Dehydrated Torch Ginger (Bunga Kantan): The Journey
As with all flowers, the fresh Torch Ginger flowers doesn’t last long. We did our research from how to make it readily available, last longer
and easy to transport. We also experimented with improving producing the fresh flowers.
From growing the plants perspective, our farm is located in an area ideal for growing it. With good rainfall, and good environmental factors including daily temperature and humidity as well as sun exposure supported by organic fertilizers, it grows well at the farm. When I bought the farm almost 15 years ago, it was like a jungle land and it already had the torch ginger plants growing in one area. As the farm was developed, I retained these plants during careful land clearing, minimising the disturbance to the land contour and enhancing the natural features. In the beginning, many flowers were just used for decoration as one really cannot consume that many flowers. Getting it to market was really a challenge and at times, at a loss.
I began to experiment about 5 years ago in how to turn it into a viable marketable produce. For Malaysians, this is a must-have ingredient when making laksa. A laksa without torch ginger flower is just a dish of noodles in fish soup. Many have told me that they cannot find it when abroad either in fresh or dehydrated form. It is also used in making other Malaysian dishes and can also be consumed as a tea with purported therapeutic benefits.
I tried air-drying and sun-drying but the end product didn’t look attractive as it turned brown although it retain some of the aromatic flavor of the torch ginger flower. The time it took to dry was also dependent on environmental factors. If it was hot and dry days, it took less number of days. If it rained, it took longer and sometimes resulted in spoilt torch ginger flowers. Moreover, it was exposed to contaminants.
I then started looking into dehydrators, there are many dehydrator models available to choose from. I checked the technical specs as well as ease of use and maintenance and did a quick cost/benefit analysis before choosing one that will suit my needs. I started with a smaller capacity model and it worked well.
With the use of a dehydrator, you could see the improvements in the product quality. The color was retained with minimal loss of intensity making it look attractive. It was also to a certain extent an indication of oxidation and with higher oxidation, the color will fade more. IT was also evenly dried. This is an important factor as if it isn’t dried properly, it will get moldy with the passage of time in the packaging. I also didn’t have to worry about exposure to contaminants.. It retained its aromatic flavors at a higher level than air or sun drying. It also dramatically reduced the time it takes to dry which in turns prevents excess oxidation.
Two years ago, with the floods, the dehydrator was taken by the flood waters. I replaced it with a bigger model – 9 trays from 5 trays – which allowed me to dry more at one time. Once dehydrated, the weight of the torch ginger flowers is between 9-10% of its original weight.
Before deciding on the packaging, I experimented on the types focusing o the following crteria:
(1) Ease of packaging
(2) Ease of transport
(3) Ease of storage.
We ended up with the current packaging of using resealable packs that is lightweight and resealable. To ensure standardization, we go
by weight of the product which is 25 g of dehydrated torch ginger flowers per pack. To accurately state the number of flowers per pack is difficult as the size of the flowers vary. Moreover, our flowers are at least 2-3 times the size of what you find at the fresh market.
Being a “picky” person, we only use flowers grown at my farm for the product. In this way, I can ensure that the flowers are grown organically, not exposed to chemical herbicides and harvested at the right time. This meant that the quantity of dehydrated torch ginger flowers that I can produce is limited. I often get comments that I should plant more so I can produce more. It is not as simple as that. I do not belief in mono-culture farming so my farm will always have different types of plants and trees. The location of where we plant the torch ginger plants are also important as the soil type varies in different sections of my farm where some areas are more sandy than others, and some have more clay and then there are areas that have higher organic content. After the 2021-2022 floods when the highest water level rose to about 1.5m from the ground, we have lost some plants and trees and some areas of the ground was dumped with between 0.5 to 1m of sand. To a certain extent, it has made the ground flatter. We allowed the land to rest for about 1 year before we started looking again at what plants we wanted to add or replace and where. Early this year, we planted more torch ginger plants and Alhamdulillah, some have started to produce flowers. We will see how much many more packs we can produce in the coming months.
I am happy to see that my dehydrated torch ginger flowers have been taken overseas: Spain, USA, UK, Germany, Hong Kong, Qatar, Singapore, China, France and Czech Republic. I only sell and ship within Malaysia. We are testing selling it in the USA through Dusun Artisans. If you are in USA, please contact Dusun Artisans or visit their FB at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063672027242&__tn__=%2Cd.
In shaa Allah, we will continue to grow and expand to deliver quality dehydrated torch ginger flowers.