July 03, 2007: Ulam raja

The above are pictures of 'Ulam raja' flowers that I took at my backyard garden in Kulim. My sister, Ramlah planted it as 'ulam' - not the flower though, but the young shoot. "Ulam raja" when literally translated means 'the King salad' (Raja=King). But I am not sure whether the King actually eat it . Some people say, the word Raja here means that this plant is the King of all ulams - especially due to it's medicinal properties. The 'ulam raja' is known for its antioxidant and also good for blood circulation. The scientific name for this plant is Cosmos caudatus.

If you notice the word 'ulam' is part of the name of this plant. In general 'ulam' is used for plants that can be eaten raw (or sometimes cooked - steamed or half boiled), as a form of local salad. The ulam is a traditional Malay dish that normally taken with 'sambal belacan' (a mixture of pounded chillies, shrimp paste 'belacan' and lime/tamarind juice) and serve during lunch or dinner.

Basically the food value and nutritional values of most ulams are very high. They are what keep our old folks and kampong folks healthy without the modern vitamins and nutritional enriched food of today's society. Ulams taken by the kampong folks are generally those that are readily obtained. Some people plant it as a back yard crop which means it is not farm based and farm ideas of using insecticides and growth hormones are not usually used. (however, nowadays due to the growing popularity, the common ulams are now beginning to be farmed). I remember those days when I was small I used to follow my mother and her 'gang' went into the jungles picking ulams - this normaly happened if it rained at night and my mother couldn't 'work' (she's a rubber tapper) the following day. To my mother and her friends, they were looking for food, but to us (normally the other mothers will take along their kids) it's fun time in the jungle!