From the garden to the table. Fresh veggies for family lunch. Spicy Alert!!!
Blessing is not always about big things. Given nature in the form of fresh vegetables is also a blessing. If you are not blessed, of course there are no seeds that thrive until they are ready to be harvested.
The alternating sun and water is an expensive price to be thankful for. Without it, the vegetables in my garden cannot be of good quality. Yeah, about the veggies that are comfortable in our taste buds.
Well, after yesterday I shared about harvesting water spinach, today I will share a recipe for lunch with water spinach. This is in accordance with my promise in my previous post.
Read my post about harvesting water spinach: Growing Water Spinach To Harvesting In My Little Garden
Water spinach is very easy and suitable to be combined with other side dishes. So, I combined water spinach with potato and Tempeh.
For potatoes, I'm using diet potatoes that I bought a few days ago and I've posted on Hive. Here the post: Diet Potatoes With Certified Pesticide Free
For Tempeh, I made Tempeh fried sticks. I shape the Tempeh into a stick-like shape which I then fry without adding any more flour.
One thing that is always present in Indonesian food is spicy sauce. It's called SAMBAL. Also, there are already many products for instant chili on the market.
In fact, my dining table also has chili sauce in a bottle. My husband always adds sambal when eating any side dishes. So crazy! 😅 Likewise with what I do.
Well, I use spicy seasoning for the water spinach itself. With Chilli puree, we can eat more vegetables. At least, that's what we are used to in Indonesia. SAMBAL (Chilli puree) will boost many times the delicacy of simple vegetables. That's why Indonesian food menus are mostly about spicy taste!
This sambal (Chili puree) is a popular seasoning used for stir-fried water spinach. We will find a lot of Spicy Water Spinach menus to complement dine-in dishes at local Indonesian restaurants.
HOW TO MAKE SAMBAL
I use favorite traditional tools. Pestle and mortar made of stone. Why not a blender? It is about texture. If you use a blender, the texture of the chilies will become soft and also tend to become liquid if we add more water to blend them.
In cafes or restaurants, they still use this method to maintain the texture of the chilies and onions. Not too crushed into puree. We can still see Chili flakes on the sambal.
Don't forget to add 1 teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of sugar for a balanced taste. We need to add sugar so that the spiciness doesn't burn too much in the mouth.
I use the boil for the potato method. You can also use the bake method with an oven or air fryer. Or even the steam method. Just do according to your taste buds.
First, I bring the water to a boil. Then, add salt and potato wedges. Cook until the texture is the way you want it. Here, I use ten minutes.
Once cooked, drain and set aside while waiting for the water spinach to be cooked.
For Tempeh that is long and thick like mine, cut it into two parts first.
Then from the part that has been divided by two, it is divided by two again. Which is then cut again into 3 pieces of Tempeh in the shape of a stick.
Fried Tempeh until golden brown. Flip the other side for even cooking. Keep their attention. They burn easily at any time!
The final stage is cooking water spinach with sambal. Cut the stems of water spinach using only your hands. Don't use a knife.
By directly using your hands, you will know the hard texture of the water spinach stems. Discard tough stems. Hard stems are water spinach stems that have been growing in the ground for too long.
Some people split the stem of the water spinach if it is too large. Also, to avoid small aquatic animals remaining in the stem, water spinach is developed above the surface of the water such as ponds and swamps.
Next, heat the oil. Here, I'm using the olive oil option. If you are avoiding oil altogether, then simply cook chili puree in a little water.
Add sambal while continuing to stir. Cook for a while. You will see a color change.
Add water spinach. Stir them well. Let them wither. Add about 50 ml of water.
When it will be removed, correct the salty taste. Then, serve this side dish with the components of boiled potatoes and fried tempeh.
All components are visible harmony on the serving plate. And, it really looks spicy!
The boiled potato pieces pair well with the fried tempeh sticks. 😍 Well, I also still add Chili sauce from my husband's favorite bottled product.
We really like the spicy vibes from our plates. It felt even more arousing our feelings. Uppps! See you ❤️
Best Regards,
Anggrek Lestari
Anggrek Lestari is an Indonesian fiction writer who has published two major books. Now She is a full-time content creator. She has a goal to share life, poem, and food content that makes others happy and can get inspiration.
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Discord: anggreklestari#3009
