Merdeka Open House 2013: Stir-Fried Manicai with Eggs

Was first introduced to this Stir-Fried Manicai with Eggs in my earlier days of blogging when I used to stalk blogs belonged to Sarawakians. They were literally crazy over manicai which in Cantonese is shue tzai choy or in Malay cekur manis. One of them, Eddie who lives in USA literally have a box of these plants growing in his living room and he really took care of the plants like babies :p

I've never got around to cooking this dish cos preparing the vegetable is ermmm quite time consuming. The plucking and picking the leaves that is. I do love manicai in soups and especially so in pan meen. Hates it when they serve pan meen soup using substitute vegetables.

And so I did a bit of search and what more from a pretty lass with beautiful voice, Kelly Siew, who is a native of Bintulu. She had carefully listed down the steps to do with the leaves which I would never have known to salt the leaves to squeeze out the liquid before using. The reason for doing so is to get rid of the certain bitterness from the leaves.

Being the ever careless cook, I tend to forget to add ingredients hehe yeah even at work. Can you imagine the amount of times my boss would roll her eyes over this carelessness! And so I did the same with this dish which was so simple to make hahahaha... sighhh I've forgotten to add the water even though I've measured and place next to the pan, can you believe it? Darn fail!

Anyway the verdict from Capt'n Hook was good and I thought so too. I think I like my manicai slightly crunchy with a bite but would have gone if I had added the water. So in my recipe, I would say water is optional. You can even use chicken stock if you wish. I've also omitted chicken powder nor MSG since I don't use them in my cookings.

Stir-Fried Manicai with Eggs
Serves 2 - 4

200 g manicai (plucked weight)
1 Tbsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
50 ml water (optional)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp soy sauce

Pluck manicai leaves, wash and soak like the usual way you would do it. Drain and mix in the salt, tearing some of the leaves in between. Set aside for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the liquid from the manicai. Rinse out the leaves with a few washes of water and squeeze them dry another round. Set aside.

In a hot pan, heat up the oil. Add garlic and fry till fragrant. Stir in the manicai leaves. Add in water now if using. When it's quite dry, make a well in the centre and pour in the eggs. Let the eggs set before stirring them all together. Stir in soy sauce and mix evenly before dishing up.

This is my third entry for 8th Merdeka Open House 2013 Date & Theme: Treasures from Sabah & Sarawak.