Beans in my ears…

If you’re wondering if there really is such a song, the answer is there IS!!! I used to hear it on the radio when I was a kid…and if you listen to the lyrics, there are a few things that may be of interest. Firstly, they put beans in their ears so they cannot hear the teacher (nagging and scolding)…and secondly, they think grown-ups have beans in their ears for they never listen to what the children say.

Anyway, this post is not going to dwell on the song or those issues. It is actually about a variety of beans – french beans…

When I cook them, I will slice them very thinly and diagonally like this…

My missus will just chop them into 2-inch strips and fry them with Bombay onions and egg and I do not like them like that. I don’t like the onion taste and the beans have a very strong smell that puts my off. Somehow or other, when cut the way I do, the smell seems to disappear altogether…and I will always fry them with garlic and egg, plus salt and msg according to taste. However, the other day, I decided to use some belacan and bits of pork belly instead…and of course, a chilli cut into long thin strips…

…but of course, those are optional. This was because I could recall that at my favourite haunt here – the Ruby Restaurant, they would fry the mixed bean combo – french beans, long beans, four-angle beans and ladies fingers with pork belly and I could taste the belacan in it. I love that dish a lot, so I thought I could do the same with the french beans.

As always, I browned the garlic in some oil that I had heated in a wok, threw in the belacan and the chilli followed by the pork. After stirring it for a while, I put in the french beans, added a bit of water and stirred till cooked…

The belacan was salty enough and there was enough flavour in it without any need for msg. I did not add an egg either as I thought I could do without it.

The final verdict? It wasn’t anything like what I had at the Ruby Restaurant…but it was definitely a nice change from the usual!