“Your grandpa handed away final night time,” mum instructed me in late December.
“What? How? When?” I requested.
Hastily, I could not cease my tears, despite the fact that mum stored saying he had been sick for some time and left peacefully on the age of 87.
I miss my grandpa badly.
We do not plan to go to China till 2024 or 2025 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. My kids by no means met my grandpa in particular person. It might have been good to have 4 generations all collectively.
Lunar New Yr won’t ever be the identical with out him, and nobody can cook dinner ba si di gua (Chinese language candied candy potatoes) like him.
Ba si (pull silk) di gua (candy potato), which is standard in Dongbei in Northeast China, is known as after the stretchy, sweet threads that this candy potato dish is thought for.
It solely makes use of a number of substances: white sugar, water, oil and a few candy potatoes, so it sounds straightforward to cook dinner, nevertheless it’s truly troublesome to grasp. Even an skilled cook dinner like my grandpa needed to observe it many occasions earlier than serving it. It is all as a result of the sugary cooking sauce is runny, which makes it actually laborious to create the golden-coloured sweet threads. If the sugar is heated for too lengthy, the dish turns into too sticky and should style bitter. A profitable ba si di gua is one wherein the sweet threads stretch by two metres or so.
Grandpa used to make this dish each Lunar New Yr. It was a should at this household reunion. My cousins and I used to try to stretch the threads ourselves. That was enjoyable!
“Grandpa used to make this dish each Lunar New Yr. It was a should at this household reunion.”
In Melbourne, I attempted to cook dinner this dish by myself. It took many makes an attempt to get this dish proper.
Like different inexperienced cooks, I had so many issues go unsuitable. My greatest mistake was after I did not cook dinner the sugar correctly earlier than tossing it onto the candy potatoes. I wanted to attend till I noticed bubbles earlier than including the potatoes.
My husband additionally thought it was too sugary. The recipe is sort of candy, so I diminished the quantity the following time I made it.
Not oiling the plate was one other mistake. This meant the sugar cane caught to the plate. And despite the fact that I made some gold threads, they weren’t enjoyable to stretch.
Moreover, I deep-fried the candy potatoes an excessive amount of. Australian candy potatoes do not want a lot time to fry earlier than they flip golden brown.
My mum and aunt confirmed me how they made ba si di gua this Lunar New Yr’s Eve by way of WeChat. I could not cease enthusiastic about how simply my grandpa made the dish throughout every festive season. He was a great household chef.
They are saying “loss of life leaves a headache nobody can heal, love leaves a reminiscence nobody can steal”. We are going to at all times miss and love grandpa. I’ll maintain practising this dish in order that I can at some point make ba si di gua like him.
