Rojak is a very special kind of salad that has its own unique blend of fruits, vegetables and “croutons”. Of course, the “dressing” is also very special. Foreigners may find the “dressing” a little too pungent, but it’s pretty much an acquired taste. Once you’re hooked, your hooked for life. Check out this rojak stall at Kovan. The addicts … I mean customers often wait for 30 mins to get their rojak fix.

Those who can’t tolerate the wait (and the seller’s arrogance) can actually DIY. The only problem is, preparing the ingredients can be quite time-consuming if you’re just making a small portion. It only make sense to prepare a family size serving. You won’t believe how cheap and simple it is.

The ingredients used in my rojak are turnip, pineapple, kangkong (cooked), bean sprouts (cooked). For the sauce, we have prawn sauce, sugar, lemon juice, sambal, peanut butter. Grated peanuts are not shown. I couldn’t find any ginger bud, otherwise the falvours could be greatly enhanced.

This translates roughly as Kunlun Snow Chrysanthemum and it looks a bit like wild chrysanthemum. Upon brewing, it gives out a bit more colour than flavour. The common Hangzhou chrysanthemum tastes better, but it’s not bitter like wild chrysanthemum, so sugar is optional. It actually tastes a bit like honey.

昆仑雪菊 is rather pricey. That’s because it is rare, difficult to harvest and believed to have some therapeutic effects, lowering blood pressure, blood cholesterol and also cools and detoxifies. Don’t throw your medicines away. The health benefits are probably exaggerated.

According to Baidu:

昆仑雪菊不是一个独立的物种，其实是生长在新疆的蛇目菊的商品名称，又名天山雪菊、冰山雪菊、高寒香菊。据专家考证，昆仑雪菊在喀喇昆仑山脉默默绽放了3000年，生命力极其顽强，卧冰俯雪、历经寒暑，吸纳昆仑山脉天地之灵气。生长环境极其恶劣，终年积雪，人烟绝迹，且周期慢，花期短，采摘非常艰难，产量极为稀少，且昆仑山3200米以上的自然环境恶劣，到处是荒漠戈壁，适合种植的区域只有雪水融化经流绿洲。中乾堂为您提供的有机绿色、优质的昆仑雪菊。由于雪菊花特殊的生长环境，有降血压、血脂、清热解毒等作用。