Growing up I never really enjoy eating Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts & Tofu, ឆារសណ្តែកបណ្តុះនិងតៅហ៊ូ (Cha Sondaek Bondoss Nung Thao-Who) because there was no meat. It’s a perfect Asian vegetarian dish if you replace some of the sauces. I would rather have my fried eggs with soy sauce over hot steamy rice. However it’s been so long since I had this stir-fried dish and when all I had was leftover bean sprouts from making Cambodian Chicken Rice Porridge with Fried Noodle and some fried tofu, I knew I had to bring this dish back. It’s another Asian quick, easy and healthy dish to put together especially if you are trying to cut back on carb in-take.

Stir-Fried Bean Sprouts and Tofu (makes 1-2 serving)
(Cha Sondaek Bondoss Nung Thao-Who) ឆារសណ្តែកបណ្តុះនិងតៅហ៊ូ

Ingredients
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 bird’s eye chili, optional
8 oz fried tofu, cut into bite size pieces
8 oz bean sprout, rinse with cold water and drain thoroughly
1½ tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 stalks green onion, green part only, cut into 1 inch pieces
oil for stir frying

Method:
Heat a pan with oil and add minced garlic. Quickly stir it around until golden and be careful not to burn. Add chili if using. Stir about 25 secs until fragrant.

Add fried tofu. Technically the tofu are cooked already so you are just reheating it.

Next add the bean sprouts followed by the remaining seasonings. Give it a quick stir to incorporate the ingredients.

Turn off the heat and add green onion.

Dish out and serve as part of a meal or on it’s own.  ENJOY!

Stir-fried water spinach or morning glory with oyster sauce, ឆារត្រកួនព្រេងខ្យង (Cha Trokoun Prang Kjong) is one of my favorite vegetable side dish. I sometime load it up especially when it’s in season and simply enjoy it as a meal itself. It’s one of my favorite ADD (Asian Diet Dish).

Water spinach is a favorite vegetable among many Southeast Asian countries. Each has their own way of cooking it.  Water spinach is declared by the USDA as a “noxious weed” . It grows too rapidly ( up to 4-inches a day) especially in the state of Florida which chokes out the state’s waterways, clogs up dams and water intakes and can kill an outboard motor in seconds. I wish my hair would grow out that fast. I believe importers must have a special permit to sell them to the public at the supermarket. If you do not have water spinach or have access to them you can try to substitute with watercress or snow pea leaves. The ingredients and method I’ve provided here can be used to stir-fried many other leafy green as well however, do adjust the cooking time depending on your pick.

Only a few ingredients is used and it cooks extremely quick, about 5 minutes! The key to making this delicious stir-fried water spinach with oyster sauce a delicious is to make sure you cook on high heat and move quickly. Although they do cook down make sure to have enough room so that they get evenly distribute on the pan. This will ensure that every single stem is coated. Unfortunately, it takes quiet some time to prep the water spinach because you need trim it down then pluck the wilted, dead or tough leaves from the stems then rinse it thoroughly to remove any grits, sand or mud that might of stick to leaves and/or stems (demonstration available in the video). Once the cleaning part is done you can then wrap it in paper towel and store it in the fridge for later use. It will last a couple days in there. Water spinach is also used in many popular Cambodian dishes such as the Cambodian Beef Sour Soup, សម្លរម្ចូរគ្រឿងសាច់គោ (Somlaw Machew Kroeung Sachko) and the Cambodian Countryside Sour Soup, សម្លរម្ចូរត្រកួនស្រែ(Somlaw Machew Trokoun Srae). Cambodians also blanch it or do a quick saute in oil and dip it in Tuk Kroeung, a Cambodian dip made with fish.

Some water spinach species has a very thick and hollow stem. When I visited Cambodia in 2006 they made pickled water spinach stems out of those and serve it to guest at the restaurant while they are waiting for their order. I was told that the leaves on those species were too tough and old to eat so only the stem part were used. So far the one I purchase here in the Bay Area, CA are not those species therefore both the stem and leaves can be eaten. During my trip I was also told  that water spinach is a poor family vegetable because it is widely accessible, easy to grow, and require very little care. Some family even use it to feed their pigs, hence ‘pig food’. Most of my meals in Cambodia consist of an order of this ‘pig food’. I could not get enough of it especially when I am not the one prepping it.

Video Tutorial:

Stir-Fried Water Spinach with Oyster Sauce
(Cha Trokoun Prang Kjong) ឆារត្រកួនព្រេងខ្យង

Ingredients
2 tablespoons oil or enough to coat your pan
7 cloves of garlic, peel and mash with the back of a cleaver
bird’s eye chili, slice lengthwise (adjust amount to your liking)
about 1 lb water spinach, thoroughly wash and cut into 2-inch sections
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1½ tablespoons fish sauce

Method:
Get your pan nice and hot then add the oil. Swirl it around to coat the bottom of the pan. Turn on the fan if you have to to prevent the smoke alarm from going off.

Toss in your garlic and stir fry about 20-30 secs. It should not take long to turn golden brown. If it does, it means the oil is not hot enough.

Next add the chili if using and continue to stir fry until fragrant, about another 20-30 secs.

Toss the water spinach and you should hear the pan sizzle because they are a bit wet and the oil is hot. This is a very good indication that the heat is just right. Stir it for just a minute to coat the water spinach.

Add the oyster sauce and fish sauce seasoning and give it another stir to incorporate all the flavors.

Dish out and serve immediately. ENJOY!

