Well, this is another version of the medley recipe that I posted earlier, which many readers are more accustomed to. This recipe uses long beans, toasted peanuts, chai poh (preserved turnips) and sliced fishcakes (there were no prawns at home on that day). The peanuts that were used are loose peanuts sold in supermarkets or wet markets and it has to be toasted in a wok / pan (without oil) on low heat till it is slightly browned. Other than that, this is a pretty simple dish to cook and can be eaten as a snack, appetiser or accompaniment to plain porridge (which many Malaysian chinese used to have many many years ago) or steamed white rice.

This is my mother’s recipe for Long Bean and Peanuts Medley (which is also a named coined by me)

Ingredients

• 1/3 bowl of long beans (cut just like in the picture above)
• 1/4 bowl of preserved turnips / chai poh (use the sweet type and chopped)
• 1/3 bowl of sliced fishcake or shelled prawns (cut into small pieces)
• A handful of toasted peanuts
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• Warm water
• 1 tablespoon of palm oil

Seasoning

• A sprinkle of salt
• A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic together with fishcakes / prawns till they begin to turn colour / brownish. Add chai poh and continue to stir fry very quickly for about 15 seconds.

Add long beans and seasoning and continue to stir fry till long beans are cooked to your desired softness (minimum cooking time 1 minute). Sprinkle warm water during cooking to prevent burning.

Dish out and sprinkle peanuts over the dish prior to serving.

Technorati Tags: recipe, chinese, vegetable, long, beans, peanuts, nuts, turnip

Another simple dish to try out here : Stir Fried Ladies Fingers with Anchovies. Ladies Fingers is also known as Okra whilst locally, anchovies are also known as Ikan Bilis. The anchovies come in many sizes and for this dish, the medium sized ones are chosed wherein the head and bones are removed prior to cooking. The cooking time for this dish depends on your liking really because some like their ladies finger cooked till soft and limp. For me, I prefer it slightly crunchy. Feels healthier as well

This is my recipe for Stir Fried Ladies Fingers with Anchovies Read the rest of this entry »

When I put up my recipe for Stir-Fried Asparagus with Prawns, some of my favourite readers commented about their preference for Belacan Asparagus instead. Most, if not all, of these readers come from Malaysia / Singapore and belacan (prawn paste) is a hometown favourite. It is rather pungent (or can be offensive) in smell and you either like it or your don’t. However, I don’t really like the Belacan Asparagus sold in restaurants because I find that most of the time, they use far too much oil and thus render the dish rather unhealthy looking. Cooking for myself, however, is different as I could control the use of oil myself.

Recently, I saw an episode of Jamie Oliver’s and he taught a simple way of plucking the asparagus so that only the tender parts are used and the rests discarded for being too fibrous. All you need to do is to hold each end of the asparagus with your thumb and fingers and bend the middle part upwards. The stress of the bending will result in the asparagus breaking at a point which separates the tender part from the more fibrous part. Very easy but can waste quite a bit. So, having separated the tender parts, I go through the others and see if I could still salvage any other parts which are not so fibrous

This is my recipe for Belacan Asparagus

Ingredients

• 200 grammes of asparagus (choose tender parts as per technique above)
• 10 grammes or approximately 2 teaspoons of belacan
• 30 grammes of dried prawns (pre-soaked for 15 minutes)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 5 cloves shallots
• 3 to 5 pieces red chilli (remove seeds)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 4 tablespoons palm oil

Method

Pound or blend belacan, pre-soaked dried prawns, garlic, shallots and chilli till it forms a paste.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok on medium heat and saute belacan mix till aromatic / light brown. Add some oil if it starts to burn before becoming brown. Note that the belacan mix absorbs oil like tissue paper and therefore, you should try not to use too much oil or your asparagus will be found swimming in oil later.

Increase heat to high and add asparagus. Stir well and sprinkle warm water occasionally (you don’t have to use all the water above) to keep it moist and to let the dish cook in a little steam (but not soaking in water). Cook for about 2 minutes. No seasoning is required as the belacan mix is quite salty. You might want to sprinkle some sugar if you find it too salty.

Dish out and serve with steaming white rice.

Technorati Tags: recipe, malaysia, belacan, asparagus, cooking, food

Actually, to be honest, I’ve no name for this recipe. The recent Chinese New Year was the first time I’ve tasted this dish when my mother-in-law cooked it and I fell in love with it. It is a stir fry involving the use of long beans, chai poh (preserved turnip), prawns and cashew nuts. When I came back to Kuala Lumpur and told my mum about it, she recalled eating this (albeit, with slight change in the ingredients) when she was young. Mum thought that we would not like to eat this and therefore, has never cooked this for us to eat. She used to eat this with plain porridge but it tastes good with rice as well. It can also be a snack on its own. So, suddenly, a long forgotten home-cooked recipe has resurfaced. And mum cooked her version within a week! But I will share mum’s version later.

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Stir Fried Long Bean Medley (which is a named coined by me)

Ingredients

• 1/3 bowl of long beans (cut just like in the picture above)
• 1/4 bowl of preserved turnips / chai poh (use the sweet type and chopped)
• 1/3 bowl of prawns (shelled and cut into small pieces)
• A handful of toasted cashewnuts
• 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• Warm water
• 1 tablespoon of palm oil

Seasoning

• A sprinkle of salt
• A dash of white pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic together with prawns till prawns begin to turn colour. Add chai poh and continue to stir fry very quickly for about 15 seconds.

Add long beans and seasoning and continue to stir fry till long beans are cooked to your desired softness (minimum cooking time 1 minute). Sprinkle warm water during cooking to prevent burning.

Dish out and sprinkle cashew nuts over the dish prior to serving. (I took the picture above before cashew nuts were sprinkled. By the time my mother-in-law realised she had forgotten to sprinkle the cashew nuts, I’d walloped half the plate and rendered it not as nice for photography. LOL!)

Technorati Tags: recipe, chinese, vegetable, long, beans, cashew, nuts, turnip