Can I make Petai Sambal vegetarian?

Yes, simply skip the belacan and fish sauce for a vegetarian-friendly version.

Why blanch petai before cooking?

Blanching reduces the strong pungency of petai beans, making them milder in flavour while keeping the crunch.

How do I prevent okra from becoming slimy?

Cook on high heat, never cover the wok, and avoid overcooking.

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CHINESE VEGETABLE & CHICKEN STIR FRY

I love to cook the local way, the Malaysian Style, Thai, Chinese, all greatly influenced by my 15 years of living in Malaysia -the Food Haven. I am amazed by the simplicity of the dishes and all the more what I love about cooking Chinese food at home is, It is rather easy, and we can incorporate it in no time.

This Chinese Style Vegetable & Chicken Stir fry is quite similar to the Vegetable Stir Fries, and the only difference is that we add some boneless Chicken pieces along with it, which gives an overall fullness to the dish.

All the more, these recipes are inspired from the Chinese Restaurants we dine at, in Malaysia. Initially, when we used to dine at such places, we loved to try different Stir-fries. Stir-fries with Veggies, stir-fried vegetables with Tofu or Chicken or Sausages. Veggies like Eggplants, Brocolli, Long Beans Stir fried Stir-fried Greens like Baby Kailan, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbages Kang Kung etc., The introduction to these recipes gave me a new way of cooking and combining vegetables, egg, meat, salted fish, shrimps, or tofu into these stir fries. And also these recipes gave me a total new revelation to cooking vegetables, the way it has to be, retaining the colour, texture, and nutrition.

Chinese Style Vegetable & Chicken Stir Fry is a quick & easy Chinese dish, with a simple addition of seared Chicken pieces into it. This style of cooking vegetables & chicken together adds a whole new dimension to the all plain vegetables.

But the secret behind perfect Chinese Style Stir Fry is the techniques you need to follow to get it right. Keep in mind that the vegetables in the stir-fry should retain the colour, crunchiness, and freshness of the vegetables. When perfectly done, this Chinese Style Vegetable & Chicken Stir Fry is going to be lustrous, gorgeously beautiful, presenting itself with a cornucopia of colours with a remarkable texture. I love this stir-fry whatsoever.

CHINESE VEGETABLE & CHICKEN STIR FRY

Just follow these simple tips and techniques for perfectly cooked Vegetable & Chicken Stir-fry.

VEGETABLES:

As we need to stir-fry the vegetable in one quick movement in a high heat, it is always advisable to keep all the needed items ready side by side. First clean, peel & cut the vegetables and when it comes to the Vegetables which you can add into this stir-fry, I mostly use Carrots, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Capsicums & Snow peas. Can add Baby Corn too. If using mushrooms, use varieties like Button Mushrooms, Crimino Mushrooms, Shitake, or Oyster Mushrooms. Small Beech or Bunapi Mushrooms also suits well for Vegetable stir fries.

BLANCHING THE VEGETABLES:

Then I blanch the vegetables before stir-frying them. Blanching shortens the time required for stir-frying. And also the vegetables are cooked half way, retaining the shape & colour. Then, while stir-frying, the idea is just to mix them up with the sautéed garlic and the sauces on a high heat. This way the Stir Fry turns out to be perfectly cooked through, retaining the texture, colour, and all the more the nutrition. Once the Vegetables are blanched, you can straight away go with the stir-frying process.

Then mince the Garlic, Cut the Onions into big pieces and then thinly slice the bird's eye chillies. Well, I do add a Bird's eye chilli into this Stir Fry. After all, the taste buds of Indian ethnicity asks for a bit of heat in everything. You can totally skip it in this recipe.

SEARING THE CHICKEN:

Well, any Chinese restaurant style Chicken recipes, habe an extremely tender and silky texture. Soft & Succulent Chicken pieces. The secrfet behind this velvety texture is that, most Chinese Chefs "treat" the chicken with baking soda. Baking Soda removes the "meaty" odour and also tenderizes it at the same time.

Searing a Chicken/Meat is a simple cooking technique where the meat is tosses in hot oil (a litlle amount just to coat the pan) until the colour changes. This method changes the chemical composition in the meat creating an intense flavour and develop a perfect texture. And the main point is that they are not deep fried.

SAUCE:

The next step is to get the sauce ready. The idea of a sauce in a stir-fry is to add taste and flavour into the bland vegetables. So you can get easy with the type of sauce you use. Commonly Oyster Sauce is used along with seasoning like salt, sugar and a dash of white pepper powder. I love to add the popular locally available ABC Sauce, which is a sweet thick soy sauce with caramelized palm sugar in it. Alternatively, can add Dark Soy Sauce. I have added the Corn Flour slurry into the sauce mix. So, you do not need to add ‘cornflour slurry’ during stir-frying. Corn flour slurry glazes & gives a sheen to the stir-fried vegetables.

