"Your grandpa passed away last night," mum told me in late December.
"What? How? When?" I asked.
All of a sudden, I couldn't stop my tears, even though mum kept saying he had been sick for a while and left peacefully at the age of 87.
I miss my grandpa badly.
We don't plan to visit China until 2024 or 2025 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. My children never met my grandpa in person. It would have been nice to have four generations all together.
Lunar New Year will never be the same without him, and no one can cook ba si di gua (Chinese candied sweet potatoes) like him.
Ba si (pull silk) di gua (sweet potato), which is popular in Dongbei in Northeast China, is named after the stretchy, candy threads that this sweet potato dish is known for.
It's difficult to get ba si di gua right. Source: Angie Cui
It only uses a few ingredients: white sugar, water, oil and a couple of sweet potatoes, so it sounds easy to cook, but it's actually difficult to master. Even an experienced cook like my grandpa had to practice it many times before serving it. It's all because the sugary cooking sauce is runny, which makes it really hard to create the golden-coloured candy threads. If the sugar is heated for too long, the dish becomes too sticky and may taste bitter. A successful ba si di gua is one in which the candy threads stretch by two metres or so.
Grandpa used to make this dish every Lunar New Year. It was a must at this family reunion. My cousins and I used to try and stretch the threads ourselves. That was fun!
Grandpa used to make this dish every Lunar New Year. It was a must at this family reunion.
In Melbourne, I tried to cook this dish on my own. It took many attempts to get this dish right.
Like other inexperienced cooks, I had so many things go wrong. My biggest mistake was when I didn't cook the sugar properly before tossing it onto the sweet potatoes. I needed to wait until I saw bubbles before adding the potatoes.
My husband also thought it was too sugary. The recipe is quite sweet, so I reduced the amount the next time I made it.
Not oiling the plate was another mistake. This meant the sugar cane stuck to the plate. And even though I made some gold threads, they weren't fun to stretch.
Additionally, I deep-fried the sweet potatoes too much. Australian sweet potatoes don't need much time to fry before they turn golden brown.
My mum and aunt showed me how they made ba si di gua this Lunar New Year's Eve via WeChat. I couldn't stop thinking about how easily my grandpa made the dish during each festive season. He was a good family chef.
Angie Cui has tried making ba si di gua herself. Source: Angie Cui
They say "death leaves a headache no one can heal, love leaves a memory no one can steal". We will always miss and love grandpa. I will keep practising this dish so that I can one day make ba si di gua like him.
