Stirfry Winged-Bean

Ini dia Kacang Botol Goreng. 

As I hv recently developed this seafood-allergy, so, its without belacan ( shrimp paste ), only garlic and anchovies powder.

Sedap !  But with belacan, the sedap-ness  would be easily jolted to 3-starred level!

清炒豆苗 Stir Fried Baby French Bean

四季豆，俗称乌龟豆是 Phaseolus vulgaris 的荚果。初成四季豆入菜 ，虽然只需稍微清洗、但还需掐两头再拔丝，十分多工。

俗称豆苗，是四季豆幼荚果。只需稍微清洗、无须掐头拔丝，可直接下锅。虽然只是 清炒，味道依然鲜甜脆口。

清炒四角豆 Stir-fried Winged Bean

This two are just  simple winged bean dishes, stir-fried only with garlic.  Salt and msg is added to taste.

Alternatively,



chunky version



This one is chunkier.  The winged beans are snapped by hand into bite-size chunks.  It requires more chewing, the crunchy taste is terrific !  Yet too much chewing is tiring.



sliced version



While this, the winged-beans are sliced to about 5mm thick.  It is of course easier to chew compare to the chunky version.







花生鸡脚莲藕汤 Peanut Soup with ChickenFeet & LotusRoot

First, I washed and soaked the peanut.  Then, I pre-cooked it in a pressure cooker.

Meanwhile, I wash and cut the lotus root, trim the chicken feet’s nail.  Then put into the pressure cooker, with some shredded dried squid.

Add a little bit of salt to taste.

Turn on the flame to maximum and let it cook for a while.

Serve hot.

Petai Belalang Sambal Belacan - Experimental Cooking

Petai belalang is  the name the local Malays call Leucaena leucocephala.  Wikipedia says that the Indonesians call it petai cina or lamtoro, while the Thais call it krathin. 

Petai belalang is definitely edible.  The taste is almost similar to petai ( Parkia speciosa ), only smaller in size. 

However, petai belalang is said to contained mimosine, a toxic non-protein acid amino.  Mimosine is reported to halt diving cell in the late G1 phase by inhibiting DNA replication. ( meaning what ? )  Mimosine is also said to caused lathyrism and depilation in some livestock.  However, fortunately for ruminants, mimosine is degraged to 3,4-DHP and 2,3-DHP, then further digested to non-toxic compound.

So,  it is not advisable to consume a large quantity of petai belalang.   Yet, if someone is lost in a tropical jungle or some inhabited island, I guess there are not much choice after all.   Unless there are a lot of mangoes and coconuts available.   Btw, I remember seeing Jack ( the main character in LOST, an American serial drama tv series on ABC ), in one of the final episode of Season 6,  standing by a thicket of petai belalang … do they ever know that its edible ?  

Some 10 immature pods of petai belalang only yield to a few spoonful of edible seeds.  The pods are dehiscent, meaning they will crack-opened when dried.  Immature pods are harder to open, but I soon discovered an easy way to extract the seeds : peel open from the rear end of the pod.  Easy eh ?!

I stir fried them with belacan and pounded Sarawak smoked prawns, just as a petai belacan dish would be.  The taste is less pungent than petai, more tender, less mouthful, yet still have some bitter aftertaste.

五大天王 5-Heavenly-Kings

四大天王 ( literally 4-heavenly-kings ) is a dish of 4 types of beans, namely : yardlong bean,  4-winged bean, petai ( Parkia speciosa ) and lady’s finger ( although lady’s finger is botanically not a bean, its from the mallow family ), stirfried with belacan.

I have all the ingredients in my garden, except petai.  Why not have something different, I say. 

So, I strolled down my veg garden and harvest whatever are available :
Hyacinth bean ( Dolichos lablab )

Yardlong bean ( Vigna unguiculata sesquipdealis )

4-winged bean ( Psophocarpus tetragonolobus )

Lady’s fingers ( Abelmoschus esculentus )

Cute’cumbers ( tindoras ) ( Coccinia grandis )

Chili ( Capsicum annum )

Curry leaves ( Murraya koenigii )

First, cut all the beans, lady’s finger, and tindoras into bite-sizes.

Then, deep fry the curry leaves in hot oil till it become crunchy.  Set aside.

