Kang kong's friend is your friend, and kang kong's enemy is also your friend

Without scrutinizing the stems to check if it's hollow, these will definitely pass off as water spinach (kang kong, or in Mandaring -空心菜, which means hollow-stems vegetables). Can't seem to find water spinach in the Asian supermarket that I frequent here. Then, I saw this - 番薯叶. These are tapioca leaves, aren't they? (though it was tagged in the supermarket as yam leaves). For once, I suddenly felt that knowing how to read Mandarin word characters (华文字) is useful. Tapioca leaves, the leafy greens that sits second after kang kong, to be suitably fried with sambal.

Sambal tapioca leaf (serves ~2-3)
Ingredients:
~1lb tapioca leaves; wash thoroughly and peel off tough bark (I seriously advise peeling off the tough bark on the stems, or cut off the stems. I did not, and the stems were rather tough to bite and chew on after cooking)
-1tbsp sambal chilli belachan
-1tsp dried shrimps; soaked in warm water, rinsed off, then finely chopped
-some warm water

Method:
1.Heat pan with oil on medium heat
2.Add in sambal and dried shrimps, then fry quickly for 1-2mins. Add in some water if mixture is too dry.
3.If you have cut the stems from the leaves and want to eat the stems, add in the stems first to fry for 2-3mins
4.When stems start to soften, add in the leaves and fry for another 1-2mins
5.Goes well with rice, so serve immediately

Tag: sambal belacan, tapioca leaves, vegetables, sambal chilli