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Monday, April 16, 2012

Stir-Fried Kangkung with Garlic, Fish Sauce and Lime

Kangkung (water spinach) has been the most generous one in our garden this mid-autumn. If we don't have anything else to harvest, we will have kangkung. We have been harvesting kangkung weekly in autumn season. With its cut and come again personality, you don't need much space to grow them. Twenty-ish degree Celsius (minimum) and plenty of water (moisture) during their growing season, reward guaranteed from kangkung.
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A small corner where most of our kangkung supply came from.
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My favourite kangkung dish is to stir-fry it with chillies and shrimp paste (belachan) which is a popular dish in Malaysia which we call 'Kangkung goreng sambal belacan'. Eating out at any of Malaysia local family restaurant and you see this dish on the menu.
But I decided to try something new.
So I was flicking through Gordon's Great Escape Southeast Asia recipe book and saw one of the recipe "stir-fried water spinach with garlic, fish sauce and lime"  at the Vietnam section and decided to try it with some minor changes. The recipe instructed to blanch the kangkung first. But I did not blanched the kangkung as it will wilted rather quickly when stir-fry in a wok from experience. I think you can use this recipe as well for sweet potato young shoots. Liz  (Suburban Tomato) asked me weeks ago how to prepare sweet potato young shoots. Sweet potato young shoot and kangkung plants are related and belong to the same family with morning glory.
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Stir-fried kangkung with garlic, fish sauce and lime


Ingredients:
1 bunch washed kangkung (cut abouth the length of match)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
juice of 1~2 limes ( 1 lime was more than enough for me)

- Heat vegetable oil
- Saute garlic until fragrant
-Toss in water spinach and stir
-Add fish sauce, oyster sauce and lime. Mix well.
-Stir until kangkung has wilted and quickly transfer to plate.

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Express cooking.
Quick to prepare.
Convenient for busy mother.

23 comments:

  1. Wow that looks delicious. I have never seen anyone grow this plant in our region (or elsewhere for that matter!) so it is something entirely new to me. Is it a heat lover?

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  2. I've never seen the plant around here either. Not even in the grocery stores.

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  3. kita suka daun kangkung je... batang dia kita tak suke sangat time makan... ;p

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  4. We have spinach coming in too. We're definitely going to try this simple, but very tasty looking recipe. Thanks Malay!

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  5. That's an interesting way to cook it. Love it stem and all with goreng sambal belacan or even with ikan masin.

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  6. Kangkong grows well here in Darwin but I don't have any only plot. I love it stir fried.

    One of the other plot owners told me yesterday to help myself as she has too much and doesn't eat it much. So I'm looking forward to this dish this week. I often add lemon instead of lime if they are too pricey sometimes and a touch of soy instead of oyster sauce.

    Please come to my blog and give me easy suggestions for Taro if you have any :-)

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  7. Looks and sounds good. We have kangkong weekly either as main course or as a side dish. This will be a new way of preparing it. Thanks for sharing.

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  8. My neighbour has it in her garden and she sends some over to us very tasty.

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  9. Thanks for the idea - not only do I have sweet potato vine everywhere but I also was given a whole lot of limes recently so perfect timing. I'm not familiar with Kangkung though, will have to keep an eye out for it.

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  10. nampak mcm sedap pulak goreng mcm tu selain goreng belacan.. baru mlm td mkn kangkong goreng.. just dgn rencah ikan bilis & kiub bilis aje.. heehe...

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  11. I love grwoing kangkung too! Very easy to grow plant...touchwood! hahahhaa.... The stir fry looks yummy!

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  12. I love grwoing kangkung too! Very easy to grow plant...touchwood! hahahhaa.... The stir fry looks yummy!

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  13. It looks like a very healthy dish!

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  14. dah habis?ingat nak minta sikit..Dah lama Cm tak masak.Tutup "kedai":)bila rasa sihat sikit nnt baru masuk dapur.

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  15. Kangkung plants are very faithful, they keep growing after each cut! I have this book too, but have not tried anything from it yet. Looks delicious and a great change to cook kangkung! Yum!

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  16. KitsapFG~Kangkung like warm weather but it is much fonder of water! Does not like dry weather.

    Daphne~ Some state in the US has declared kangkung as notorious weed.

    EjaMaria~Saya masa kecik2 dulu pun tak berapa gemar batangnya cuma makan daun.

    Jody~Our spinach just sprouted this month. We still have a long wait for baby spinach leaves.

    Sean L~I like kangkung with ikan masin too.

    Frugal Down Under~Darwin will have the perfect weather to grow kangkung. Kangkung sulking during mid-summer here.I often substitute lime with lemon too as lime can be pricey when it is not in season.
    I will visit your blog and try to give some suggestion about taro.

    Bom~I am really curious on how you enjoy kangkung as main dish. How you prepare it?

    Cathy~Glad that you find it tasty.

    MaDiHaA~Kangkung goreng simple selalu paling bestkan. Boleh tambah nasi lagi.

    Malar~Yes a must vegetable in the garden.

    Tina~Very healthy. Just that it will make you have second serving...hehehe...

    Makcikmanggis~Nanti saya datang lawat. Patutlah senyap tak sihat rupanya. Moga cepat sihat.

    Joyce~I borrowed the book from our local library here. Copied this recipe because I found it interesting with the ingredients and different style to enjoy kangkung.This is the 1st recipe I tried from Gordon.

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  17. sounds not bad! i like fish sauce!

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  18. Holly~Thanks. This is borrowed recipe. Its very interesting how other ASEAN countries enjoy their kangkung. Since kangkung grows easily in the ASEAN countries.

    Lena~I just started to use fish sauce from last year.

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  19. That's really interesting. Thanks for posting all the great information! Had never thought of it all that way before.

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  20. sounds delicious! I've never had Asian greens cooked any way except for Chinese style, so it'd be interested to try with the fish sauce and tartness of the lime. I do love those flavors.

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  21. I just cooked this recipe and it was meant to be a side dish, but it was soooooooooooo divinely delicious that I polished it off before the main dish is ready!!! Thanks a million, it was my first time cooking Kangkung.

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  22. Wendy~ It does goes very well with lime.

    Leyly~ Happy to hear you enjoyed it very much.

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