Stir Fried Manicai (Star Gooseberry) with Salted Egg

I came across Kelly Siew's Manicai recipe at Sarawak Food Fest - Sept 2012.  

In Hokkien, we call it Manicai. Whereas, in English it is called star gooseberry or sweet leaf and in Malaysia it is cangkuk manis, sayur manis, pucuk manis or cekur manis. I like Manicai but all these while I didn't know that any excess amount of Manicai juice is bad for our lungs due to a chemical called alkaloid papaverine. Guess what? I have been cooking Manicai without squeezing out all the juice!

So, this is my first 'squeezed' Manicai and I cooked it with dried shrimps and salted egg. Thanks Kelly!

Do give it a try if you like this dish :)

Ingredients :

- 1 bunch of manicai
(washed and roughly tear the leaves with hand. Then, add salt and leave aside for few minutes. Squeeze all the juice out with hand. Lastly, rinse and squeeze again).

- 3 eggs - whipped
- 1 salted egg
- 1 tablespoon of dried shrimps
- garlic
- Soy sauce
- cooking oil

Method :
1) Heat enough oil in a wok and saute garlic and dried shrimps until aromatic.

2) Stir in manicai and cook for about a minute. Add some water if it looks too dry.

3) Make a well in the middle and add beaten eggs in and wait for it to set. Stir and mix well.

4) Add salted egg on top and let it set. Then add water if it is too dry. I prefer it to be a bit moist. Lastly, stir in the soy sauce to taste.

5) Stir and mix well and serve hot.

This dish is full of fibre and it is indeed delicious.... :)

Stir Fried Malabar Spinach with Salted Egg

Malabar spinach is in fact not related to spinach! The leaves and stems of Malabar Spinach is purplish-red or green. It has fleshy and thick leaves. When cooked, it is slightly slippery. I used to cook this veggie quite often as my girls like it. It is simple and easy to prepare; be it a stir-fry or a simple vegetable soup. No matter how you cook it, it is still tasty!

Here is one of my Malabar Spinach recipes which I stir fried it with salted egg. Hope you like it!!

Ingredients :

- a bunch of Malabar Spinach - washed

- 1 salted egg - whipped;  yolk, cut into small pieces 

-  garlic - crushed

- 1/2 cup of water

- soy sauce - to taste

- Cooking oil

Method :
1) Heat cooking oil in a wok at medium high heat. Add garlic and saute till fragrant.

2) Add malabar spinach and give it a quick stir. Add water and continue to stir another minute.

3) Add salted egg and let it simmer for a while. When the egg is set, add soy sauce and mix well. (Take note that you should adjust the soy sauce accordingly as sometimes the salted egg can be quite salty. As for me, I did not add any salt to it as I have added bamboo salt into my soy sauce).

4) Remove from the heat and serve at once.

 Hope you like this simple recipe.  Enjoy!!