Next, stir fry till fragrant over hot oil some pounded Sarawaks-smoked-prawn, chili and some belacan. 

Put in all the cut vegs, stir fry till cooked.  Sprinkle the curry leaves on top.

Serve hot !

( but its not as good as I imagined :(  ....
maybe next time, I will try stirfry without belacan  清炒 )

Hrm… I should name the dish : 五大天王, 5-heavenly-kings instead

长豆炒蛋 Stir-fried Long Bean with Egg

10 x longbean, cut vertically into small pieces ;

1 x egg.  

3 clove of garlic, minced.....

saute the garlic first.....

then put in all the longbean, stirfry till almost cooked.... the longbean's colour shall changed from light green to slightly darker green, thats how you know its cooked...

finally add in an egg, stir a bit again till the egg is cooked...

add salt to taste

清炒扁豆 Stir-fried Hyacinth Bean

Sauté minced garlic first, then add in sliced hyacinth bean pods.  Stir till the bean softened.  Add in salt and MSG to taste.  

This is always the simplest way to stir fry : on its own !

Hyacinth bean 扁豆 ( Dolichos lablab ), is a popular food crop throughout tropical Africa and India.   It is called ‘avarai’ in Tamil.

The leaves, flowers, pods, seeds and roots are edible. Dry seeds, however, are poisonous due to high concentration of cyanogenic glucosides, and can only be eaten after prolonged boiling.

花生鸡脚汤 Peanut with Chicken Feet Soup

refer lotus root peanut soup or the simpler version of peanut soup

LotusRoot Peanut Soup 莲藕花生汤

Ingredients :

1. Lotus Root  莲藕 ( rhizome of Nelumbo nucifera )

2. Peanuts 花生

3. pork meat 猪肉

4. dried squid 吊片 / scallop 干贝

Method :

( Lazy to write.  It’s preparation is basically similar to most Chinese soup.  It doesn't matter if you want to slow-cook  or pressure-cook it, as long as the ingredients are cooked.  The quantity and ratio of ingredients are much depend on personal liking. )

Belacan Winged Bean 虾酱四角豆

Sauté garlic with pounded dried-shrimps.

Add in crushed belacan ( shrimp paste ) and continue sautéing till a savory aroma arose.

Put in all the chopped winged-bean ( kacang botol 四角豆 ) , stir-fry till its slighly cooked. ( don't overcook it.  Overcooked winged-beans tend to be softy, and lost its crisp )

Winged Bean 四角豆

Winged bean ( Psophocarpus tetragonolobus ), known as kacang botal in Malay, 四角豆 in Mandarin.

It is called “1-species supermarket” because practically all of the plant is edible. The beans are eaten as a vegetable. Dried seeds are used to make flour and a drink similar to coffee. The young pods are eaten as greens, similar to other beans. The flowers are used to colour rice and pastries. The young leaves can be eaten as leaf vegetables. The root are use as a root vegetable, similar to the potato.

.

.

.

.

.

Source : Wikipedia

Edible Fresh Beans

Glycine max

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Glycinae

Common name : Soybean, 大豆 , kacang soya

Native : East Asia

Consumed Fresh : edamame枝豆 ( steamed/boiled green soybeans in pod )

Processed : soymilk豆漿, tofu豆腐, soy sauce醬油, miso味噌, natto納豆, tempeh, soybean oil, flour, instant formula.

Nutritional value : Source of complete protein.

Alpha-linolenic acid, isoflavones genistein, daidzein, phytic acid.

Caution : For human consumption, soybeans must be cooked with ‘wet’ heat in order to destroy the trypsin inhibitors.

Indigestible oligosaccharides contribute to flatulence and abdominal discomfort.

Sphingolipids may cause colon cancer.

Vicia faba

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Vicieae

Common name : broad bean, 蚕豆, 豌豆, 蓝花豆

Native : North Africa & S.W. Asia

Consumed Fresh : beans are shelled and steamed. Young leaves cooked or as a salad.

Processed : roasted & salted snack

Nutritional value : L-dopa, a natriuretic agent, may help in controlling hypertension.

Caution : Tyramine may cause release of store monoamines, causing hypertensive crisis.

