of the size of the fresh flowers. The flowers we use are on average more than 3 times the size of the fresh torch ginger buds found in markets and supermarkets.
Through the years that I have been producing it, I am happy that my dehydrated torch ginger has reached many countries such as England, Spain, France, Hong Kong, Czech Republic and United States. Next week, one pack will make the trip to Germany.
As we are a small farm that also grows other trees and plants, I do not produce large quantities of dehydrated torch ginger flowers so we do not do bulk selling but direct to the consumer.
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