Container Gardening - Herbs, Chili, Watercress (Update)

Remember towards the end of last summer, I gave a little update on our vegetables, fruits, and herbs? It has been a year (plus a month)! We are now in fall/autumn.

Some plants e.g. Chinese watercress survived through last winter while others e.g. chili, basil did not.

However, in every gardening project, no matter how minuscule, we learn and improve - from choosing the correct vegetables, herbs and fruits to grow; to picking the platform to grow them e.g. raised bed and container gardening, and especially with California drought conditions - how to create a water-smart garden.


Chinese watercress 西洋菜
August last year, we planted Chinese watercress from rooting store-bought Chinese watercress in the City-Picker container (see photo) and it was a success. We have already had at least five harvest from last August batch. With fresh home-grown watercress, I usually cook them in soups e.g. Chinese Watercress Soup and rice congee/porridge.

Chinese Watercress
The Thai Dragon Chili and Thai (Bird's Eye) Chili, unfortunately, did not make it through last winter due to the chilling temperatures. Although they were kept in the greenhouse during winter, the pots/containers were placed directly on the ground during winter and the roots probably could not survive the low soil temperatures (conduction from the cold ground to the soil in the pot) during winter.

The Serrano Chili somehow got lucky and survived! Luckily, before winter last year, all the chili were put to good use either through pickling (Pickled Chili - pairs well with Stir-Fry Noodles) or making chili sauce (Garlic Chili Sauce - perfect condiment with homemade chicken rice).

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Vegetarian Garlic Chili Sauce 自制辣椒酱

Freshly blended kale, celery and apple juice. Banana and blueberry juice. Technically, you add fruits and/or vegetables in a food blender, add water or ice, press the ON button, and a healthy juice is a few minutes away. Now, what if I put chili + water into the food blender for a high-power blitz? Chili juice! Well, divert it to the sauce regime and call it Chili Sauce as less water is used in proportion.

Now that most of the garden chili (Jalapeno, Serrano, Thai Dragon, Thai Bird's Eye) have turned red, making our own red chili sauce came to mind while seeking an alternative to pickling (Pickled Chili recipe). I could pickle them all but when pickled, green chili usually turns out better than red (refer Pickled Hatch Chili).


Though it has the word "sauce", this chili sauce is not the kind of chili sauce of smooth sticky ketchup-style consistency in the like of bottled chili sauce. Instead, it is similar to the kind of chili-sauce condiment served alongside dishes such as chicken rice. Maybe the accurate term to use here, should be chicken-rice chili sauce, made vegetarian.


Why do I say that some chili sauce is not vegetarian ? Most chicken-rice chili sauce taste so good because there is chicken stock or rendered chicken fat in it! Yes, so now you know. Buyer, consumers, foodies, vegetarians beware.

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Rice Stuffed Hatch Chili Pepper

Hatch is to chili pepper, just as Champagne is to sparkling wine. Now, this is how I remember what Hatch Chile is all about.


As the pickled Hatch chili was "tested" mild- or even non-spicy, the rest of the hatch peppers did not share the same fate. They were stuffed with some leftover fried rice (e.g. Turmeric Spiced Rice) and roasted instead.

Before roasting

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Pickled Hatch Chili 自制泡椒/腌辣椒

Hatch Chili season is usually short. I roasted some (e.g. Roasted Hatch Chili) the last season to make sauce-salsa.

Today, I took the easier route to pickle. I do not know if Hatch Chili can indeed be pickled as most chili-pickling ideas from the web were either Jalapeno (most common variety for pickling), or other chili e.g. Habanero, Thai chili. Anyway, I am guessing it can work for the Hatch variety.


To make it a fuss-free pickle that everyone at home can do and will do, the recipe is kept to the bare minimum - chili and vinegar. That's it. I did not even add salt or sugar.

If you have pickled chili, you can try this Pickled Chili Steamed Whole Fish.

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Avocado, Hatch Chili, Lime Pasta Sauce 鳄梨青椒酱

Other than my favorite red tomato-based pasta sauce, I also enjoy green pasta sauces - one is herbaceous pesto-based and the other being buttery avocado-based. Both green sauces are rich and flavorful, also quick and easy to put together - just bring on the food blender!

Part of the roasted Hatch chili was used to make salsa, while the remaining was combined with lime and avocado to make avocado sauce. The spice and tangy zest cut through the rich creamy avocado so perfectly.

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Pickled Chili Steamed Whole Fish 泡椒蒸鱼

What? Tilapia is also widely genetically modified?! Now that is a contradictory view to Monterey Bay Seafood Watch. Perhaps, that is why some consider tilapia a fish that is good for the environment but bad of us, consumers. In a good way, we don't always eat tilapia fish - whole or fillet. The only reason I buy tilapia, or specifically whole tilapia, is because it is one of the two (the other being sea bass) fresh "live" whole fish usually available in the Asian supermarket. Once in many months, we go for fresh whole tilapia to add an element of variety to the routine salmon and sardines.

After steaming

Steam - that is how I cook fresh whole fish. A fuss-free way of cooking, steaming brings out the delicate texture, and fresh clean flavors of a white-flesh fish like tilapia.

Today, it is about putting a new spin on quite an ordinary steamed whole fish. How about adding some finely minced tangy pickled chili for the appetizing zing, and fresh red chili for the spicy kick?

Seasoned and "assembled"..prepared to be steamed

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Container Gardening - Herbs, Chili, Watercress

At almost the same time August last year, there was a variety of tomato plants and vegetables e.g. kale and Swiss chard growing in our backyard. After a year, some minor changes have taken place and this is the current garden update.

Due to the lack of full sun for long duration especially at the raised bed location, we have cut down on the growing of leafy green vegetables this year, and shifted our growing efforts to container gardening: fruits such as blueberries and pomegranates, vegetable/fruits e.g. watercress, different types of chili, and herbs such as basil, rosemary and thyme.

Herbs - basil, rosemary, thyme

These basil, rosemary, thyme are not grown from seeds, but bought as potted herbs from the nursery. They have survived and flourished. Herbs such as basil and rosemary have also been propagated successfully via stem cuttings.

For all of our chili plants, we have caged them as what you would do to a tomato plant, and have netted around the cage to prevent birds from eating the chili. The use of a reflective pinwheel also works to minimize pests and to prevent birds from eating the chili.

Thai Dragon Chili - bought as a plant from the nursery without fruits. It is now fruiting nicely and some chili have turned red with time.

Dragon Chili

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Roasted Hatch (Green) Chili

Hatch Chile is a chili variety grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. I bought some of them (ranging from mild, medium hot, and hot) in Sprouts Farmers Market even though I do not know what to do with them at the point of purchase.

But thanks to the tip-sheet How to Roast Green Chile from Sprouts Farmers Market, I was soon out of the no-idea-what-to-do zone, to successfully roasting this chili. As I was roasting the chili and simultaneously putting a separate tray of tomatoes, onions and garlic into the oven to roast, a light-bulb moment came along. How about adding some roasted green chili into the roasted tomatoes-onions-garlic mix to make salsa?