Tag Archives: chinese

Recipes: Bean Sprout Stir Fry

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Common in our part of the world, mung bean sprouts are grown by sprouting mung beans and are extensively cultivated and consumed in East and Southeast Asia. I make this recipe quite often for S and the children and it’s a very healthy and easy recipe. Today, however, I am going to share the not healthy version of it. I’ll give the healthy version at the end.

Bean Sprout Stir Fry

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups sprouted moong beans
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 large potato
  • 1 medium sized sweet potato (optional)
  • 1 tbsp garlic paste
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • Sunflower oil to deep fry
  • 1 large onion, sliced finely
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • A dash of lemon juice (optional)

Method:

  • Peel the carrots, potato and sweet potato if using and chop them into thinnish sticks of about 1 inch length.
  • In a large pan, heat the oil and when the oil becomes hot enough, deep fry the carrot, potato and sweet potato sticks until they turn crisp. Remove and keep aside.
  • In another pan, heat the 1 tbsp oil and when the oil warms up, add the garlic paste and stir.
  • Add the onions and saute till the onions turn translucent.
  • Add the salt and pepper to taste
  • Now add the fried vegetables and stir well
  • When the vegetables and the onions are mixed well, add the bean sprouts and toss well. Let it cook for a few minutes and be careful not to overcook the bean sprouts.
  • Check for seasoning, switch off the gas and drizzle some lemon juice if using.
  • Serve hot.

To make the healthy version, you only need to use carrots and green bell peppers, not potatoes, they will take too long to cook. After the onions become translucent, add in the carrot and bell pepper sticks and saute on a medium to high flame until the vegetables get cooked. Add the salt and pepper and then the bean sprouts. Continue sauteing on a medium to high flame for a few more minutes until the vegetables and the bean sprouts are cooked. Serve hot.

Recipe: Tofu Sambal

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Tofu is something that everyone in my house, with the exception of me, love. In fact, even my helper who is from India loves tofu. I  am the odd one out, so this recipe is actually an anomaly. It was actually made my by my helper, but I am putting it down here, in case I need to make it when she is no longer with us.

This recipe is a local one, which has been adapted from Chinese cooking, but Indianised to suit an Indian palate.

Tofu Sambal

Ingredients:

  • 2 packs of hard tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes
  • 2 tomatoes, chopped
  • 2 red onions, chopped roughly
  • 1 onion, chopped finely lengthwise
  • 4-5 fresh red chillies (use more if you want it spicier)
  • 5 cloves of garlic
  • 1-inch piece of ginger
  • 2 tbsps oil
  • Salt to taste
  • Coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

  • Dry the tofu lightly and bake in an oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes. Keep aside.
  • In a blender, blend together the onions, garlic, ginger and red chillies into a fine paste and keep aside.
  • Heat oil in a pan and when warm, add the onions chopped lengthwise and let it become translucent.
  • Pour the blended chilli mixture and stir until the mixture becomes thick and the oil starts oozing out.
  • In the same blender, blend the tomatoes until it becomes a fine paste. You can also use tomato puree here instead. Add the tomato paste to the pan and let it cook well.
  • Now add the baked tofu into the pan and season to taste.
  • Let it all come to a nice rolling boil and switch off the flame.
  • Garnish with coriander leaves and serve hot with plain rice.

Do you know what they are saying?

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Don’t you hate it when people around you, knowing that you do not know the language they are speaking in, continue to talk in that said language, thus excluding you from the conversation and leaving you to wonder what they were talking about and whether they were talking about you?

Singapore, where we live, is a multi-racial and multi-lingual society. In fact, although English is the most used and working language of the country, there are a total of four official languages – English, Chinese (or Mandarin to be exact), Malay and Tamil. But given that the Chinese make up the largest percentage of the population (about 80%), it is inevitable that you get to hear a whole lot of Chinese spoken in the island.

But what gets my goat is this – when almost every citizen below  the age of 50 has been educated completely in English, you still have people who go around talking in one language when there are people of other races around you, who you know can’t speak or understand the language! How rude and insensitive is this? This happens all over the country and the biggest culprits are the Chinese (since they are the majority population). But I find this happening with Indians (speaking the language of their specific community), Malays and others too.

My master plan for GG & BB to avoid this is to have them take Chinese in school. Given that they will be spending their lives in this country (or not), it’s always better for them to know the language. Even if they do not learn it thoroughly, they should still learn enough to be able to carry on a conversation and in a sneaky way know what others are talking about them! What do you think?

Have you ever been in a situation where people around you are talking in a language you know zilch about and you go nuts trying to figure out what they are saying?

P.S: This is my 99th post and so the post tomorrow is special ‘coz it’s my 100th post! Now wait for something special to be written!