Special request…

My missus went and plucked some more tapioca leaves (daun bandong/daun ubi kayu) from the belukar on some empty land around where my mother-in-law’s house is so I took a bit and fried them with some pumpkin, enough for the two of us for lunch and dinner that day…and no, I did not forget the serai (lemon grass) unlike the last time I fried this ethnic dish.

What happened was I went and shared this photograph on Facebook…

…and somebody commented saying, “Pass me de recipe PLEASE….for pumpkin I only see Pumpkin pie Pumpkin Bingka n steam pumpkin for those on diet.” [SIC]

Well, I did get to cook this same dish again last Friday because my missus cooked this prawn curry…

…for lunch and I just pounded some sambal belacan (dried prawn paste dip) and blanched some long beans for our ulam…

…and both were extremely spicy and I was thinking that perhaps, my girl who was coming home that evening would not be able to handle those so well. That was why I decided to cook the tapioca leaves with pumpkin again that day for dinner. This time around, I photographed everything step by step in the hope that my friend would be able to dish out something similar since she had asked for the recipe.

Firstly, after having prepared all the ingredients including all the pounding, I fried a handful of ikan bilis (dried anchovies) in oil till slightly brown and then I pushed them aside and put in the pounded ginger and serai (lemon grass), bruised at the ends…

After frying those till nice and fragrant, I added a spoonful of the sambal belacan from the above ulam – this may be replaced by half a cube of ikan bilis stock or salt and msg but these should be added much later, not at this point in time. After frying for a while, I added the tapioca leaves, pounded, of course…

…and not blended and if you are adding thinly-sliced chili, you may throw that in here.

I mixed everything together thoroughly and added a bit of water…

…just a bit at a time whenever it got rather dry. Do not add too much at one go…

…even though the water would soon seep into the pounded leaves and there will not be any left. But you would need a bit of it to try and see if what you’re cooking is salty and tasty enough or not. If you are using ikan bilis stock cube or salt and msg, you can add them here according to taste.

Finally, I added the pumpkin…

…which I had cut into bite-sized chunks and boiled lightly to make sure they were cooked and soft enough. I had removed the skin as I was pretty sure my girl would not fancy the hassle of having to remove that while eating.

Just mix everything together thoroughly and continue frying for a bit and then, dish out and serve…

This time around, I found that I had done a better job than the previous time as it was not so wet and was, therefore, nicer or that is how I personally like it. Some people may want a bit more gravy to go with their rice – that’s up to them. Like I always say, to each his own!

So there you have it, my friend – my resipi daun ubi dan labu goreng (fried tapioca leaves and pumpkin recipe). Good luck!