Stir-fried Kam Heong Chinese Long Beans Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Stir-fried Kam Heong Chinese Long Beans

Those who regularly patronize seafood eateries must be very familiar with 'kam heong lala (fragrant clams)' or 'kam heong crabs' which always available in the seafood restaurant menu, be it in the form of dine-in or takeaway.  Pronounced as 'kam heong' in Cantonese, the phrase literally translated as fragrant, flavorful or 甘香 in Mandarin.  'Kam heong' sauce is exceedingly versatile, as you can prepare it in bulk, store properly in the fridge and pair them with any seafood, chicken, pork or vegetables whenever you're hard pressed for time, without compromising on the flavors yet not labor-extensive.

The soul ingredient for kam heong dishes lies heavily in curry leaves which elevate the whole dish into another dimension. Basically all you need is to pour in copious amount of curry leaves in order to pep up your strong tastebuds. If you are big into biting chilli-hot, be lavish of bird's eye chillies addition. My tastebuds tolerance towards chilli-hot (heat scale) is comparatively low to that of my hubby, any addition beyond 5 bird's eye chillies is sure to ruffle my features. Thus, I add in my ceiling amount of bird's eye chillies into this dish.

I incorporated vegetables into 'kam heong' sauce today instead of pairing it with usual seafood ingredients.  Chinese long beans (aka yardlong beans, long-podded cowpeas, asparagus beans or snake beans) retain a nice crisp-tender bite despite being lacquered with lumpy 'kam heong' sauce. When bulked up with the briny taste of dried shrimps, a burst of onion and chilli powder flavors, this savory piquant dish is sublime.

When you opt for this stir-fried 'kam heong' Chinese long beans, be sure to attune your five senses to enjoy every taste. So are you ready? Let's get down to cook!

Ingredients :
250g long beans, cut into 5cm lengths
1 onion, quartered
4 tbsp dried shrimps, soaked and ground coarsely
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced shallots
2 sprigs of curry leaves, stem discarded, use leaves only
5 bird's eye chillies, chopped
Sufficient oil for deep-frying

Seasoning  (Sauce mixture) :
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp Hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 dark soy sauce
4 tbsp of water

Method  :

1.  In a skillet, deep-fry long beans in hot oil for 20-30 seconds. Dish up and drain on a wire mesh ladle to drain off excess oil.

2. Leave about 2-3 tbsp oil in the skillet and saute chopped dried prawns, minced garlic and shallots until fragrant. Add in curry leaves and bird's eye chillies. Stir to mix well and until aromatic.

3. Return the Chinese long beans to the skillet and pour in the sauce mixture (seasoning). Stir to mix well all the ingredients. Dish out in a serving plate and serve hot with steamed rice.

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Honey Chicken in Red Gravy (Ayam Masak Merah) Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Honey Chicken in Red Gravy (Ayam Masak Merah)

Locally known as Ayam Masak Merah and literally translated as "Chicken Cooked in Red Gravy", it's a common dish featured on the menu when you dine-out at Malay eateries in Malaysia. Although the chicken is drenched in a full-bodied, red-hued sweetish sauce, Ayam Masak Merah turns out to be a relative healthy option compared to those local curry with rich coconut gravy. At least, you will feel guilt free without having coconut milk in the dish.

Substituting the rich and calorie-laden coconut milk, honey and tomatoes infuse the savory sweet to the dish. The mélange of  of different textures - spices, finely-pounded mixture of garlic, ginger, onion, tomatoes and honey as well as distinct nuances integrate so well until it ends up in a thick, honeyed, red gloppy sauce, hence the name "red gravy" (masak merah). With long hours of marinating, the chicken is inherent with turmeric and briny flavors and deep-fried until crispy golden brown, drained up and then returned to the skillet again to mingle with thick soggy sauce. It was then brought to simmer until all the flavors marry well.

