Asparagus, in a stir-fry manner!

When I was younger, whenever there's bits of asparagus in those fancy sit-down Chinese dinners, my mother always tell me to 'have more' because it is an 'expensive' vegetable. In some sense, I supposed it is quite expensive back home because it cannot be planted in our tropical climate. Recently, I found out that asparagus is a spring vegetable and usually it would be cheaper to buy at that time. We managed to catch the asparagus 'boom' at our local supermarket last week and thought... try cooking it ala Chinese style!

First, chop up some garlic and the asparagus. Cut off about 1 inch off the bottom of the asparagus and cut them into smaller sections. 

When the preparation is done, stir fry the garlic with some cooking oil in a pan. Once the garlic is fragrant, pour in the asparagus. Season the asparagus with some cooking wine, about quarter to half a cap. Give it a quick fry and then pour in a little bit of water to soften the veggies. Let it simmer for about 1 minute (or 2, depending on the volume and size of the asparagus) and season it with some oyster sauce. Continue frying until the water has been completely evaporated. If you prefer some sauce, fry the veggies until it has become a darker green and it is ready to serve!

The asparagus was crunchy and it has a refreshing feel when you chew the stems. One thing to note is to choose thinner stems instead of the fat ones. The fatter stems tend to be more fibrous and one needs to chew little longer to soften it. Other than that, I really like it! Yum yums!

Another style that I tried today was I replaced the cooking wine with fish sauce instead. After adding the oyster sauce, give a good shake or drizzle of the fish sauce. It gives out a different taste than the cooking wine... simply delicious and both styles compliment very well with rice too!

TheLoyalFan says: 'I love it cooked this way, Ching style, pure & infused with garlic. Super good with rice!'

Yup, indeed. Somehow the rice in my plate disappeared really fast... I wish there were more rice though : P 

Char Kuay Teow

Char Kuay Teow which simply means fried kuay teow, is a famous Penang dish and it is available at almost all coffee shops in Malaysia. But, not every stall is yummy & tasty. We both love Char Kuay Teow very much and used to eat it almost every week! Well, sometimes, more than once in a week... hehehehe.

This dish is quite tricky because you'll need a very hot wok to fry your ingredients. Nonetheless, with a little patience and effort, I think everyone can cook it : )

So here goes the awesome Penang dish... slightly modified by yours truly, due to incomplete ingredients : P

Clockwise from top left: Ingredients are chopped nicely; Bean Sprouts;
Kuay Teow soaked and drained; Prawns soaked in sugar water.

First, fry some finely chopped garlic & some chopped dried chillis in a liquid of hot cooking oil. Then quickly put in your lap cheong and fry them until it is fairly crispy. Add in some prawns and sear it until it is almost 70% cooked. Once that is almost done, put in your kuay teow (or also known as rice sticks) and bean sprouts together. Give it a quick toss.

For the seasoning, you'll need to prepare this concoction before you start the cooking. In a bowl, pour in soya sauce, dark soya sauce, fish sauce, dashes of white pepper, salt and some sugar. However, I do not have dark soya sauce and hence, replace it with oyster sauce : ) Stir to mix well.

After you have toss your kuay teow and sprouts, pour in your seasoning mixture. Then the final ingredient, egg! Push your noodles aside and crack an egg. Once it is cook on the base, mix everything together and it is ready to serve!

Round 1: Fried by SousChef

Round 2: Fried by TheLoyalFan. Looks nicer than mine...mmmm! 

Our first attempt of this was quite good although we have missed out 2 important ingredients - cockles and chinese chives. Nonetheless, the sauce does make it taste like the hawker stall's version. The noodles were well coated with oil, making it looks so glossy and yummy too! I wished that the lap cheong was crispier but it can't be done because the garlic was going to be burnt. Hence, I think for my next attempt, I shall try to fry the lap cheong first, then only the garlic. Hopefully my theory works lah!

TheLoyalFan says: 'Oh Char Kuay Teow... how I love you so! Nom nom noms... I don't know what to say. I love Char Kuay Teow!!!'

The sauce mixture was referenced from Rasa Malaysia. Please feel free to check it out ^_^ Mine is sort of the simpler version.

Till then, keep nomming!

Ingredients: Garlic, Dried Chilli, Lap Cheong, Peeled Prawns, Kuay Teow (Rice Sticks), Bean Sprouts, Egg.