Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago, with more than 17,500 islands. The country is a home of 600 distinct ethnic groups with different cultures and traditional dishes. There are various Indonesian traditional plant-based dishes and my favorite one is a stir-fry Kangkung (Water Spinach).
Indonesia Map (Source: Google Map)
This dish has a special place in my heart because it was part of my survival meal when I was a cash-strapped college student living on an island far away from my parents after high school. For me, who had never cooked before, this dish was cheap and easy to prepare .
Now that I live in Chicago, this dish also cures my homesickness. Thanks to the Asian (Thai-Vietnamese) grocery stores in the Uptown Chicago neighborhood, I can get all the cheap ingredients I need for this dish.
After years of buying Kangkung from the store, I recently started to grow it in front of the window. Instead of composting the leftover stems like I used to do, I placed them in jars full of water. They surprisingly grow well even during winter as long as they are not deprived of water.
After about 4-5 months, I harvested Kangkung and stir-fried it with sambal I prepared days before which consisted of red chili pepper, garlic, shallots, candle nuts, lime leaf, and salt. I also added a bit of dried shrimp, slices of ginger, a tablespoon of soy sauce, and cherry tomatoes.
I used the cherry tomatoes that I harvested from my garden and froze them in a Ziplock bag. Cherry tomato is an easy plant to grow from seed. I am grateful to have an abundant harvest every time I grow them and they last for more than a year being frozen in a Ziploc bag. I simply throw frozen cherry tomatoes in a dish or soup whenever I need them.
After finished cooking, I love to enjoy Kangkung with white rice, fried tofu and more sambal. I usually can finish this Kangkung dish all in one sitting.
It feels great to be able to grow veggies and enjoy them in a meal that can remind me, an immigrant, of how I survived my past difficult life in my home country, far far away from Chicago.
