Being Hokkien ~

"Li Ho Bo?"( How are you?) "Li Jiak Barh Bueh?"(Are you full from eating?) These was my limited dictionary of hokkien when communicating with my Ah Ma (Grandmother) when I was a kid. I don't dare to say my hokkien improve a lot since, but still can survive and I find that I am less shy to make mistakes. What?! Say wrong say wrong la... Learn from it =) My grandmother is a very good cook, my mum too, so is not a wonder why I grew up most of the time overweight.. lol! I am super well fed. It is not hard to find Hokkien style of cooking on the dining table, even my mum who is Hakka, cooked Hokkien dishes like a pro. From Hokkien mee to Kong Bah(Stewed pork) to Giam Peng(Flavored Rice), you name it she will try her best to replicate and bringing it to the next level. (Her hakka dishes are also to die for, but that is saved for another post for another day ..hee!)

Truth is, I hated Giam Peng when I was young. Hated the taste of long bean and when mum substitute it with cabbage, I hated the cabbage. But dear parents out there who have children who hate vegetables, do not stop trying your luck! Always present them with the veg they do not like, and eat it in front of them. I guarantee you they will love it one day! (a constant note to myself as well). Now I love Giam Peng, to certain extent I will miss it and reminds me a lot of childhood. It is funny how well mothers cook, and yet they don't really teach their children the know how, or maybe it is just my mum. She does measurements with her eyes, so if you ask her for recipe, it is really only the ingredients she can name and the rest you imagine yourself ok. And so, here is my imagination of Giam Peng  a.k.a Long Bean Rice. There are also a lot of other rendition of this dish, you can substitute the long bean with cabbage, pumpkin or yam. All will taste just fine if you ask me. This recipe is only a rough guide, you can tweak it to your likings. Do note my family is small, so all my ingredients are just nice for a small family and a small rice cooker. (No food Wastage)

My version of Giam Peng

Ingredients:
(Feed 2 hungry adults and 1 hungry todd)

• 4 Long Beans - Chopped up into 1 1/2inch
• 1 1/4 cups white rice - Rinse it as usual and measure the water to how you would normally cook it, pour out the water in a container and set aside.
• 1 Lup Cheong (Chinese Sausage) - Submerge it in boiling water for 1 min, take it out and remove the collagen casing. Slice up and set aside
• 6-8 dried Mushrooms depend on the size (I use 7 small ones) - Soak for at least 2 hrs (I do it in the morning and cook in the evening) - Squeeze all the water out and slice it up.
• 150g of Pork Belly (you can use more if you love meat) - Soak in boiling water for 1 min. Take it out and slice it. Place all in a bowl and season the meat with 1 tbsp of corn flour/ 1tbsp of soy sauce/ pepper/ a dash of Hua tiao jiu/1 tsp sesame oil. Set aside.
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried shrimps - soaked in water for 2 mins, drained and roughly mince it, set aside
• 1 tsp Minced garlic
• 1 tbsp sliced up shallot
• 1 tsp black soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce ( mine is with dried scallop one from Lee Kum Kee)
• 1 tsp mirin/sake/hua tiao jiu

Instructions:

1. Add ard 1 tbsp of olive oil and sautéed the pork till 3/4 cooked and set aside (over high heat).
2. Same wok, Sautéed the garlic and shallot till fragrant, add in the dried shrimps (over med to low heat).
3. Continue to sautéed till the shrimp is cooked then throw in your long beans and lup cheong
4. Add mirin cover and simmer over med to low flame till long bean soften a little.
5. Add in the pork and rice and all the sauces. Mix everything up over med flame for a min or 2.
6. Pour everything back into the rice cooker pot then pour in the water that you have set aside earlier on.
7. Level the water to cover all the ingredients, place into rice cooker and cook as per normal.
8. When you have left 5 mins to the rice cooker from completing cooking, give the content a good stir and continue cooking till your rice cooker is done cooking. 

Do note that if your rice is still not soft enough after cooking, you may want to start your cooker again, but do check on it to prevent burning, although the burnt part taste very good.. haha..
This is really an economic dish and although the prepping takes a bit more time, but all in all you can serve dinner within an 1 hr and 15 mins? Good enough for me.
You may also want to buy those ready "Shio Bak" (Roasted Pork Belly), then you need not spend time on prepping the meat from scratch. Or if you really have time, make Air Fried Shio Bak lar... also very nice. You can garnish it with cilantro, one of my fav (I hated when young). My big K is not a big fan of green bean but still will give face and eat the green bean in this dish. Well, I guess she is also a late bloomer in the vegetable department like the mother. But I will keep on trying de!