Vicine, isoramil and convicine, may induce hemolytic anemia in patients with hereditary condition G6PD-deficiency.

Pisum sativum

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Vicieae

Common name : pea, 荷兰豆

Native : Mediterranean

Consumed Fresh : boiled/steamed pea.

Processed : canned/frozen pea, roasted & salted snack

Phaseolus vulgaris

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Phaseoleae

Common name : common bean, French bean, 龟豆, 四季豆, kacang buncis

Native : Central & S. America

Consumed Fresh : steamed, stir-fried, boiled.

Processed : many well-know bean belong to this species : kidney bean, anasazi bean, yellow bean, pink bean, black bean, navy bean, pinto bean.

Nutritional value : vitamin A, vitamin C.

Caution : Fresh beans contain toxin lection phytohaemagglutinin, but can be degrade by cooking.

Vigna unguiculata sesquipedalis

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Phaseoleae

Common name : yardlong bean, snake bean, Chinese long bean, 长豆 kacang panjang

Native : W. Africa

Consumed Fresh : Pods eaten fresh or cooked.

Processed :

Nutritional value : Vitamin A, vitamin C, folate, thiamin, riboflavin, iron, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, manganese

Psophocarpus tetragonolobus

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Faboideae ï Phaseoleae

Common name : winged bean, Goa bean, 四角豆, kacang botal,

Native : PNG

Consumed Fresh : Pods eaten fresh/cooked. Flowers used to colour rice. Leaves pickled or consume as leaf vegetable. Root as vegetable.

Processed : Dried seeds made into flour, drink

Nutritional value : Vitamin A, Vitamin C, calcium, iron

Parkia speciosa

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Mimosoideae ï Mimoseae

Common name : bitter bean, 臭豆, petai

Native : Malesia

Consumed Fresh : young pod, beans.

Leucaena leucocephala

Fabales ï Fabaceae ï Mimosoideae ï Mimoseae

Common name : white leadtree, petai Cina, petai hutan

Native : Central America

Consumed Fresh : young seeds

Caution : contain mimosine, an antimitotic and depilatory effects

Peanut Rice Porridge 花生粥

Peanut rice porridge is another of my favourites. It's another way to cook peanut soup... just add in some rice to make it a porridge. Another lazy-man dish... suites me lah.

.

Ingredients :

250g rice

100g peanut

100g lean pork meat, chopped/grinded

2.5liter water

some dried squid

last but not least, of course, some salt and MSG for taste

.

Methods :

1. All ingredients into a pot…. ( duh ! of course ~ ~ )

2. Bring to boil….. careful, it will bubble, don’t let it overspill

3. Reduce the flame, simmer it for about 1 hour… till the peanut softened. Stir a bit if necessary, to avoid burnt at bottom. The peanuts take longer time to cook, maybe can pre-cooked the peanuts first.

4. Lastly, add salt and pepper and MSG to taste

.

Serving for . ..... dinner... supper... breakfast

Peanut Soup 花生汤

Peanut soup is one of my favorite dishes. To prepare one is an easy task, but to make is as good as mom’s is a bit difficult. I guess the secret lies on the quality/quantity/combination of ingredients and duration of simmering the mixture.

.

Anyway, this is my ongrizinal recipe :

.

I like to use lean pork meat - net edible portion, no bones, no waste – be it a round, chuck, sirloin or tenderloin. A little bit of skin and fat ( 三层肉 ) will add some additional umph !!! Moms often use the boney part ( 肉骨 ), eg. rib, it make the best soup. Well, some 150g of pork is enough… cut the meat intake.

.

Add some 300g of peanut into 2 liter water.

.

Some dried squid ( 吊片/ 干魷魚), for the savory aroma. Alternatively, dried scallop ( 干贝 ) or dried oyster ( 蠔豉 ) will do. Dried scallop is too expensive for that. Dried oyster is totally out of my consideration as I dislike the taste of it, and the feel of it in my mouth.

.

Put the entire ingredient in a pot. Some will simmer it for a long period of time… till the peanut softened. But I like to use pressure cooker. It’s fast to cook – save time, save energy, save water. 15 minutes will do the job !

.

Lastly, a little bit of salt to taste. ...... and a bit of flavour enhancer too.

.

It’s done ! A soup enough for 4 - 5 pax.