I love squash especially kabocha and butternut squash.  The beautiful bright golden color makes not only a delicious treat but an eye catching one as well. They are used in serveral Cambodian dishes such as in this Stir-Fried Pork with Squash, Cambodian Steamed Squash in Banana Leaves (Num Lapov), Cambodian Ratatouille Soup (Somlaw Koko), Steamed Custard (Lapov Songkya) and many more. When my Mother use it in Somlaw Koko I usually pick only the squash and leave the rest to others.

Here’s a fun food fact history. The kabocha, however, was introduced to Japan by Portuguese sailors in 1541, who brought it with them from Cambodia. The Portuguese name for the pumpkin, Cambodia abóbora (カンボジャ・アボボラ), was shortened by the Japanese to kabocha. (source Wikipedia)

Cambodian Stir-Fried Pork with Squash (makes 1-2 serving)
(Cha Lapov Sach Jrook) ឆារល្ពៅសាច់ជ្រូក

Ingredients
1 small squash (kabocha or butternut squash), sliced
8 oz pork, sliced
2 stalks green onion (scallions)
5 bird’s eye chilies (optional)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
dash of black pepper

Method:
Heat oil in a frying pan and add garlic. Quickly stir it around to prevent burning. Add chillies if using. Stir another 2-3 seconds until the chili starts to release it’s fragrant.

Add sliced pork and stir fry until they are at least 80% cooked.

Season with sugar, oyster sauce, and fish sauce. Stir to coat.

Toss in squash and stir to coat again. Cook 2-3 minutes depending on your preference of texture. Some like to have a bit of crunch while others prefer it nice and soft.

Turn off the heat and stir in green onions.

Serve with hot steamed rice. ENJOY!

This incredibly fragrant and delicious stir fried mussels can be enjoyed as a main course served along hot steamy rice or with a fresh French loaf to soak all the wonderful juices.

Here I’m using previously frozen mussels that are in it’s half shell. They come in a 1½ lb container. You can definitely use fresh ones. Make sure you scrub them thoroughly and discard the open ones. It will also require just a little more cooking time. I am also using the tender Holy Basil which has a spicier and sweeter than Sweet Basil but you can also use regular Basil known as Thai Basil. Another key ingredient in this dish is the roasted chili paste. It is packed with many tasty ingredients like sugar, shallot, garlic, soyabean oil, dried chile, fish sauce, dried shrimp, msg, paprika.

While I made this mussels you can also substitute this with chicken or even pork.

Stir Fried Mussels with Holy Basil (makes 2-3 servings)
(Cha Krum Jompous Tear Maress Prov) ឆារគ្រុំចំពុះទាម្រៈព្រៅ

Video Tutorial:

Ingredients
1 tablespoon oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
4 bird’s eye chilies, slit in half length-wise (discard seeds if you don’t like spicy)
2 tablespoons roasted chili paste
1 tablespoon palm sugar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 cup holy basil leaves
1½ lb mussels

Method:
To ease the flow of cooking, combine palm sugar, fish sauce and roasted chili paste together. Mix thoroughly and set aside.

Heat oil in a pan until hot. Add minced garlic followed by chilies. Quickly stir until fragrant.

Add mussels and stir to coat with garlic and chili oil. Allow them to hang out another 2-3 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add in roasted chili mixture. Stir until sauce thickens, about 3-4 minutes. However, if it’s too dry, you can add water or stock, 1 tablespoon at a time. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary.

Finally, add the holy basil leaves. Give it a couple more stir and remove from heat.

To serve, slide mussels and sauce onto a serving platter, mound them into a pile. Garnish with fresh sprigs of holy basil. ENJOY!

Anyhow, I went through a couple of my cookbooks to get some ideas on what I can do different with my beef. The one that interest me was a recipe from The Elephant Walk Cookbook called Stir-Fried Beef with Lemongrass (Cha Sachko Kroeung) ឆារសាច់គោគ្រឿង. I technically borrowed this book from my BFF like 3-4 years ago. One of these days I’ll return it to it’s rightful owner plus a some cook dishes from this book for her to taste. According to the authors Longteine De Monteiro & Katherine Neustadt this dish is an Indian-Chinese hybrid. I read the recipe through and applied the concept but tweaked the flavors and measurements accordingly to my taste.  As a result, I really really love the dish! I was blown away by surprise.  At first I was wary of the flavor afraid it might be too nutty and that it would not pair well with my steamed rice. I was totally wrong. The lemony flavors from the Khmer Kroeung (lemongrass paste) and the spicy jalapenos really help balance out the nutty flavor.

Stir-Fried Beef with Lemongrass
(Cha Sachko Kroeung) ឆារសាច់គោគ្រឿង
adapt from The Elephant Walk Cookbook

Ingredients
½ cup Khmer Kroeung (lemongrass paste)
¾-1 lb beef, cut into 2 inches strips
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
1 small onion, sliced into wedges
6 red jalapeños, quartered length-wise (substitute red bell pepper for color and a mild flavor)
4 tablespoons unsalted roasted peanuts, coarsely ground in a mortar & pestle
2 stalk green onion, cut into 2 inches & split length-wise
2 tablespoons oil for frying

Method:
Mix sliced beef with Khmer Kroeung and set aside. Use your hands to massage and work the Kroeung into the beef.

Heat oil in a pan. Depending on the size of your pan you might have to fry the beef in batches. Fry them in single layer and do not crowd them. Once you set it in the pan do not move it. Leave it there un-touch for a couple of minutes. This will ensure that you get a nice crusty brown on the beef strips. Then flip to the other side and repeat this step until all the strips are fried.

Sprinkle sugar and add fish sauce. Do a quick stir to incorporate the ingredients.

Toss in the onion, peppers and ¾ of the peanut. Give it another stir and cook for about 3 minutes until onions are soften.

Remove from heat and add green onion reserving a few for garnish and sprinkle with remaining peanuts just before serving.