The great classic staple of Malaysian tables, where the vegetal crunch of water spinach meets the umami power of a sambal pounded with toasted shrimp paste.
Ingredients
- 800 g fresh water spinach
- 25 g dried belacan fermented shrimp paste block
- 4 pieces fresh long red chili
- 3 pieces fresh red bird's eye chili
- 4 pieces fresh shallot
- 4 cloves garlic clove
- 25 g small dried shrimp
- 3 tbsp refined peanut oil
- 1 tsp light cane sugar
- 3 tbsp water
Method
- Submerge the small dried shrimp in a bowl of warm water for about ten minutes to rehydrate them, then drain well and chop roughly.
- Carefully wash and sort the water spinach: separate the hollow stems from the tender leaves. Cut the stems into even two-inch pieces and leave the leaves whole. Rinse everything thoroughly in cold water, then meticulously dry the vegetables in a salad spinner or clean cloth to prevent any water from splattering in the wok.
- Heat a dry skillet over medium heat and add the crumbled block of belacan shrimp paste. Dry toast for about two minutes, mashing it with a spatula, until it lightly browns, becomes crumbly and releases a characteristic toasted aroma, then remove from the heat.
- In a stone mortar, combine the seeded long red chilies, bird's eye chilies, roughly sliced shallots, garlic with the germ removed and chopped dried shrimp. Pound vigorously until you have a textured paste, then stir in the toasted belacan and pound for another minute to fully meld the flavors.
- Heat the refined peanut oil in a wok over medium heat. As soon as the oil shimmers, add the pounded aromatic paste and stir-fry continuously for three to four minutes, until fragrant and fine beads of red oil separate from the paste.
- Crank the heat to high under the wok until you see wisps of smoke. Toss in the water spinach stems first, then pour the water down the hot side of the wok to create a blast of steam. Stir-fry vigorously for thirty seconds to tenderize the crunch of the stems.
- Immediately add the water spinach leaves and sprinkle with the light cane sugar. Stir briskly with the spatula, coating the leaves in the fragrant paste for thirty to forty seconds, until the foliage just begins to wilt while retaining an intense emerald green color.
- Turn off the heat immediately to stop the cooking, arrange the piping hot water spinach on a serving platter and serve right away with fragrant white rice.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 152 kcal
- Protein
- 4.08 g
- Carbohydrate
- 6.4 g
- Fat
- 12.21 g
- Fibre
- 1.97 g
- Calcium
- 9.6 mg
- Iron
- 0.33 mg
- Magnesium
- 7.57 mg
