As a new graduate, I shared an apartment with several college students and young professionals. We had a great time playing house, with scenarios much like the sit-com Friends. In theory we cooked or brought our own food but in reality, we partook of what each brought into the house. That kind of arrangement suited us well since there was nobody assigned to kitchen duty.

We lived in a compound of two apartment rows facing each other. The tenants of the other apartments were also students, young professionals and a few families. The children would oftentimes come to our apartment with their books and crayons, play and eat with us, to the consternation of their parents.

Usually, I cook when I get home from the office. Technically, I would just cook for myself and my brother but of course I would cook enough to feed around ten people, which include my housemates and any stragglers. Even when I come home late in the evening, at around 10 p.m. as soon as the pan hits the stove, people would be coming out of the woodwork.

The recipe I’m posting today is one of my bestsellers, so to speak. It’s a variation of the Stir-fried Vegetables with Oyster Sauce recipe of sometime back and quite easy to cook. I got it from one of my mom’s cookbooks, Vegetarian Cooking by Carole Handslip. This one uses another kind of beans - mangetout also known as citsaro or snowpeas - and tofu. When I first tried this, it made raves even with the non-vegetable eating crowd. Enjoy!
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Hearing about Svelty’s siomai adventure and Bea’s suggestions for a blog for beginner’s cookery gave me several ideas for this entry.

First, tips on storing vegetables bought in bulk. Ideally, fresh produce is best bought on the day it is to be cooked. However, this is not always practical unless you have a green grocer outside your doorstep. It is always economical, financially and effort-wise, to go to the market at most only once a week. Fresh produce can be stored in the refrigerator. To avoid spoilage, keep tomatoes, lemons and other small items in plastic containers lined with old newspaper. Larger items (cucumbers, carrots, capsicum) and leafy greens such as cabbage, celery and lettuce should also be wrapped in newsprint before storing in the crisper. The refrigerator’s cold moisture is what keeps food fresh but if saturated, it is what hastens spoilage. The wrapping should be changed as it gets soaked.

Second, some rules of thumb when cooking vegetables is that they should only be rinsed briefly, to preserve vitamins and minerals. The same rule is applied to cooking. They should not be boiled “to death” but remain crisp when served. When cooking, turn off fire 2-3 minutes before the vegetables are actually done. The remaining heat from the stove and cooking vessel will be enough to cook the dish.

Since Svelty wanted a recipe with bean sprouts (togue), I thought the one below would be appropriate. I found it years ago in one of my mother’s cookbooks, Eat Better Live Better published by Reader’s Digest, hence the exact proportions.

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