Stir-fried Mani Cai with Egg

Mani cai or sayur manis in Bahasa Malaya or sweet leaf is a popular vegetable in our country. I usually cook it in soup with ikan bilis (anchovies). This particular soup forms the base for pan mee which is a popular Chinese handmade flat noodle. I have never stir fry mani cai until recently when I discovered it in a Thai restaurant. Since then I have cooked it many times.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 400 g mani cai (just the leaves)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Cooking oil

Instructions:

• Pluck the leaves from the stems and wash them thoroughly.

• Add cooking oil to a pan and scramble the egg. Scoop up and set it aside when done.

• Add cooking oil to the pan. Add the garlic and saute them till they are crispy. Scoop out about 70% and set them aside.

• Add the mani cai to the pan and stir-fry till they are cooked.

• Season with salt and pepper.

• Return the scrambled egg to the pan. Mix them up with the mani cai.

• Ladle up onto a serving plate.

• Sprinkle the garlic crisp on top.

• Serve.

Sourdough Discard Loaf Bread

Sourdough discard is just unfed sourdough starter. It can be turned into pancakes, crackers, waffles, pizza, muffins and more. However, I usually use it to bake sandwich bread by adding some yeast to the dough. This is because I want to bake the dough within a few hours of mixing and kneading the ingredients. The bread always turn out soft, fluffy and tasty. However, if you are prepared to wait for a longer fermentation period with the bread having a more tangy taste, you need not add the yeast. Just let the bacteria do their work and fermentation will take longer.

I usually bake 2 loaves of bread to last a week for my family. After the bread has cooled down completely, I will slice them up and store them either in my storage box or zip lock bag and put them into the freezer. The next day, I will just remove the number of slices that I need, let them thaw at room temperature on my kitchen counter. They will be then be soft for consumption. I will sometimes steam them or toast them.

Ingredients: (Makes 2 loaves)

• 200 g sourdough discard
• 500 g warm water
• 40 g sugar (or more if you prefer a sweeter bread)
• 10 g yeast
• 100 g melted butter
• 1000 g bread flour
• 10 g salt

Method:

• Prepare 2 baking pans 9 inch x 5 inch x 5 inch; line and grease with parchment paper.

• Add all the ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer.

• Mix all the ingredients till no flour can be seen and a smooth dough is formed.

• Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with a wet towel.

• Let the dough rise till it doubles in size.

• Transfer dough onto the counter which has been lightly floured.

• Divide the dough into 2.

• Gently spread out one of the dough into a rectangle, the length according to the length of your pan.

• Roll up the dough, pinch the edges and place it into your pan.

• Repeat for the other dough.

• Let them rise again till they are about 1 inch over the top of the pan.

• Bake it at 175 deg C for 40 minutes.

• Once baked, remove the bread from the pan immediately and let it cool down completely on a metal rack.

• Slice and serve.

Stir-fried Four-Heavenly-Kings Vegetable Dish

Four Heavenly Kings Vegetables is a popular stir-fried vegetable dish usually offered in Chinese restaurants. It is made of 4 types of vegetables stir-fried in sambal and dried shrimp paste. However, some also used deep-fried crunchy ikan bilis (anchovies) in this dish. The four typical vegetables are petai (stink beans), long beans, brinjal and okra (ladies' fingers). However, nowadays we do see winged beans replacing okra. In this recipe, I have used winged beans as I like their crunchiness. I have also added some anchovies.


Ingredients:

• 100 g stink beans
• 100 g 4-angled beans (winged beans) (or use ladies' finger if you prefer)
• 100 g long beans
• 200 g brinjal
• 4 tbsp of sambal made from:
• 300 g fresh red chili
• 30 g dried chilli
• 10 g bird's eye chilli (chilli padi) (optional)
• 1 big onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1/2 inch shrimp paste
• 50 g dried prawns, lightly minced
• 50 g ikan bilis (anchovies)
• 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 5 tbsp cooking oil

Instructions:

• Preparing the vegetables:
• Half the stink beans to check and remove any worms in them.
• Slice the winged beans diagonally.
• Cut the long beans into 2-inch length (or shorter if you prefer).
• Quarter the brinjal lengthwise, then slice them into thick chunks at an angle.

• Heat a wok with cooking oil.

• When the oil is hot add the anchovies. Fry them till they are crunchy. Remove them from the wok and set them aside.

• Add the stink beans to the wok and stir-fry for about 2-3 minutes. Ladle them up and set them aside.

• Next, fry the winged beans for 2-3 minutes. Remove them from the wok and set aside. Do the same for the long beans.

• Next fry the brinjal till they are half-cooked. Ladle them up and set them aside.

• Add the minced dried prawns to the wok and fry them till they are fragrant.

• Add the sambal and fry them till they are fragrant and it separates from the oil.

• Then add all the vegetables to the wok. Fry them till they are cooked. Season them with salt, light soy sauce and sugar.

• Add the crunchy anchovies.

• Give the vegetables and the anchovies a good stir.

•  Ladle them up onto a serving plate.

• Serve with white rice.