Fried KangkongI drove 40 minutes to the Chinese shop in Reggio Emilia last Friday. No, I wasn't desperate for Asian stuff, I still have a little stock from Stuttgart. But I wanted a reason to leave the house (and the unpacking). And was sick of visiting the Italian supermarket.
But I wouldn't be going back anytime soon. Not worth the visit. They had almost nothing and the area where they were located (opposite the train station) was real seedy. Lots of weird-looking characters hanging around.
Wanted to buy frozen Tiger Prawns but they only had some fadish variety from Equador. I left the town with a few packets of fresh coriander leaves, dried chillis, Wang Wang sweet rice crackers, a few cans of pretty expensive coconut milk, a packet of Egg rolls, a can of sweetened red bean paste, frozen wan-tan skins, frozen prata, Yeo's Soya Bean Milk, a few packets of Chuqian Yiding instant noodles and some fresh Kangkong.
So what else to cook for lunch today but Fried Kangkong with Garlic and Dried Chillis? I've decided not to use shrimp paste or fermented bean curd (not that I have any right now) so as not to stink out the kitchen. Have spent the whole of last Sunday cleaning and vacuuming, so will keep the house smelling at least neutral for the rest of the week. Or it may smell nice - am going to make Vietnamese Crepe for dinner tonight and will roast some char siu in preparation this afternoon.
So it was just heat up wok with oil, fry chillis and garlic, when very hot add in the kangkong, season with salt, pepper and a little oyster sauce and light soy sauce, stir fry, add a little water, cover and basta. Very little time cooking if you want to have your veggie just cooked and nicely crunchy.
Served it with some Thai Pineapple Rice. Had a lovely pineapple that just ripened and also 2 last Lim Chee Guan Chinese sausages, so voilà.
Bambi in the Field
By the way, we were having lunch in our terrace an hour ago when Eldest Son noticed a deer sauntering in the field ahead. Amazing, don't you think so? By the time I returned with my camera, it was a little too far away to be photographed properly, but well, if you strain your eyes you may just make it out.
Yes, a dish that I can actually recognise!
RépondreSupprimerAlso, are you familiar with the advice that if you eat too much kangkong (beyond moderation) you will become weak like the hollow stem?
I would treat it as an old wives' tale, except that other pieces of my advice from my family elders (do not eat porridge when it's cold, because it is very "windy" and will give you stomach aches) have proven true. 90% of the times I eat cold porridge I get stomach ache afterwards (and I was sure that it was perfectly sanitary because most of the times it just happened to be stored in the fridge!)
Old Wives' tales or not, better be safe than be sorry. Indeed my ma always tells me not to eat too much kangkong or I'll get weak legs. I haven't heard the bit about cold porridge though. Not much risk of getting stomach ache as I prefer my porridge hot.
RépondreSupprimerI imagine that there is some truth to those beliefs, just that they didn't have the right "marketing" and scientific explanations to go with them.
I am sure the kangkong tastes heavenly if you just put some belacan in it....ya, ya, I know, I know, you don't wish to stink out your kitchen :-P
RépondreSupprimerMy mum and auntie did tell me about the kangkong thing but not about the cold porridge...well, I also prefer to eat my porridge warm...not too hot.
Hi Mag!
RépondreSupprimerThank God I didn't add belachan as the 1st thing hubby said when he saw the dish was , "er...did you add that stinky thing?"
And also, my Asian mart doesn't sell prata! 0_o It must be the fact that there aren't so many Singaporeans/Malaysians/Indonesians in New England. Kangkong is even harder to locate -- we have to drive 25 miles to another city to get it (but luckily it's closer to my mother's workplace).
RépondreSupprimerBecause we're starved for ingredients, we've done things like combine pasta and curry. Now, what can you combine kangkong with? Kangkong *in* curry would be a waste, but kangkong with curry-treated spaghetti?
Kang Kong!!!! I must have mine with loads of belachan. My husband has learnt to live the smell - he has to, since it's almost a staple ingredient of Peranakan or Malay dishes. He even likes rojak. :P
RépondreSupprimerI compromise by giving the kitchen and living area a good airing after cooking because even I can't stand the after smell.