The Kangkung with Bean Sauce

I had a bunch of Kangkung (known variously as water convulvulos, morning glory, tung-choy (HK)) in the fridge. The usual ways of cooking kangkong in my family are
a) stirfried with sambal belacan
b) stirfried with garlic, fu-yuu (white fermented bean curd) and chilli. Alternatively, I would make a sauce of fu-yu, chilli oil, Chinese wine and sugar and toss that with boiled kangkong.
c) stirfried with plenty of garlic.

Last night the usual ways did not appeal. Or rather, options a) and c) did not appeal, and although option b) did, I had no fu-yuu at home. However, there was something else in the fridge that caught my eyes, a jar of Yellow Bean Paste. Hmm. similar to fu-yuu, both are kind of salty, savoury and strongly flavoured. The yellow bean paste would have been quite flat used on its own, it is usually cooked with meat. And suddenly the thought of kangkung and pork in a yellow beany sauce began to sound appealing to me and I had a go at cooking it. Well, the end result tasted rather good, but on the salty side, on account of the yellow beans. It would have been better if it was eaten with rice....I think this recipe would work with black beans or toban (chilli bean) sauces. There is no accompanying picture because we did not think to take one, but it really is quick and easy to cook.

Kangkung with Pork and Yellow Bean sauce

1 bunch of kangkung, washed, with stalks separated from leaves
Chopped Garlic
Chopped Onions
2 tsp Yellow Bean sauce
Pork, sliced thinly
Cooking alcohol (whisky in my case, but shaoxing wine or cooking sherry would do too)- as marinade, and during cooking.

1. Marinate the sliced pork with white pepper, sesame oil and cooking alcohol for 30 minutes
2. Heat some oil in the wok and toss the pork on high heat for about 2-3 minutes to cook it. Scoop out the pork and set aside.
3. Add more oil into the wok if needed. Toss the garlic and onions on medium heat until fragrant. Add the yellow bean sauce and toss some more.
4. Throw in the kangkung, stalks first, followed by leaves. Crank the heat up to the maximum setting. There will be a lot of sizzle and sazzle. Don't worry. Toss the vegetables until it wilts, about 2-3 minutes. Do NOT add water, the vegetables will naturally 'sweat' water. Splash some alcohol on the side of wok and return the cooked pork to the wok. Toss to combine, and it is ready to serve.

Source : http://umami.typepad.com/umami/2004/05/kangkong_with_b.html