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Wednesday 24 October 2012

Blanched Beansprouts ala Ipoh style, with a twist!





This is such a humble recipe that I am almost too shy to post about! But it is very simple to prepare and so appetising that I felt it would be such a shame not to mention about it.
 
Hubby had to travel to Penang for some work matters, so mummy and son decided to tag along and drop by our hometown, Ipoh for a few nights, just to chill and eat some good Ipoh food.
 
 
And boy did we eat! I also carted back loads of goodies, including several packs of the famous salt baked chicken, heong piah and an ice box filled with frozen seafood, courtesy of my MIL.  I also asked her to buy me a big packet of Ipoh beansprouts (yea, those fat little juicy shorties!) so that I can make this side dish.
 
 
The twist in this recipe is the addition of lime juice. I got this idea from a popular restaurant in Ipoh, where they served their steamed mince pork dish with a generous squeeze of lime juice.  This little addition instantly transform an otherwise ordinary dish into something that really perks up the palate. The key is to use ripe limes.  I've tried it with lemon juice, it still tastes good but it's better with ripened lime. 




Blanched Beansprouts ala Ipoh style, with a twist!
  • 1/2 packet of beansprouts, rinsed, discard any wilted stems
  • A few slices of japanese cucumber (optional)
  • 1 tblspn of salted fish, chopped 
  • 1 fat pip of garlic, chopped 
  • 1 tspn of cooking oil
  • 1 tspn of sesame oil
  • 1/2 tblspn of soy sauce
  • Dash of chinese cooking wine
  • 1/2 tspn of sugar
  • Dash of pepper
  • Juice of 1 ripened lime (the skin of the lime should have turned yellowish)
  •  
1. To minimise washing up, choose a deep saucepan that can do double duty - fry the aromatics and also deep enough to blanch the beansprouts. Fry the salted fish and garlic with the cooking oil and sesame oil until light golden color. Set aside (make sure to scrape all the precious oils from the pan - it has a wonderful flavour to coat the sprouts).

2. Put sufficient water in the same pan to boil. Once the water is at a rolling boil, pour all the beansprouts into the pot and turn off the fire.  Add a dash of chinese cooking wine to the water to get rid of that grassy/fishy smell from the sprouts.  Give the sprouts a few stir and pour everything into a colander. Drain off the excess liquid from the sprouts, and put into a deep dish. 

3. Mix the seasonings with the beansprouts and cucumber, and serve immediately. 

20 comments:

  1. The bean sprouts must taste really good with lime juice, such a new way of eating bean sprouts, and I've got to try it sometime.

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  3. This looks and sounds like an amazingly tasted side dish, great for accompanying a more complex main course like curries. Thank you so much for sharing this, will try making it next time :)

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  4. Esther, I'm glad you posted this because for people like myself who love beansprouts, this is certainly a delicious way of preparing the sprouts. I usually fry them with just garlic and salt or when I'm a bit more rajin, I make beansprout kerabu. Definitely will try this Ipoh style beansprouts!

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    1. More beansprouts lovers yay! PH, is your beansprouts kerabu recipe up in your blog? Would love to learn making it.

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    2. Esther, I haven't posted it yet. Will do so soon :)

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  5. This is a yummy dish yet fuss-free. New way of eating bean sprouts!

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    1. Thanks Cheah. Yes, definitely fast, easy and yummy. Good to pick up ideas from restaurants,

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  6. Hi Esther, this dish if using Ipoh Taugeh [fatty type] definitely is very crunchy. I like this simple way and lime juice goes well with salted fish. Thanks for sharing. Must try.

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  7. The addition of lime juice is something new to me. But sounds appetizing!

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    1. Dangerously so! Can easily overeat with steam rice :p

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  8. My mum also squeeze some lime juice on the salted fish before mixing them in the taugeh:D I love Ipoh taugeh, the best!

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  9. oh, you're from ipoh! no wonder you asked me whether am i from ipoh or taiping! i'm also ipoh mali! i've never eaten taugeh with that lime squeeze, very special indeed! can you remember the name of the restaurant that serves this similar dish? i also want to go there and try:)

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  10. Yay, so we are both ipoh lang! Woohoo...lotsa makan topics to talk about then :) i got this lime juice idea from the restaurant called Sin Hup Kee, its my inlaws' favourite restaurant, which my FIL also jokingly referred to as the noisiest restaurant in whole of ipoh kakaka! They serve their minced pork dish with a squeeze of lime juice, very appetising!

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  11. Hi Esther, this dish look so delicious. Love the combination of salted fish, beansprout and lime, sure mouth watering. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    Have a nice week ahead.

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