Sambal Kangkong
Learn how to make sambal kangkong. Its preparation is very easy and it's a dish you can whip up when you have no time for lunch!
Ingredients
- 350 g kangkong water spinach – soft stems cut in 3-inch pieces and leaves kept whole. Discard any hard stems.
- 2 tbsp oil
- 2 cloves garlic – minced
- Half a red onion – sliced roughly optional
- 2 tbsp sambal belacan
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1-2 tbsp water
- Slices of red chili peppers for garnish serrano chili
- A squeeze of calamansi lime juice or other lime
Additions (Optional):
- A) 2 tsp dried shrimps soaked in water for 10 minutes
- B) 5-6 fresh medium prawns – deveined and shelled
Instructions
- Heat oil in a wok on medium-high fire. Add in garlic and onion, and stir-fry over medium heat until fragrant, about half a minute. Add in sambal belacan and sugar, and stir-fry for another minute.
- Add in kangkong, stems first. Stir-fry for a few seconds, then add in the leafy parts. Over high heat, stir-fry quickly to make sure all the greens are in contact with the heat.
- Add in water for some gravy. To retain its fresh look and crunch, you want to work the spatula quick and cook the greens not more than two minutes. As soon as the leaves turn just wilted, turn heat off and dish out quickly.
- Squeeze in some lime juice and garnish with red chili peppers.
Notes
- Cooking with dried shrimp or fresh prawns is another common way of enjoying sambal kangkong. If you like adding dried shrimp, you can pound/ blend dried shrimp finely together with sambal belacan and follow the steps above to cook. For fresh prawns, just add in the prawns after Step 1 and cook for a couple of minutes until the prawns turn opaque (90% done) before you add in the kangkong.
- An excellent tip which I learned from my mom is to bath the kangkong in ice water before cooking. This will keep the kangkong nicely crisp.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!