Bite On It!

Some of you must be wondering why I’m using a type of pest for my cooking… don’t get me wrong as this type of anchovy is commonly know as ’silvery-fish’ or ‘ngan-yee-jai’ (silver-small-fish) by the Chinese, hence the name given. They are the smallest version of the common anchovy and we can’t really see their bones. Normally we will cook the entire fish together with it head. It’s salty at time but the level of saltiness is not so extreme as compared to the bigger anchovies. They are nice to eat when being fried till crispy.

The taste of tofu is bland so to add a little silverfish and dried prawns will make this dish a very appetizing starter.

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Ingredients

• 1pc Tofu (9×9 cm type)
• 30gm Silverfish
• 30gm Dried prawns
• 1pc Chili padi
• Light soy sauce

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Method

1. Cut tofu to small square (1 pc of tofu can cut up to 8 small square pcs). Heat up wok with some oil and fry the tofu lightly till golden brown. Lift up and put aside.
2. Wash and chop or grind dried prawns to tiny pieces. Fry dried prawns with some oil for 2 minutes and add in the silverfish and chopped chili padi and fry until golden crisp.
3. Dash some light soy sauce on tofu before topping with the fried dried prawns and silverfish.

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I came to know about this dish just 2 years back. The way they named this dish gave me the impression that it’s expensive but surprisingly it is not. In fact, they are all the common vegetable, legumes and bean. The 4 main items are lady’s fingers (okra), winged beans, snake beans (or can use longbeans) and brinjal (egg-plant). When such items cooked together with chili shrimps… it’s so appetizing that it make you want to eat more!

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Ingredients

• 150gm Snake beans
• 200gm Lady’s fingers (okra)
• 200gm Winged beans (kacang botol)
• 1 or 2 pcs Brinjal (egg plant)
• 100gm Dried prawns
• 3 Red chilies
• 2 Chili padi
• 4-6 pcs Shallots
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 10gm Belacan (shrimp paste)
• Black soy sauce
• Light soy sauce
• Water

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Method

1. Grind the dried prawns, shallots, chilies, chili padi, garlic and belacan.
2. Cut snake beans to about 1.5″ long and dry fried with some oil until half soft. Same proess for brinjal and winged beans. When done, lift them up and put aside.
3. Heat up wok with 3 tblsp of oil and fry the grinded item until fragrant then lift up and put aside.
4. Put in another 2 tblsp of oil and fry lady’s fingers for about 2 minutes and put in the fried winged beans, brinjal and snake beans and continue to stir fry for another 2 minutes or so then put in the sambal udang which we fried earlier. Continue to stir and put in some black soy sauce (put more if you like a darker tone).
5. Add in some water, stir and cover for 2-3 minutes and continue stirring. Add in soy sauce (not too much as the saltiness may come from the dried prawns and belacan) and stir until the mixture starts to look a little sticky. Lift up and serve.

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Note: Should you prefer it to be spicier, do add in more chili padi. Alternatively, you can also chop some garlic and sauteed them before going to #4.

Tips: If you do not want to use too much oil to fry the brinjal (they absort lots of oil), you can steam them first before frying but of course it won’t taste as good…

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