Beaufort and Man Tai Restaurants are both popular for their 'interior' Hakka-style of cooking. Interior refers to those towns like Beaufort and Tenom where many Hakka families first settled into when they came to Sabah from China. I've tried adding cornstarch solution towards the end of frying the greens but the veg tasted bland and watery, without that 'wokfire'. That was then. Now I can fry up a mean dish of choysum just like Beaufort because someone has told me the secret: add cornstarch in the beginning. This way the cornflour will not taste 'raw' and it will still thicken and coat the veg when water is added or comes out from the veg as it cooks. The restaurants also use lard, msg and fry in small batches to keep the 'wokfire'.
Fried Choysum
1 small bunch choysum, washed and cut into 5-6 cm lengths
3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 heaped t cornflour
1/2 t salt
dash of msg
1 T water
veg oil or better still, lard
1. Put 3 to 4 T oil in a hot wok, throw in salt, garlic and cornflour (no water added) and quickly add all the choysum, msg, then add 1 T water. If it looks too dry, add another 1 T water but not too much because water will come out from the veg as it cooks. The water will thicken so you just have to practice till you perfect this method by adjusting the amount of water and controlling the heat. When veg is just wilted from frying, dish up. Do not overcook.
Add the cornflour to the hot oil. It will sizzle and bubble.
2. If using pork, cut it into thin slices and marinade with salt, white pepper and a little bit of cornstarch and water. Heat oil in wok and fry till cooked. Add to choysum when the veg is just about totally wilted from frying, stir well to mix and dish up. Another way is to add cornflour to hot oil and add the pork, as for the veg above. Fry till until cooked (may have to add some water), add the veg, then mix both together and dish up.
note: you can use other greens such as Taiwan bok or bok choy. If you want more sauce, use 2 t of cornflour and add more water.
OMG OMG OMG... Now I missed Beaufort Fan Dian.
ReplyDeleteEver since they moved to Penampang, I never have had the chance to eat there!!! So packed with ppl , and made me wait like SOOooo LOng!!(everytime i m just out of patience and leave!) But I really missed their food la ! or.. may be i just go to the Hiltop one! haha
Terri where can I find fresh Tumeric root? And more importantly, what does it look like? Ginger?
ReplyDeleteI found a great recipe for a Balinese tumeric "jamu" to be drunk when one is feeling under the weather
http://morselsandmusings.blogspot.com/2007/07/jamu-kunyit.html
sorry the end of that link got cut off. It should read jamu-kunyit.html
ReplyDeletedenise: ha, Beaufort is now almost at my doorstep n yes, they are forever packed. but i like d man tai next to supertanker d best, out of all these 'interior' restaurants.
ReplyDeleteshan: *eyes wide* tumeric root is kunyit, girl! it looks like a small ginger but has slightly orangey skin (very orange inside n stains hands, clothes) n u can get it at wet markets or d veg section of Giant, or Merdeka S, most all supermarkets. tq for d link!
Hehehe yep I know it's kunyit but I've only seen it in powder form :p
ReplyDeleteOk will hunt it down, thanks for the info
shan: hey, check google image for tumeric.
ReplyDeleteI’ve learned by fluke that stir-frying veg ( esp.leafy ones) w/o adding h2o makes taste comes alive w/ its natural sweetness. Like u said juice will come out during cooking. Usually don’t use meat, kids won’t eat it anyway. Asa veg has just wilted, I push it to one side & add a little cornstarch solution (flavoured w/ chicken broth mix) to the wok till it thickens before mixing into the cooked veg.
ReplyDeleteTried ur version w/ slight modification this evening. Stir fried baby bok choy by adding cornstarch to hot oil + chicken broth mix (powder) w/o adding any h2o. It turned out great, the girls ate it all. They usually love my stir fried veg.
mike:'asa'??:D We too prefer fried veg w/o meat. Good job on ur 1st attempt.now if u want to upstage kamlie, make German pancakes for ur girls!
ReplyDeleteSorry..'as soon as'-guess u might've just been 2 the 4th floor?:-P
ReplyDeleteMMm German pancakes ?? May be 2 complicated for this lazy short order cook.
Terri do u know the recipe of mantai fried noodle ? :)
ReplyDeleteianon: lol, i don't know the recipe but think i experiment n tell u?!
ReplyDelete