Capturing hearts with leafy greens
Chinese vegetables win taste buds in Dubai, as UAE farms ensure fresh supply and authentic flavors
It was nearly 10 pm on a Thursday, but the Wemart store in Dubai’s southern DIP District was still buzzing with energy. In front of a malatang stall near the entrance, a long line snaked all the way to the end of the checkout counters.
The bubbling soup base emitted an inviting aroma, fresh leafy greens glistened in baskets, and diverse diners — Asian, Arab, African and European — sat closely together, with chopsticks clinking against forks and spoons. This bowl of street food has long transcended its origins as a Chinese favorite to become a hit in Dubai’s multicultural community, offering people more delicious options with Chinese flavors.
Nepali clerk Chandan Khadka skillfully blanched ingredients while greeting customers in fluent Chinese and English. “Mild, medium or extra spicy?” he asked as he weighed diners’ selected ingredients. He even coined the term “fast hotpot” for the dish.
Originating from Sichuan, malatang, meaning “numbing, spicy and hot”, allows diners to choose vegetables, meats, seafood and noodles to be quickly boiled in a spicy soup.
For Chinese expats, this is the taste of home. “Eating authentic malatang in Dubai is such a comfort!” said Xie Jingyi, a Hunan native working in Dubai, as she lifted chopsticks full of lettuce. “This spicy and savory soup takes me back to the night markets in my hometown of Changsha.”
For her friend Timothy Simeon, malatang has sparked a deeper interest in China.
“Dubai is an incredibly culturally diverse place where you can taste food from all over the world. I will visit China in a few months and I am starting to get familiar with the unique flavors from different parts of China. As for this hotpot, it makes me feel the warmth of Chinese culture,” she said.
Naturally, just like friends from northern and southern China who often debate over food, a lighthearted little one broke out between them. Timothy reached for a small bowl of sesame paste to dip her food in, while Xie would not touch it.
They shared a common love for leafy greens, though. “The leafy greens here are incredibly sweet and fresh,” Xie said.
Nearby, Abdulla Alaqib, a local man in his 40s, wielded chopsticks skillfully. His bowl was piled high with spinach, enoki mushrooms, fish balls, noodles and bok choy — a type of Chinese cabbage. “I was hooked from the first bite. The veggies are crisp and juicy and the balance of spice is amazing,” he said.
The secret behind the fresh vegetables lies in Wemart’s own farms. “When someone asks why the veggies are so fresh, I just tell them they’re from our own desert farms, picked that day,” Khadka said. His stall is among the busiest in the store, open from 8 am to 1 or 2 am and serving about 300 bowls daily.
Liu Qin, manager of the DIP store, said the store can sell 300 kilograms of various fresh Chinese vegetables every day. “More than a decade ago, it was unthinkable to have such authentic Chinese leafy greens in Dubai,” he said.
Bold attempt
In the Nazwa Desert of the United Arab Emirates, Wemart operates two organic farms covering more than 130 mu (8.7 hectares). These farms grow over 30 types of Chinese vegetables and yield nearly 5,000 kg of fresh produce daily, supplying locals and the UAE’s almost 400,000 Chinese expats.
Sun Wenbin, who manages both farms, said the most popular vegetable is bok choy, with a daily output of 600 kg. Other vegetables include romaine lettuce, white radish, chives and coriander. Besides supplying Wemart’s own stores, these vegetables are also delivered to the canteens of many Chinese enterprises.
This achievement stems from a 20-year journey of desert farming, a venture once seen by many others as a pipe dream.
In 2006, Sun Jiansheng, a businessman from Wenzhou, in East China’s Zhejiang province, arrived in Dubai and opened a small food store. He soon noticed a gap: Imported Chinese cabbage cost over 100 dirhams ($27.4) per kg and lost freshness after long-haul transport.
In 2012, as his business thrived, he bet his entire fortune on growing Chinese organic leafy greens in the deserts — a bold attempt with enormous challenges. For more than half the year, temperatures soared to over 40 C, even reaching 60 C. The land was also infertile due to extremely scarce rainfall.
To solve irrigation issues, Sun Jiansheng and his colleagues drilled six 180-meter-deep wells to extract groundwater. To enrich the soil, they transport cow and camel manure from pastures 50 kilometers away to make organic fertilizer, adopting this primitive ecological approach to nourish the soil and crops. Workers also remove weeds manually, squatting in the fields with small knives.
“Last year alone, we used about 4,000 cubic meters of this mixed organic manure to improve the sandy land. Years of effort finally turned the yellow sand into black soil,” said Sun Wenbin.
Unpredictable weather can pose another threat. “Sandstorms can strike anytime. A few years ago, one destroyed all the leafy greens,” he said. To mitigate this, they planted numerous trees around the farms to reduce wind and sand damage.
The farm has also created local jobs. Sun Jiansheng invited experienced farmers from his hometown to train foreign employees, and the farm now has 45 overseas workers.
Shakeeb Khan, from Pakistan, has worked there for 14 years, and his two brothers also work there. “Everything here is modern, with advanced agricultural machinery. The Chinese people’s courage to transform desert soil is admirable. The harder we work, the higher our income — we’re all motivated,” he said.
Locals have also benefited from the diverse vegetable options. “Traditionally, we had very few vegetable choices — basically tomatoes, onions, potatoes, lettuce and so on,” Alaqib said. “Now there are so many Chinese vegetables. My wife and two children love mushrooms and bok choy, so we come regularly. In Dubai, you can skip the Burj Khalifa, but you can’t miss Wemart!”
Sun Jiansheng, now chairman of Wenchao Group, which owns Wemart and a variety of other businesses, recalled, “Standing in the yellow sand back then, everyone thought it was a pipe dream when I started. When the first batch of bok choy was harvested, we were all moved to tears. We want not only Chinese expats to taste the flavor of home, but also the world to experience the charm of Chinese cuisine.”
Today, the farms’ vegetables enter thousands of households through Wemart stores in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
With the Year of the Horse to be ushered in next week, Sun Jiansheng said his group will step up efforts to ensure sufficient supply for the market.
“Spring Festival is the most important for all Chinese people. We will try to ensure that (the) 400,000 Chinese in the UAE and even the Middle East can enjoy fresh Chinese vegetables on their New Year’s Eve dinner tables and spend a festive season full of hometown flavor,” he said.
cuihaipei@chinadaily.com.cn




























