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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Recipe: Sarawak stir fried manicai (马尼菜) with eggs

Kelly posted a very simple Sarawak vegetable dish the other day and since I had mani cai growing in our garden, I decided to cook this. Mani cai (马尼菜) is also known as sayur manis or sweet leaf (or its binomial name: Sauropus androgynus). This is the vegetable that you will find in your pan mee noodles or soup in KL. Usually in our home, we would put the mani cai in soup with some eggs. Mani cai is a good source of vitamin K, provita-min A carotenoids, vitamins B, C, protein and minerals. However, excessive consumption of the juiced leaves (which is popular for weight loss) can cause lung damage, due to its high concentrations of the alkaloid papaverine.


Stir fried mani cai with eggs


In Sarawak, it is common to have it stir fried with eggs. According to Kelly, an important step in cooking this is to squeeze out the juice by hand as it can be bitter. For me personally, the mani cai doesn't have any bitter taste but following this step does help eliminate the waxy aftertaste that the mani cai usually leaves on my tongue. Salting and squeezing the vegetable makes the vegetable taste much smoother too.

I cooked this 3 days in a row, first day without salting the mani cai, second day as per Kelly's instructions and third day as per Kelly's instruction with some added chicken stock (just as an experiment). And Day 2 and 3 ones were better. For those interested to try this, you can get mani cai easily in the wet market for RM1 per bunch - pluck off the leaves and you can replant the stalks in your garden, then you will have a continued supply of mani cai. They grow quite easily and require minimal attention.




Stir-fried Manicai with Eggs
Recipe adapted from Kelly Siew
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients
100g Manicai (plucked from stalks)
2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 egg
1/2 tsp Shaoxing wine (optional)
1 tsp light soy sauce
1/4 tsp chicken stock powder
1 1/2 tbsp cooking oil 
A pinch of black pepper

Garnish
8 whole cili padi, washed (we didn't cut the chillies so it will not make the vegetables spicy -purely for adding colour to the dish)


1. First, wash the leaves thoroughly, roughly tear with hand, and add the salt. Leave for several minutes, then squeeze all the juice out (you’ll inevitably tear some more leaves, that also helps in getting the juice out). Rinse, and squeeze again. Set aside.

2. In a wok/pan, heat the oil over medium high heat and add the garlic. Cook for 2 minutes, until golden brown. Add the leaves in, when wilted add chicken stock powder and cook for about 1 minute. Add the cili padi.

3. Make a well in the middle, crack the egg in and beat with chopsticks to mix. Once the eggs are starting to set, start mixing everything together. Stir in the soy sauce and wine and season with some black pepper. Remove from heat and serve immediately.




A purple water lily ;)

Full set of photos can be viewed on my Facebook page here. 


*This recipe was featured on Asian Food Channel's Facebook page on 12 September 2012.



If you enjoyed reading my posts, LIKE me on Facebook! You can also follow me on Instagram (@babysumo) for more photo updates or Dayre for daily updates.. Thanks :)

39 comments:

  1. Ummmm....no comment! The last one I commented, the person seemed somewhat defensive...so let sleeping dogs lie. As they say, ignorance is bliss. LOL!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aiya u talking abt the soy sauce?

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    2. I do hope suituapui's comment doesn't mean any malice. Just because I said I like it doesn't mean I'm forcing my preferences upon others. :)

      Anyway glad you manege to give this a go!

      Delete
    3. I guess everyone is free to cook anything their own way...just that we do not usually cook it like this in Sarawak. It's a whole lot simpler, very very basic like how people cook certain veg with just garlic and seasoning (salt & mag) - and they call it ching chao or something like that but there's always egg added to manichai. The main attraction in the dish is the sweetness of the veg.

      Maybe you can try again - keep it simple and very basic. You may replace the salt and msg with chicken or ikan bilis stock granules instead - no need for the wine, pepper, soy sauce and what not.

      Delete
    4. No malice intended...just that when you call it Sarawak bla...bla...bla...I would expect it to be done like how it is done here and I was just pointing that out.

      Just like all those stalls claiming to sell Sarawak or Kuching kolo mee or laksa and they're far from anything like the real thing. Some are very nice, I would not deny that...and they could jolly well call what they sell by their own name instead of trying to be what they're not.

