Bite On It!

When I was preggy with Darrius, I had the worst morning sickness that made me lose almost 10kg during the first 4 months. I can hardly eat anything as I will purge after 30 minutes. It was a terrible feeling!

I have to stay with my mom most of the time as PiggyBeng was unable to take care of me while he is way for work so we agreed that it is best for me to stay with my parents so my mom can see to my needs. It was the best decision as my mom pampered me with all the healthy and yummy food she prepared for me.

From that time I learned this very simple dish that she used to cook for me when she saw nice and fresh lady’s fingers in the market. Some people referred it as okra but we  normally call it lady’s fingers. What my mom will do is just put them in a dish and let them steam inside the rice cooker with a little soy sauce and I can swear it tasted so good!

As I am getting one little fussy eater soon, I decided to make some modifications. I know Darrius loves sourish food (he told me he loves Asam Laksa!) so instead of just soy sauce, I chopped some garlic and saute it with chopped chilli and add some lemon sauce to the soy sauce and it turned out great! Ended up, Darrius wanted to drink the sauce but spitted out the lady’s fingers complaining that they have too many seeds!

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Ingredients

• 200-300g Lady’s fingers or Okra (cut away the head and tail)
• 1tbsp Chopped garlic
• 1tsp Chopped red chili
• Light soy sauce
• Lemon juice

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Methods

1. Steam the lady’s fingers for 5-7 minutes or till soft.
2. In a wok, heat up a little oil and saute the garlic and chili.
3. In a small bowl, add light soy sauce with lemon juice (add some water if you want to have more sauce) and pour over the sauteed garlic and chili, stir for a while till it boils and gently pour onto the steamed lady’s fingers.

I like to prepare dishes that are not so heaty and also one-pot-cook type of of thing. Sometimes it can be tough cooking for 2 person so I always opt for the simple stuff.

Every time I go for food shopping, I will tend to buy longbeans or french beans as they have a longer shelf lives as compared to other green vegetables.

I am not too sure if this dish is Hokkien or Hakka influenced but I like it as it is easy to prepare and taste just so yummy!

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Ingredients

• 12 strands Longbeans - cut into 1.5″ length
• 5-6 pcs Chinese mushrooms (cut into thick strips)
• 200-300g Lean pork - sliced, marinate with some corn flour, black sauce and light sauce
• 4-6 cloves Garlic - finely chopped
• 2 cups Rice
• Sesame seed oil (optional)
• Dark sauce (add more if you prefers darker colour)
• Light soy sauce to taste
• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with some oil and lightly fry the longbeans till about 70% cooked. Lift up.
2. Using the same wok, heat some oil or sesame seed oil and saute the chopped garlic till fragrant. Pour in the marinated meat and stir till about 70% cooked.
3. Add in the Chinese mushrooms, stir for a few minutes then add in the rice, black sauce and light soy sauce and continue to stir for a few more minutes. Then add in the fried longbeans and stir for a while before lifting up.
4. Put all ingredients into the rice cooker, add adequate water (like cooking normal rice) and cook like normal (follow your rice cooker’s indicator).
5. Stir the cooked rice before serving.

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*You can also use chicken meat to substitute the lean pork.

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Guessed some of you knew that I loves to eat beans. It’s yummy, nutritious and easy to cook. Steam, stir-fry, deep fried, grill and braise.

I’m going to share this recipe which is one of the all time favourite in my family (my own family, not PiggyBeng’s). In fact I have a cousin who only want this dish everyday! So, when he was staying with us at one time, my mom just cook this dish almost every other day!

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Ingredients

• 12 strands Longbeans - cut to 2″ long
• 150g Pork loin - cut to strips, marinade with corn flour and soy sauce and pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic
• Dark soy sauce
• Light soy sauce
• 1 chili padi (optional)
• Water (1/2 cup)

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with a little oil and lightly fry the longbeans till light brown, lift up.
2. Add another 2tbsp oil into wok and sautee chopped garlic then chili padi.
3. Fry the pork until about 50% cook, add in the longbeans, stir, add dark soy sauce, stir, add water, stir and cover for 5 minutes on slow fire.
4. Add in light soy sauce, stir, cover till the water starts to thicken (about 15 minutes).
5. Serve.

