Malaysia fast side-dish

Our first batch of Mid/Late-August sowed Redland Pioneer bush bean started to produce many beans to pick last week and we shared some with our neighbour. Some Pak choi, sprouting broccoli and leek were also harvested last week.

We made a quick dish of Stir-fry beef and bean with black been sauce. I am not that much a fan of beans but I have to admit I enjoyed it because those bean tasted sweet. Moreover, unexpectedly my boys like to eat home-grown and home-cooked bean. 

Crushed 2 cloves garlic and and inch of ginger. Heat a little oil in the wok for frying about 300gram of slice beef. Fry the beef first till tender. Lift it up. Then saute garlic and ginger. Add in beef, bean or some carrot or leek and mix well with about 5 tablespoon of black bean sauce in the wok till those bean cooked. For seasoning, I add a spoon of sugar. A fast food to prepare on a busy day to enjoy together with a bowl of steamed rice.

Harvested some few remaining over-wintered carrots and beetroots.

My cousin Lenay surprised me by using beetroot in one of Malaysia traditional dish popular in Negeri Sembilan state where my father grew up. It is a very easy to make and well-loved dish that I think mama will at least cook it once a week for the family. The dish is known as "Berlada" basically means any spicy fried food coated with chilli paste. You can used fresh or dried chili and blended it well into paste for the basic ingredient. Usually fried anchovies will be mixed together with fried fermented soy bean (tempe) or potato or nuts with chili paste. This is Lenay version of ikan bilis, ubi kentang dan beetroot masak berlada ( Spicy anchovies, potato and beetroot).

Prepare chilli paste ( I usually keep a container of chilli paste from dried chilli in fridge that last me for 2 weeks, or pound 5~7 big chillies well this will depend on the chilli variety hotness you are going to use).

Cut 1 beetroot and 1 big potato size into wedges and fried them separately until a little crispy. A half bowl of fried anchovies.

Heat some oil into the wok, not too much oil or it will be oily. It will be very much depended on how many spoon of chilli paste you want to use. Maybe oil and chili paste ratio should be 1:1. To be on the safer side the amount of oil should be a little bit less than the the chilli. Add in chilli paste (about 3 tablespoon), cook and stir until the oil starts to come out at the side or fragrant. You know it will be ready if you start to sneeze. Then add in fried anchovies, beetroot and potatoes. Stir to coat them with chilli paste evenly. Enjoy with steamed rice. I found another way to cook beetroot that I like thanks to Lenay. 

Sharon author of Test with Skewer blog that always inspired me also made her nice version of this traditional side dish recently with more helpful detail and explanation.

I cleared a pot of polystyrene container that were growing excess seedlings of brown onions because it look more like spring onions now. I doubt it will produce decent bulb. We also harvested a cauliflower. Just had it for dinner and it was so crisp and sweet.

What to do with those look-alike spring onions.

Well mostly for garnishing.

We used those spring onions to garnish sesame honeyed-fried prawn.

Visit Daphne's Dandelions for Harvest Monday.