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    5. STP, I still have a lot to learn abt Sarawak cuisine/dishes. I will try the simple method that you suggest and hopefully it turns out nice too. :) I will most probably use ikan bilis granules, since I am also not a fan of MSG.

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    6. Kelly, thanks for sharing the recipe. I believe that a dish can be replicated in any way to suit a person's tastebuds. Your recipe for manicai was delicious, that's why we had this vege 3 days in a row! ;P

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  2. You can click this link to see one of the many photos I have of the dish:
    http://suituapui.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/liked-you-better-before/

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  3. I love all of the green leafy vegetables available here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love that this plant can so easily replanted in the garden.... organic vegetables ;)

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  4. This looks really good with the eggs, what is the taste of the veg like?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The vegetable itself is a bit chewy, it doesn't really disintegrate even if u cook it for a bit.

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  5. Hmm...its abit dry. Mayb you should add a lil more water? My 1st attempt wasn't quite success. Anyway, good try Baby Sumo ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Not dry ah... I dont usually add water when I cook manicai... just oil seems to be enough to do the trick.

      Delete
    2. Yup...the water will spoil the texture and colour of the egg. It's supposed to be dry or to the most, maybe just a little bit to facilitate the cooking of the veg (especially when people would prefer to sue less oil) and simmer till it dries or almost dries up.

      Delete
  6. wow I saw a whole chili padi...
    spicy?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. No chili, big or small in the real thing...but I would add too, that's for sure! No kick lah...without chili.

      This is actually a local Chinese (Foochow) dish and Foochows in the past did/could not eat anything spicy. I grew up rinsing my curry chicken in water before eating and I only learnt how to eat spicy stuff when I was in my 20's...in Singapore - eating peranakan food, Indonesian nasi padang and all.

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    2. Simple Person: I jus added the cili padi for colour. If u leave them whole, and dont cut them, and just cook for a short period of them, it will not make the dish spicy at all.

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    3. STP, I will try not to put chilli in the next one, I will rmbr to keep it simple - jus manicai, oil, garlic, ikan bilis granules and egg.

      Delete
    4. When I cook, I add chili...I add ikan bilis or prawns even, or I add belacan or dried prawns - the kampung ethnic style...even with pumpkin or sweet potatoes but that is no longer the original authentic local Foochow style anymore. (Btw, Foochow food was once notorious for being bland, quantity and not quality...but these days, people are starting to see the beauty in its simplicity.)

      Delete
  7. Hi Baby Sumo,

    I can't think of any food that I know with Sarawak theme. All I know that is delicious in Sarawak is the pineapple... LOL!

    The only dish that I stir-fry with eggs is just fried rice and Kelly and your stir-fried manicai with eggs looks very homely and healthy to eat.

    Zoe

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zoe I am pretty clueless when it comes to Sarawak cuisine too. This cook-along is to encourage and promote their cuisine. It's good that I can learn a few things along the way from other Sarawak bloggers.... I made Sarawak braised beef soup the other day and it was so delicious! Made another Sarawak dish yesterday, will share that soon too.

      Delete
  8. nice! healthy greens with creamy eggs. interesting to hear that it's a sarawakian recipe, i wouldn't have guessed what state! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I didn't know too. We all learn new things everyday! ;)

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  9. I admire your persistence - three times cooking the same thing! Looks yummy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Since we have quite a lot of this in the garden, and we enjoyed eating it, and it's also soooooo easy to cook, why not? :)

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  10. That's great that you tried it the three ways and let us know which was better. Thank you! :D

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  11. I just googled this interesting veggie to know what it look like ! :D This dish sounds delicious ! From the look of it I'm sure it tastes delish !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And best of all, it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare!

      Delete
  12. Hi Baby Sumo, I like this vege at least must have it once a week. But I prefer to make soup with meat and egg.

    Thanks for dropping by my blog and following me.
    Have a nice day. Regards.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I only had this in pan mee or cook with soup~

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  14. looks really comforting.. thks for sharing... will try this out since hubs like the manicai.

    I LOVED the last photo of purple water lily... simply magnificent!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh.. i didnt know that vege called manicai, i only know how to eat! ahhaah! thanks for sharing such simple recipe.. If Yen can cook, so can I! ;DDDD HAHAHA!

    ReplyDelete
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