With the festive season recently and insane weather, good ole veges’ priceshas somehow sky-rocketed in the wet market. Not to mention the limited choices offered by these vege sellers.

Last Sunday was Chap Goh Meh (last day of the Lunar New Year) and the wet market was basically a battle ground with people mountain-people seafighthing for whatever is left on the racks… not to mention about the insane price increased for the occasion. Therefore, I seldom swing to the wet market now as I can’t really tell what I’m paying for is actually the right price… these sellars will just tell me so much is the amount and I will pay them… pretty silly isn’t it? Even if I asked, I still can’t mentally calculate the $/kati/kg or whatever… I’m not a math person.

So, as a customer, I should have the rights to know what I am paying for. Where else but supermarkets where they won’t feel offended if you dump back that bundle or packet of spinach if the price is not right? I love shopping at supermarket these days… apart from not to have to wake up early, battle with the crowd and with air-condition, they are just as good from the good ole wet market though I must confess that sometimes some fresh produces are not ‘very’ the fresh but at least I can see the dates it has been packed. Best of all, it indicates the weight and the $/kg. Fair deal especially when I’m buying price controlled items. The chicken sellars always give me different quotes!

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Back to the topic, I saw these gigantic beans last Sunday at Tesco. My mom bought them a few times when I was back in KL the last time but so far I’ve not seen them being sold here. OK, must confess again that Penang is still quite backward! It is called lentil beans… it’s a bigger version of the sweetpea but lest the shinny surface. One thing I like about this bean is, it’s crunchy even after I fried them for quite a while.

Ingredients

• 1 pkt of Lentil beans (around 10pcs cut diagonally about 1″ in length)
• 25g Ikan bilis - chopped
• Carrot (a few slices)
• Light soy sauce and pepper for taste
• Water

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Methods

1. Heat up wok with some oil and lightly fry the lentil beans for about 5 minutes. Lift up.
2. Add some more oil to the wok and fry the chopped ikan bilis till fragrant (3 minutes)
3. Throw the lentil beans back into the wok and stir for a while then add in the sliced carrot and continue to stir for another 2 minutes
4. Add a little water (around 1/4 cup), stir and cover wok for 2-3 minutes
5. Before lifting, put a dash of light soy sauce and pepper to taste

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Note: Ikan bilis is generally salty, so if you prefer it to be saltier then add more light soy sauce or if you prefer to use salt, you can put a pinch but not too much or it will over the sweetness of the beans

I had a request from Angeline a few weeks back asking for some spicy dishes. I seldom cook spicy dishes as they are rather heaty but I know my PiggyBeng will loves them so I have to cook one or two dishes of hot stuff once in a while. Though my MIL will cook some fish gulai (curry with no coconut milk and a more sourish version) but that ain’t enough so I will try to add some varieties if I can.

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My mom gave me some habaneros (one of the most intensely spicy chili peppers - Wikipedia) during my last trip back to KL and I have totally forgotten about them sitting in my chilies box in the fridge. Some has started to rot when I checked them out so decided to cook them asap!

Ingredients

• 300-400g Longbeans
• 100g Dried shrimps
• 7-8pcs Shallot
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 5pcs Red chilies
• 1pc Habanero or 3pcs Chili padi (I put them all!)
• 1/2″x1″ Belacan (Shrimp paste)
• Water or Tamarind juice
• Sugar (in case too spicy)

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Methods

1. Wash longbeans and cut to 2″ long. Heat up wok with some oil and lightly fry the longbeans till 60/70% soft. Lift them up.
2. Grind (blender) dried shrimps, shallots, garlic, red chilies, habanero and belacan. Add about 3 tbsp oil and fried the paste and adding a little oil after every 2 minutes and fry till fragrant. (try to fry using medium fire)
3. Add in fried longbeans into the chili paste and stir for a while, add some water (about 3/4 cup) and cover, stir occassionaly till the longbeans turn soft. Serve.