Green Beans with Egg

I just realised that I do not eat enough vegetables although I love them. Maybe because Michael is not a huge fan of vegetables and the vegetables that they sell at the asian supermarket usually came pre-packaged. Huge packages. So recently I got myself a (huge) bag of green beans. I actually prefer long beans but they are hard to come by and when they do they are usually not fresh and skinny. I like my beans to be fat!


I made this Green Beans with Egg to go with my Squid in Soy Sauce. Of course back home it was long beans instead of green beans but the taste is still there so I am happy. This recipe is very easy to make and would take you less than 20min from preparation to cooking to cleaning.

Green Beans with Egg


2 1/2 handful of green bean, cleaned and cut in half lenghtwise
2 garlic, thinly sliced
1 red chili, sliced
1 egg, whisked
Salt and sugar to taste
2-3 tbs oyster sauce
2 tbs vegetable oil
Water

1. In a wok, heat the oil and saute garlic. Slowly add water before the garlic becomes crunchy. Stir. *be carefulof splatter when you are doing this*

2. Stir in oyster sauce, salt and sugar and then only add green beans. Toss a little bit, increase heat to high and cover. 30second.

3. Uncover, add chili and egg, stir well.

4. Served hot with warm white rice.

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Squid in Soy Sauce / Sotong Masak Kicap

Crazy is the perfect word to describe the weather here. We had kind of like a heat wave Saturday-Tuesday with temperature soaring up to 100F eventhough here in Huntington Beach I think we maxed at 97F. And guess what is the temperature now? It is like high 60s to low 60s. I don't really like to cook or be in the kitchen when it is hot since we do not have a/c in the apartment. If I can help it, I would totally avoid cooking when the temperature is higher than 80F but of course that is not possible. We all need to eat don't we?

We went to the asian supermarket last weekend (when it was hot and humid!) so I have quite a few goodies and squid is one of them. Actually I wanted to get some durian but unfortunately they didn't have any. Looks like this weekend we have to go to a different store to get my fix of durian. Anyways, back to my squid soy sauce. It is one of the easiest dish to make. No pounding or grinding or processing needed. Just cut the ingredients and stir fry and voila! You are good to go. Here is how I make my squid is soy sauce.


Squid in Soy Sauce
serves 2-3

1lb squid, clean and cut into rings (I used frozen readily cut)
2 garlic, sliced
1in ginger, sliced
2 red chili, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
1/4 cup water
4tbs sweet soy sauce
3tbs light soy sauce
1tbs thick soy sauce
1/2 tsp white pepper (optional)
Salt and sugar to taste

1. In a big pan, heat some oil and saute garlic and ginger.

2. Add in the squid and give it a quick stir.

3. Add water, all soy sauce and all the other ingredients. Keep on stirring for 1-2min.

4. Serve immediately with a plate of warm white rice.

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Kalamansi Lime

If you have been reading and/or following my blog, you would realise that I have mentioned the name kalamansi lime a few times. It is to me, the best kind of lime. It looks like key lime but with a much softer skin. It is the most popular lime used in Southeast Asian's cuisine and drink. I have been looking for it for quite a while. Going in and out of Home Depot, nurseries, asian supermarkets and Lowe's only to be very disappointed. Not only they don't have it, most of the times nobody would even know what I was talking about. But my luck was about to change.

Last month when we went to Home Depot on Warner Ave, Huntington Beach to get a couple of plant pots, I decided to again try my luck. Michael keeps teling me that they are not going to have it but I told hm I will ask anyway. Asking is by the way, free, no? So I asked the guy at the nursery section about kalamansi lime. After a few misunderstanding and long conversation, he took me to the lime/lemon tree areas and we looked and searched one by one. The he asked me, "what is it called again?". So I told him it is kalamansi and he showed me this tree and said, "is that it?". There in the middle of the jungle (ok, that's an exaggeration :P) stood 3 kalamansi lime tree. Not 1. Not 2. But 3 of them! You can't imagine how happy I was to have found it. Already I am thinking of hot spring/summer and sipping ans ice cold lime juice made from kalamansi lime. Well, I am not sure when exactly will I get to see the fruits but I sure do hope very soon. I just hope that those pesky insects would leave my kalamansi lime tree alone.

So if you are a fan and/or have been looking for kalamansi lime tree, go to Home Depot. As you can see from the picture, it is stated as calamondin / kalamansi lime. Good luck!

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Sotong Kangkung

Roadside stall food. Just thinking about it makes me miss Malaysia so much. You know, the part where whenever you feel like eating something, you can just drive your car to the location. Or if you wakes up at 2am and feel like having something to munch be it Maggi Goreng (fried instant noodle) or Roti Canai or Nasi Lemak, all you have to do is get in your car and drive to the restaurant or stall. Lots of places are open 24/7. No more feeling cranky during that time of the month where you are just too lazy to cook yet you want to eat that delicious ............... (fill in the blank yourself).


Well, since I am not in Malaysia, the next best thing that could happen to me is when I found something at the asian store where I could make something that is familiar to me. Like this sotong which gave me the idea to make Sotong Kangkung. Sotong is squid although I think for this dish, cuttlefish is the more correct definition while Kangkung is water spinach. So I guess it would be 'Cuttlefish Water Spinach' in English? Hmmm... doesn't sound right to me and that is why I only put the title in Malay instead of Malay/English.

Sotong Kangkung

1/2lb cuttlefish
Water spinach, cut the root and rinsed thoroughly
2.5 tbs Rojak sauce, I used Boy Scout brand
1 tbs Shrimp paste, also Boy Scout brand
1 tsp Sambal oelek
1-2 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup water
Coarse ground peanut
Salt
Toasted sesame (for garnishing)


1. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except cuttlefish, water spinach and sesame. Taste and adjust according to your liking.

2. In a big pot, boil some water and blanch the cuttlefish for about 2min. Drain and cut into 1-2in. Keep aside.

2. Blanch water spinach for about 1min, drain and cut.

3. In a big bowl, mix cuttlefish with water spinach and rojak sauce well. garnish with toasted sesame and serve immediately

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