Greens with Anchovies & Garlic
This is a variation on Mum’s fail-safe vegetables (see previous recipe). Instead of dried shrimps, dried anchovies are used instead to season and flavour the vegetables. This works much better with leafy, tender greens like spinach, beet leaves or lettuce.
Serves 2-4
- a handful of dried anchovies (ikan bilis)
- 5 cloves of garlic
- a 2.5cm piece of ginger
- 500g greens
- 2 tablespoons lard*
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- a pinch of sea salt
- Rinse the dried anchovies and pat dry. Divide into two portions. Finely chop one portion, and leave the other one whole. Finely chop the garlic and ginger and combine with the chopped anchovies.
- Trim the bottoms of the greens, then wash and dry well. If using vegetables with thicker stalks, I like to separate them from the leaves and chop them into smaller pieces so that they cook more evenly.
- Heat a wok until smoking hot, then add the lard. Once it’s hot, add the whole dried anchovies and fry until crispy. Drain and set aside.
- Add the garlic-ginger-anchovy mixture and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the stalks of the greens and stir for a minute until tender, then add the leaves and cook until just wilted.
- Immediately remove from the heat and stir in the sesame oil and salt, to taste. Serve with the crispy fried anchovies scattered over.