If you are looking for a balanced mix of full-bodied, briny and sweet accents dish to serve your Malay guests, then this recipe is for you. Enjoy!

Ingredients :

1 whole chicken, cut into big chunks
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
4 cloves
5 cardamon pods
2 tbsp chilli paste
2 tbsp meat curry powder
4 fresh tomatoes, quartered
1 canned tomato soup or tomato puree (small can is sufficient)
3 tbsp honey
2 sprigs of curry leaves
Salt to taste
Oil for deep-frying

Spices for Honey Chicken in Red Gravy (Ayam Masak Merah)

For chicken marinade :
1 tbsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp salt

For pounded ingredients :
4 cloves of garlic, skin removed
1 inch ginger, skin peeled
1 big onion, skin peeled

Pound garlic, ginger, onion using pestle and mortar

Methods :

 1. Marinate the chicken with turmeric powder and salt, wrap with cling film and let it stands for at least 2 hours or preferably overnight in the fridge.

2. When the chicken are ready to be cooked, heat up the skillet with some oil, deep-fry the marinated chicken until it turns golden brown on both sides, dished up and drained with paper kitchen towel.

3. Remove excess oil in the skillet and leave about 4 tbsp of oil for sautéing the pounded ingredients and spices. Add in pounded ingredients (garlic, ginger, onion mixture) and followed by spices (cinnamon stick, star anise, cloves and cardamon pods). Stir well until all onion caramelized and browned.

5. Add 2 tbsp of meat curry powder, stir well and wait until a layer of oil emerges on the surface. At this point, add in chilli paste and freshly quartered tomatoes. Mix well. When the tomatoes are slightly tender, add in tomato soup (or tomato puree). Cook for another 5 minutes.

6. Add in curry leaves and honey. Season with salt (to taste). Reduce to low flame to simmer for another 5 minutes until all the ingredients are well integrated with the tomatoes. Serve hot with steamed fluffy rice.

Pound garlic, ginger, onion using pestle and mortar, then marinade and deep-fry the chicken

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Prawn In Spicy Milk Sauce Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

Prawns are deep-fried and then coated in a sweet sticky glaze of evaporated milk and given depth of flavor with the addition of butter, curry leaves, curry powder and bird's eye chillies. Mouth-wateringly different, it's a harmonious blends of  'chilli hot' with subtle additions of aromatic curry leaves and sweetness of milk to lessen the 'bite'.

Moving beyond a big dose of fatty pork dishes, we are now shifting the attention to seafood treat, which is also calorie-laden. Sorry for those weight watchers, you have to temporarily endure the temptation that the dish induced.

Aromatic in nature, fresh curry leaves lend an irreplaceable fragrance to this dish and is enhanced by the sting from the bird's eye chillies and the lovely sweetness from the evaporated milk and sugar. Curry powder is thrown in to impart a little bit of local flavor, making this shrimp course bursting with flavors and unique on its own.

If you wish to lay your hands on the dish in your very own kitchen, here's the how-to recipe. 奶香虾食谱

Ingredients :
600g medium to big prawns, slit back and deveined
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp curry leaves
2 tsp chopped bird's eye chillies (cili padi)
100ml evaporated milk

Seasoning :
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp curry powder

Method :
1. Heat up oil in a large non stick skillet, when the oil turns hot, deep-fry prawns until cooked. Dish up and drain in paper towels.

2. Melt butter in a skillet, saute curry leaves and bird's eye chillies until fragrant. Add in evaporated milk, seasoning and bring to boil.

3. Add in pre-fried prawns and stir-fry at high heat, toss to mix well. Dish up and serve immediately while hot.

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Assam Pork Curry Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

This savory tamarind-based pork curry dish is perfectly complemented by the rich coconut gravy, chilli paste, curry powder, sugar and spices which adds a distinctive sweet, sour and spicy flavors that guarantee to spike the appetite. This Indian pork curry appeals to more than taste alone.

