In my previous post, I mentioned Pang Da Hai (胖大海) which is the mature seed (Sterculia Seed) of the Malva nut which is from the malva nut tree (aka Sterculia lychnophora or Scaphium affine). I thought I have written about this Pang Da Hai before but I could not find the post so I will mention it again because I have very fond memories of Pang Da Hai.
Wiki says it is called "Kembang Semangkuk" in BM. For very clear step by step photos of how to prepare the Pang Da Hai to cook Tong Sui, please read this very
informative article with many photos of the Pang Da Hai by Michelle Lee.
When I was a child, I would help my mother to soak the dried seeds and when they have expanded in the water, I would need to pick them out and removed the hard skins and inner seeds so that they can be put into Tong Sui to eat as sweet cooling desserts. Last time, whenever we buy Lok Mei Tong Sui (六味糖水) which is also known as Leng Chee Kang (Lotus Seed Tong Sui) or
Cheng Teng aka Ching Bo Leong 清汤／清补凉, they would have Pang Da Hai in the tong sui but nowadays the Pang Da Hai have been replaced by peach gum which is just as tasty. Here is a
recipe for the Cheng Teng Tong Sui (sweet soup) which still uses Pang Da Hai in the ingredients. Here is another
recipe that has both Pang Da Hai and Peach Gum in the ingredients - wow, must be super tasty!
Do you have fond memories of Pang Da Hai? Or you have never seen nor eaten it?
I don't have any photos of Pang Da Hai so I found some photos online and put them here:
The dried seeds look like this and when it has been soaked, the flesh is like what is shown on the spoon. I use google images to find the above photo and now I could not find it again so I could not give credit to the source, so sorry about that. Same applies to the photo below.
This is the side view of a dried seed after being soaked in water. There are some hard skins which must be removed.
*** Monday 3 August 2020 d138 ***
9 am - reheated the previous day mee pok (MYR 8.50 nett) for breakfast to be shared by 2 pax.
10.30 am - my portion of breakfast eaten with green chillies.
10.40 am - He ate his share of the previous day tofufa and kept it again in the fridge until I finished it at 2.30 pm. Still tastes very good although I won't recommend keeping it any longer. So smooth, so silky and best of all, not sweet because I did not add in any syrup that was packed separately.
5.30 pm - I ate my portion of lunch as dinner - vit air dried broad mee with an egg cooked at 12.40 noon for his lunch.
I never heard of pang da hai. Not even seeing one....This thing looks so rare.
ReplyDeleteIt is not commonly seen in tong sui now. But I think shops like eu Yan sang may still sell them.
DeleteNever heard of its name but yes, I think they put a bit in the ngor mee th'ng or bubur buang panas that we loved so much in our younger days. Yet to come across a good one now...and don't think I ever saw them adding this anymore. :(
ReplyDeleteAh, so you have eaten them before but didn't know the name kembang semangkuk. Too tedious to prepare I think. Use peach gum is easier.
DeleteI'm afraid I have never come across pang da hai before. It looks jelly-like and I am sure it would be really good in desserts for the soft texture.
ReplyDeleteYes, it is like jelly and the texture in cool Cheng teng tong sui feels very good. I think you can buy the seeds from eu Yan sang if you want to cook Lok Mei tong sui.
DeleteI think the desserts is very cooling, soaking it so that it will be soft... I think it is one of the ingredients in "ching poh leong" desserts.
ReplyDeleteYou are right, it is one of the ingredients but seldom see it now. If you see it in Ipoh ching poh Leong tong sui, please write about it, ok? Thanks
DeleteNever heard of the name for sure. But somehow...I felt like I have eaten this in the past when I was young. Hmm...
ReplyDeleteShould have eaten if you ate the Lok Mei or similar tong sui before.
DeleteI hv not heard of pang da hai before but i hv eaten peach gum before and i like it.
ReplyDeleteI think mother would know about pang Da Hai. In Sg, Cheng teng tong sui is quite popular, right? Because the pang Da Hai articles I found are written by sgporeans.
DeleteI haven't seen the pang da hai before.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the size of the fork, you have baby portions of meals!
I think your mother would have seen pang Da Hai before. You can ask her.
DeleteHahahaha, yes, I only eat less than a quarter of a normal meal.