Edible or not

Almost every main dish in Chinese-Indonesian restaurants is served with a carving of a vegetable, often made of a radish, rettich, cucumber or carrot. Most of these dishes return with the carving, but not all. Though made for decorative purposes, some customers eat the carvings - but are they edible?

The short answer to this is simply: yes, they are edible. Are they expected to be eaten? Well, not really. They are simply raw vegetables, which are thrown away after serving. During their education in the Netherlands, Chinese-Indonesian chefs have the opportunity to learn the art of vegetable carving.

The art of fruit and vegetable carving has come a long way, but its definitive origins are unclear. Early entries date back to the Guanzi 管子, an ancient Chinese text presumably from the Spring and Autumn Period (771-476 BCE), which states that “An egg was carved and then cooked”.《侈靡》7 Vegetable and fruit carving became more popular as time went by, but was often associated with the rich and wealthy. In Thailand, for instance, the art is said to have started around the 13th century, when a servant of the king used carvings as an aesthetic component. See Thai Carving

Nowadays, the carving of fruit and food has become much more widespread. Fruit and vegetables are carved to add to the look of a dish, giving people something both pleasing to the eye and the mouth.See 刘彤, 浅议食品雕刻对中国烹饪的影响, 中国校外教育（上旬刊）, 2019 (3), p.24 In China, as well as in Japan and Thailand, the use of decorative vegetable and fruit carving remains a true art, with different styles.See article on CNN Chinese carvers were said to have specialized in human and animal motifs, Japanese carvers in patterns, and Thai carvers in floral motifs. See Chawadee Nualkhair on Atlas Obscura

In Thailand, food carving has generally decreased in popularity, with youth being disinterested in learning the time-consuming art.See Chawadee Nualkhair on Atlas Obscura However, with the rise of the internet and apps such as Instagram, the art of food carving has seen new interest. The Japanese variant called Mukimono 剥き物, which uses food carvings to depict the four different seasons, has also taken to the internet, with popular Instagram accounts of carvers attracting many followers.

My father learned vegetable carving when he came to the Netherlands and started working in a Chinese-Indonesian restaurant, at a time when the internet was far from as accessible. He said that he slowly learned it by looking at other chefs when he had nothing to do. Many carrots were used in the learning process. In restaurants where he worked before, he sometimes had to make more complicated carvings, such as birds or fish, from vegetables.

In our kitchen in De Chinese Pagode, not everyone knows how to carve vegetables anymore. Mainly the older cooks know how to. In recent years, the carvings became even easier, with the cooks thinly slicing the vegetables and then using toothpicks to make a flower. Flowers have always been a must. My father used to be able to make many beautiful carvings, but my mother wonders if he can still do it. I have only seen him making flowers, but would love to see what kind of tricks he still has up his sleeve.

In China, the carving of food remains popular and very impressive. Nowadays in Chinese-Indonesian restaurants in the Netherlands, fruit and vegetable carving tends to stay relatively simple and efficient. The carvings give an insight to the food carving traditions found in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and are one of the many fascinating aspects of Chinese-Indonesian cuisine in the Netherlands.