With rich cultural milieu, Malaysia is a culinary heritage that spans several hundreds years. Over a period of time, the culinary expertise of different cultures and races have been influenced by one another and have been brought together, resulted in a delicious fusion of local specialties and the original traditional fare. Hence, there's a different variation of pork curry dish, which is originally an Indians piquant traditional fare.

Below is a quick, easy and hassle-free recipe which calls for assam paste (or assam jawa), the Malay word for tamarind, which gives the dish its sour taste. To enhance the sourness, dried slices of tamarind fruit (assam/asam keping in Malay) are also added to the dish. Mouth-wateringly different, Indian food is generally 'chilli hot', blended with subtle additions of aromatic herbs and spices to lessen the 'bite'. This dish has no exception.

Mingling sourness from tamarind, sweet kick from sugar, spicy note from curry powder and chilli paste, the heady fragrant of curry leaves, distinctive richness of coconut gravy and earthy flavor from pork, this assam pork curry dish  is a harmonious blend of the sweet, sour and spicy flavors designed to appeal to both the eyes and palates.
While this may be one of the most easy pork curry recipes you can find, don't be surprised by its superior taste. Learn how to cook assam pork curry with below simple recipe.

加哩猪肉片食谱

Ingredients :
300g sliced pork (cut into strips)
100ml thick coconut milk
50ml water
2 tbsp tamarind paste ("assam" paste), mixed with 50ml water and squeezed out tamarind juice
2 tbsp oil

Curry Spices :
4 tbsp chopped shallots
2 stalks lemon grass, mashed up
2 tbsp curry leaves
1 tbsp curry powder
3 tbsp chilli paste
3 pieces dried tamarind (assam jawa keping in Malay)

Seasoning :
1 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp light soy sauce

Method :
1. Heat up 2 tbsp oil and saute curry spices until fragrant.

2. Add in pork slices and stir well. Add in coconut milk, water, tamarind juice, seasoning and bring to boil. Cook until meat is tender. Dish up and serve hot.

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Crispy Butter Prawns Recipe | Easy Asian Cooking

The curry leaves lend a distinct flavor and complement the richness of butter whilst the bird’s eye chillies inject some fiery hot and add some depth to this appetising butter prawns.

If any aromatic could lay claim to the title of signature ingredients when it comes to Malaysian food, then surely curry leaves must be the odds-on favourite. Curry leaves lends Southern Indian influences into this Malaysian specialties. There is something about its warm, fragrant-scented curry leaves that even in the non-Asian countries which have growing Asian demographics, you still can find someone is hunting down with bated breath for curry leaves. This is one of the Malaysian delicacies which embraces a mingling of races and encapsulates a wealth of culinary delights. I would say, without going through the hassle of complicated cooking or compromising on the flavors, this easy to whip up butter prawns simply get your mouth watering and your taste buds tantalizing with buttery, sweet, fragrant-scented, spicy and garlicky flavors!

Here's a Malaysian cooking recipe for quick and easy butter prawns with aromatic flavors which make you want a second helping. Enjoy!

脆口牛油虾食谱

Ingredients :
1kg medium size prawn, slit down the back and de-vein, the rest of prawn shells left intact, pat dry
8 cups oil for deep-frying
50g salted butter or margarine
1/2 bowl curry leaves
1 tbsp chopped bird's eyes chillies

Batter (Mixed) :
3 tbsp plain flour
2 tbsp corn flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
100ml water

Seasoning :
1 tsp sugar

Method :
1. Trim the prawns, wash and drain well. Pat dry with kitchen paper towel.

2. Heat up oil for deep-frying. Coat prawn with batter and deep-fry in hot oil until golden brown and cooked. Dish and drain, set aside.

3. Melt butter in a skillet, saute curry leaves and bird's eye chilies until fragrant. Add in seasoning, prawns and stir-fry until well mixed. Dish up and serve.

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