: : Mangkuang = Hikama : :
Had a chat with Mum. She mentioned that in the USA, mangkuang is known as hikama. Imported from Mexico. So, here’s a really quick recipe. Apologies that I didn’t put in the weight as I might get it wrong. Anyway, Chinese cooking is never identical and don’t worry about mistakes.
Ingredients
A plate of mangkuang strips
Mangkuang is generally very big over here. I’m not sure how big it gets in the USA but a rough gauge is the plate. Remove the skin using a peeler. Or you can do it the Chinese way, use the knife to strip the skin. Be careful when using any sharp objects. :p. Anyway, cut it into small strips as seen in the previous post. Use a dessert plate! Do not use the big big plates for steaks.
100-200 g of pork
Cut the pork into small thin strips. If it’s very small, it’s okay. Do not chopped it all up or mince it. The pork is only a side ingredient so shouldn’t be that much. But if you want to add more, that’s okay as well. Granny use belly pork for this. Can substitute this with chicken.
50-100 g of prawn
No need to slice the prawn smaller. Just shell it. It’ll shrink ever more after cooking.
10-50 g of dried cuttlefish
Cuttlefish is similar to squid except that the skin colour is brown instead of white. Dried cuttlefish can be bought any Chinese grocery shop but if you’re a first-timer, do not put in too much. The taste is extremely strong. Cut it into small trips.
2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
A teaspoon of cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Heat up the oil until it’s hot. To check, stick your spatula into the oil. If bubbles form, it’s hot. Turn down the fire a bit.
Cook the garlic until it’s soft, not burnt. A bit brown is okay. If it’s getting brown too fast, turn down the fire. You can always turn up the fire later.
Add in the chicken and prawn. Keep stirring until chicken just turns white and prawn orange.
Add in the mangkuang. Keep stirring until the water comes out of the strips.
Add salt and pepper to taste. Start by adding 1/2 teaspoon of salt and quickly stir it together to get it mixed into the veggie. If not enough, can always add more. Pepper is about 2-3 pinch.
After that, let it cook for about 1-3 minutes until the veggie strips turn an off-white colour and is now soft. It’s done.
Bon appetit!
Bon appetit!