STIR-FRYING:

Then, the stir frying - keep in mind, you need to stir-fry in a high heat, in quick movements. Sauté, the garlic, Onions, bird's-eye chillies, briefly sauté the Capsicums & then pour in the sauce and cook for a few minutes, then add in all the vegetables and mix it well in quick movements over a high flame. Once the sauces all coated and the vegetables are glazed, switch off the flame and serve immediately.

For more VEGGIES & STIR FRY Recipes, Click here...

Cuisine – Chinese; Southeast Asian
Recipe Type – Stir Fry
Spice Level – Low
Difficulty – Easy
Serves - 2–3
Author – SM

Preparation Time - 15–20 Minutes
Cooking Time - 5–10 Minutes

For more Recipes from CHINESE CUISINE, Click here...

HOW TO MAKE CHINESE VEGETABLE & CHICKEN STIR FRY

Name: Petai Sambal with Okra & Winged Beans – Authentic Malaysian Style Sambal Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Malaysian, Indonesian, Southeast Asian
Ingredients: 12 Petai (stink beans), blanched; 8–10 fresh Okra (Bendi), cut into halves; 6–8 Winged Beans (Kacang Botol), sliced; 2 tbsp oil; Salt, to taste; 1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar); 1 tsp fish sauce (optional); For the Sambal Paste:; 10–12 dried red chillies, soaked until soft; 4–5 shallots; 3 garlic cloves; 1 small piece belacan (shrimp paste), dry roasted; 1 tbsp tamarind paste

CHINESE VEGETABLE & CHICKEN STIR FRY

INGREDIENTS:

Vegetables:

Carrots – 1/2 Cup
Broccoli – 1/2 Cup
Cauliflower – 1/2 Cup
Snow Peas – 1/2 Cup
Mushroom – 1/2 Cup

To Marinate the Chicken:

Boneless Chicken Pieces – 1 Cup

Shaoxing Wine - 1 Tespoon

Salt - To Taste

White Pepper - A Pinch

Cornstarch - 1 Teaspoon

For Blanching:

Water - 4–5 Cups
Salt – To Taste
Sugar – a Pinch

For the Sauce:

Oyster Sauce/ABC Sauce – 2 Tablespoons
Salt – to Taste
Sugar – 11/2 Teaspoons
White Pepper Powder – 1/8 Teaspoon
Corn Flour – 1/2 Teaspoon
Cold (Ice) Water – 4 Tablespoons

Sautéing:

Garlic - 6–8 Cloves
Onion – 1 Big
Bird's eye Chillies - 1–2 Numbers
Capsicum (Green) – 1/4 Cup
Capsicum (Yellow/Red) – 1/4 Cup

Cashew Nuts - 1/4 Cup

For Vegetable Stir-fry:

Oil – 2 Tablespoons
Salt – To Taste
Sugar – a Pinch

METHOD:

Preparing the Vegetables:

Carrots – Peel, wash and cut Carrots into Wedges or thick slices.

Snow peas – Wash & then remove the ‘string’ of the snow peas on both the sides and snap it off into two or three pieces. No need to cut it, just snap it off using your hands.

Broccoli – Wash & then cut the florets into medium or large sized ones. Discard the lower part of the stem, which is hard & fibrous. Use the tender part of the stem, cut them into slices or wedges. The tender stem is full of flavour, so do not throw them away.

Cauliflower – Wash & then cut the cauliflower into florets, preferably into medium or large florets.

Mushroom – Cut off the ends, wash them and then cut the Mushroom into slices.

Capsicum – Wash & then snip off the tip and then remove the core and seeds. Cut the capsicum into large slices.

Onions – Peel, wash and cut Onions into fours and then cut them into small cubes. We need some square shaped Onions in this Vegetable stir-fry.

Garlic – Peel, wash and mince the garlic cloves and keep them aside.

Bird's eye Chillies – Remove the stalk and then cut it into thin slices. Alternatively, you can mince it.

Blanching the Vegetables:

Boil enough water in a large pot, let the amount of water be good enough to cover the vegetables.
Add a dash of Salt and a pinch of Sugar into it.
Let it boil.
First add the Carrot Wedges into the water and cook them for about 2–3 minutes.
Once the Carrots are cooked halfway through, add Cauliflower & Broccoli florets and blanch them for about 2 minutes.
Then follow it with snow peas, mushrooms and blanch it for about a minute.
I usually do not blanch Capsicums.
Once done, drain it through a colander and keep it aside.

For the Sauce:

Mix all the ingredients mentioned under “For the Sauce” in cold water & keep it aside.
Make sure there are no lumps in the sauce.

