Stir-fry Chilli Petai & Mince

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If you love hot & spicy local food like I do, you have to try this stir-fry chilli petai & mince meat. Petai is also known as stinky bean (臭豆 in Chinese) so I think you can guess that the petai bean has a ‘unique’ smell & taste. It might sound like a foul smelling food but trust me, this is a strangely delicious ‘stinky’ ingredient.

See Also:

• Sambal Kangkong Recipe
• Sambal Pasta with Prawns Recipe

Petai was an acquired taste for me. I never dared to eat it all my life due to the smell but suddenly I tried it 2 years ago and I grew to like it from there. Nowadays, I crave eating petai! Locally, we usually cook petai with a thick sambal paste but as a starter to cooking petai as a noob cook, this recipe is really simple. I just wanted to do a simple stir fry petai in cut chilli & garlic, so I used instant sambal belacan as a short-cut to cutting the chillis. The dish is also cooked with some mince meat so that it can be served as a one-dish meal.

PETAI PREPARATION

Each petai must be halved for cooking. On the left of the plate are the halved petai, while the right section of the plate are the intact petai sold at the market.

Halving the petai helps to reduce cooking time but most importantly, it is a vital check for any worm which might be embedded inside the bean (pictured above). If you found a worm, just cut a ‘v’ shape around the worm to discard that portion.

STEP-BY-STEP PHOTOS

Cook onions on medium low heat in a wokpan until softened.

Add marinated mince chicken.

You can also use minced pork (I cooked the pork version on an earlier day).

Stir fry mince chicken until half cooked, then add mince garlic and dried chilli.

When the mince chicken is fully cooked on the surface (turns fully opaque), add petai and sambal belacan.

This is the brand of sambal belacan I am using by the way. It is really hot! You can use any favourite brand from the supermarket and adjust to taste.

Stir-fry briskly to coat the petai in the sambal belacan.

Then add water …

sugar …

& fish sauce.

Stir fry until the petai is softened to liking, which won’t take long.