Sambal Kangkong Belacan Recipe

I love to eat Sambal Kang Kong.

Sometimes when you order it at the Zhi Char store, it can be a hit or miss.

Or just really pricey: $12 bucks at Newton?
$6 to $8 bucks at coffeeshops.

Or just never enough. Everyone takes about 2 -3 mouthfuls and it's gone.

So in order to be able to:
Eat it anytime, anywhere and any amount I want,
I decided to learn how to cook it.

This was my first attempt and I think I got lucky.
Had lots of help from doing research on the web and the Singlong sauce.
  The cost price is about $3 to $5.

Sharing my modified recipe:

A. Sambal Kangkong Belacan Ingredients:

1. Kang Kong
   1 Large Bunch.
   (About S$1 - $2 worth from local supermarkets)
2. Dried Chilli
   2 dried chillies diced thinly
3. Garlic
   3 - 5 whole pieces diced thinly
4. Onion
   2 small onion (or shallot) diced thinly
5. Dried shrimp
   10 small pieces diced thinly
6. Sambal Belacan Chilli Sauce (SingLong Brand)
   4 Tablespoon

B. Sambal Kangkong Belacan Cooking Steps

B1. Preparing The Pesto

1. Add the diced garlic, chili , onion and dried shrimp into a pounder. Crush and pound until the 4 ingredients are well mixed and appear mashed.
   (This is a very important step. The pounded pesto creates fragrance and gives the dish texture)
2. Set aside.

B2. Preparing The Kang Kong

1. Wash the Kang Kong with water and separate the stems from the leafs first.
    
2. Cut the stems into small pieces up to one inch long. (About half a finger length)
   
3. Cut the leaves into generous chunks
   (About full finger length or slightly longer. Too long and it might cause choking while chewing. So be careful)
   
4. Set aside.

B3. Stir Frying Begins

1. Add 2 tablespoon of oil to the work and set heat to medium fire.  
2. Add the pounded  garlic, chili, onion and dried shrimp into the heated wok and gently stir fry until fragrant. (About 2 - 3 minutes)
   
   
3. Add in the Sambal Sauce into the wok and stir-fry with the previous mixture for about a minute.
4. Add in the stems of the Kang Kong and stir fry with the mixture for about 3 minutes until stem looks slightly softened. 
   
   
5. Add in the leaves and stir fry for about 2 minutes until the leaves soften and are cooked.
   Turn up heat high at this time to infuse magic heat from work. (WOK HEI)
   Keep stirring to avoid burning for 30 seconds. Turn heat to medium. 
   
   
   
   
   
6. Use a small spoon to take a sample of the sauce to try. Add a little sugar, fish sauce, salt or chilli to enhance taste to desired flavor. If you're not sure, just keep it simple and leave it as it is. 
7.  Turn off heat and plate. Done.

Kung Pao Chicken Recipe Modified from Frogs' Legs Porridge Recipe

I love the Frog Legs Porridge at Geylang Lorong 9. But not everyone in my family is daring enough to eat Frogs. So I tried to replicate the recipe by using Chicken instead.

A. Kung Pao Chicken Ingredients:

1. Chicken Thigh Meat
   1 Large piece cut into cubes
   (About S$3 to $5 worth from local supermarkets)
2. Dried Chilli
   5 dried chillies, cut into pieces
   (About a handful to add heat and give an exotic look to the dish)
3. Garlic
   3 - 5 whole pieces
   (For fragrance and depth to dish)
4. Ginger
   10 pieces sliced ginger
   (To remove some of the foul chicken smell)
5. Onion
   1 medium onion sliced thinly
6. Spring Onion
   1 Stalk sliced into 3cm length pieces
   (A handful for garnishing)
   
   
   
   

B. Kung Pao Chicken Seasoning:

B1. Chicken Marinade

1. 1 teaspoons of Light Soya Sauce
2. ½ teaspoon of White Pepper 
3. 2 teaspoons of Cornflour
4. 1 teaspoon of Sesame Oil
5. ½ teaspoon of Sugar
   
   

B2. Kung Pao Sauce

1. 5 tablespoon of Sesame Oil
2. 2 tablespoon Black Vinegar
3. 2 tablespoon Sugar
4. 1 tablespoon Oyster Sauce
5. 1 tablespoon Dark Soya Sauce
6. 1 teaspoon of Hoisin Sauce
7.  ½ teaspoon Salt
8. 100ml Water
   
   
   

C. Kung Pao Chicken Cooking Steps

C1. Fry The Chicken Cubes

1. Marinate the chicken cubes with Seasoning B1 and place in fridge for about an hour
2. After an hour, remove chicken from fridge and give a quick stir
3. Heat up 2 tablespoon of oil in a wok under medium fire.
4. Place chicken cubes in the wok and stir fry until chicken is light brown and slightly undercooked 
   
   
   
   
5. Turn up heat to high for 30 seconds and remove chicken from wok
6. Turn off heat. 

C2. Cooking The Sauce

1. Using some of the remaining oil from C1 in the same work, heat up the wok in medium fire
2. Add the garlic, onion and ginger to stir fry until fragrant
   
   
3. Add dried chillies next for 30 seconds
   
4. Add B2 Sauce and stir fry for about 1 minute
   
5. Turn to low heat 
6. Use a spoon to scoop some sauce to test the seasoning
7. 
   
8. Add some salt or sugar to adjust, or even additional dried chili if you need it to be more spicy. 
9. Once satisfied with taste of sauce, add in the pre-fried chicken to the sauce
   
   
10. Cook chicken and sauce for a minute till the slightly undercooked chicken is well done.
    
    
11. Turn of heat and add in spring onion
    
12. Serve in a heated claypot if you can. It just tastes better and looks like its bubbling hot.

You can increase the sauce by just increasing the seasoning under the same ratio if you need to make a bigger serving.

Cook porridge and eat it along with this dish! 

Great comfort food for a rainy day.

Research & Sources:
http://www.soshiok.com/recipe/kung-pao-and-ginger-frog-recipes

Introduction

Started this blog as I have always found it difficult to retrieve the previous cooking recipes I had found from the web. Especially those, that I had tested successfully from my cooking adventures.

In addition, it will include some modified and simplified recipes I have attempted as well.

Hopefully it will help you in your own cooking journey as a recipe reference point. Cheers.