Marinating & Searing the Chicken:

Clean, wash & Cut the Chicken into smll pieces.
Marinate the Chicken Pieces with the ingredients mentioned under 'To Marinate."
Leave this aside for about 20-30 minutes.
In a wok, heat 2 Tablespoons of Oil, then sear the marinated Chicken Pieces in hot oil for a few minutes until the colour changes.
Remove it from oil and keep it aside.
CHINESE VEGETABLE & CHICKEN STIR FRY

Sautéing & Stir frying the Vegetables & Chicken:

Heat oil in a Wok/Pan over high heat.
Roast the Cashewnuts on a medium-low flame until it turns crisp and keep it aside.
Add minced Garlic and Bird's-eye Chillies, stir-fry for about 10 seconds until fragrant(should not be browned).
Then add Onion chunks & Capsicums and sauté it for a while.
Now add, the blanched Vegetables and give a quick stir.
Immediately pour in the Sauce and mix well.
Let it cook for about 2 minutes or until it thickens
Stir-fry until well combined on a high flame, & the vegetables are glazed.
Add in the seared Chicken Pieces & the roasted Cashew Nuts and toss well.
Immediately, serve Chinese Vegetable & Chicken Stir Fry hot.
Chinese Vegetable & Chicken Stir Fry goes well with Fragrant Rice or any Rice/Noodles recipe.

NOTES:

Use your preferred combination of vegetables in this stir-fry.
Do not cover the pan while cooking.
Once the sauce thickens, stir-fry the vegetables on high heat for a short time. This will retain its nutrients & texture.
Do not brown the garlic, as they would tend to give a bitter taste to the dish.
Adding Bird's eye Chilli is purely optional.
Cook the vegetables to suit your preference. I like to keep it crunchy & tender, and mainly love to retain the colours in the vegetables.
We need boneless Chicken pieces for the recipe.
Chicken breasts fit well into the crew.
Searing the chicken pieces in oil yileds you with tender and juicy chicken pieces
You can substitute any meat, shrimp, or dry fish instead of Chicken in this recipe.
Can add Tofu or Egg Tofu too.

MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CHOP

Living in Malaysia, I have seen Chicken Chop in the menu of all “Western Food” hawker food Stalls. And we love the Chicken Chop Restaurant - "IT ROO CAFE" in JB. It is one place we frequent and their Chicken Chop is famous in town. Super tender chicken wrapped in a crunchy batter, deep-fried or grilled and served with a Creamy Mushroom Sauce/Black Pepper Sauce. Chicken Chop is usually served with French Fries or Baked Potatoes, steam cooked Classic Vegetables or Baked Beans along with Coleslaw and slices of fresh Cucumbers & Tomatoes.

Malaysia is so fond of this Chicken Chops that a Doctor even gave a Medical Certificate for Chicken Chop, ha... ha... ha... I'm not kidding maybe he wanted to write Chicken Pox and ended up writing Chicken Chop. So goes the tale of Malaysian Chicken Chop.

Like any other recipe, Malaysian Chicken Chop fancied me and with my cooking whims tried many recipes of Chicken Chop. And finally, I succeeded in getting the recipe as we like it at home. And again it was my Son's taste instinct which found an ingredient which yielded me with more or less a similar Chicken Chop which suited to our taste buds. And the secret ingredient was Murukku Flour. I had tried dusting the Chicken Breasts with All-purpose Flour, Corn Flour, Bread Crumbs, dipping them in Egg and double coating with batter etc., & etc. Though the recipes were good enough, crisp & crunchy outer layer and juicy & succulent meat, all the while we felt something was missing in the recipe and Murukku Flour did justification to please our taste buds.

Cuisine - Malaysian
Course - Main
Difficulty - Medium
Serves - 4
Author - SM

Preparation Time - 25 -30 Minutes
Marination Time - 3-4 Hours/Overnight
Cooking Time - 45 Minutes - 1 Hour

The Malaysian Chicken Chop is usually served with

Deep-fried Chicken
Mushroom Sauce/Black Pepper Sauce
Baked Potatoes/French Fries
Coleslaw
Steam-cooked Vegetables/Baked Beans
Fresh Slices of Cucumber & Tomatoes

HOW TO COOK MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CHOP

CHICKEN FRY FOR CHICKEN CHOP

CHICKEN FRY FOR MALAYSIAN CHICKEN CHOP

The Chicken Pieces are marinated in Buttermilk & Spices for a few hours (or overnight). Longer the marination time, the meat pieces turn out to be super moist & flavourful. I usually use Chicken Breasts - boneless & skinless, for this chicken chop recipe. Place a plastic wrap over the Chicken Breasts then gently pound it with a meat tenderizer/ a heavy object until the Chicken Pieces turn out to be about half an inch thick. This will help ensure that the whole piece absorbs the flavours and gets evenly cooked.
Then place the Chicken Pieces in a ziplock bag and marinate it with the ingredients mentioned under 'To Marinate', Seal the bag, and shake to mix it well, then gently massage the sauce into the chicken. Let it marinate in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours or even better, overnight.

Try this BUTTERMILK CHICKEN FRY, for Malaysian Chicken Chop.