Baby kailan with prawns

Look at the lovely greens!!!

I remember it was a rainy morning when I went to the market and naturally, I was greeted with an abundance of vegetables at the stalls since their business is always adversely affected by bad weather.

Sometimes I just feel so bored... you know... staring at the same range of veggies and all... I don't repeat my dishes for at least a week so sometimes it kinda bothers me that I may have to cook the same veggie again. haha...

Anyway, it's been a long time since I cooked baby kailan and the auntie told me that that day's baby kailan was in top-form and I was sold on the idea immediately. :P

Well, you can stir-fry or just parboil baby kailan... this time, I chose to parboil them! :)

Baby kailan with prawns

Ingredients:

• $1 worth of baby kailan (yes! only a dollar for a full plate of veggies! Sometimes I really can't bear to order veggies when we eat out coz it's like daylight robbery....)
• 6 small prawns
• a few cloves garlic (minced - amount up to you)
• a few shallots (sliced thinly, amount up to you)
• water
• oil
• salt/sugar
• fish sauce to taste

Marinate prawns with:

• hua diao jiu
• dash of ground black pepper
• dash of sesame oil

Method:

1. Pluck the kailan into appropriate size/length (cutting veggies causes some loss in nutrients so if possible, pluck em), separating the leaves from the stalks. Rinse leafy veggies thoroughly as leafy veggies usually have lotsa particles.
2. Shell and devein the prawns, leaving the tail intact. Marinate the prawns.
3. Heat some water in the wok (add a little salt/sugar and oil to the water). When the water comes to a boil, add the stalks of the kailan followed by the leaves as the stalks will take longer to cook.
4. While waiting for the veggie to cook, heat a pan with oil and fry some of the garlic till golden brown. Drain and set aside.
5. Using the same oil and pan, add in the shallots and fry till golden brown. Drain and set aside. Reserve the super aromatic shallot and garlic oil for the last step.
6. Once the veggie's cooked, drain and set aside.
7. Heat a little oil in the wok and fry the remaining garlic.
8. Add the prawns. and fry till prawns are cooked before adding in the veggie to mix. Don't fry for too long since it's really just to mix the ingredients together before adding the seasoning.
9. Add fish sauce to taste.
10. Dish and top with golden brown shallots, garlic and the OIL used to fry the shallots and garlic! :)

For toddler's consumption:

Depending on your toddler's ability to chew, this veggie may or may not be suitable. Try cutting the leafy bits into smaller pieces to aid the little one's chewing.