Kangkung Belacan

Went vegetable shopping on New Year's Day for juicing and we stumbled upon some Kangkung at the grocer. Kangkung is also known as eng chai in Hokkien and water spinach (one of the many names) in English.

The best preparation of kangkung we always had while growing up in Malaysia is kangkung belacan and to date, that is the only way I'll cook it at home. Beware to those who have not tried belacan! Like durian, belacan has a smell that irks many especially from the western part of the world. But for many Malaysians, that's the smell of home...You can omit the belacan to prepare a vegetarian version. This dish is best eaten with jasmine or fragrant rice. As I'm trying to cut our rice intake, we do sometimes eat this with quinoa or wholewheat cous cous.

Ingredients:

1 bunch           Kangkung (cleaned, stem removed from leaves and cut about 2 inches in
                        length)
3 cloves           garlic, chopped
1/2                   spanish onion (using shallots will enhance the taste), chopped
1cm x 2cm      belacan(shrimp paste) cube (available in Asian groceries)
2.5 Tbsp         ground red chilli / chilli paste / sambal oelek
1 Tbsp            olive oil (or any other cooking oil)

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wok and once heated, crumble the belacan in. (Medium to high heat)
2. Fry for 30 seconds to 1 minute and then add the  chopped garlic and onions.
3. Continue frying for another 2 minutes, stirring well.
4. Next, add the chilli paste and fry for another 2 minutes or until the oil separates. Please note if there is not enough oil, it will not separate. Therefore, frying for 2 minutes is a decent amount of time.
5. Then, add the kangkung stems and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes before adding the leaves.
6. Plate up once the leaves wilt.

Note:
i.    If the wok gets too dry, add about 1-2 Tbsp of water.
ii.   It is not necessary to add salt as belacan contains quite a lot salt. But of course, do taste and if it is   tasteless, feel free to add more salt.
iii.  I used quite a small amount of belacan as I did not want my neighbours complaining of the smell :) But, if you love belacan, please do inrease the amount to maybe about 2cm x 2cm piece.