Stir Fry Kai Lan with little silver fishes

Ha Ha.. what a title. In fact, I have been holding onto this post for a while... in search of the right name for those little tiny silver fishies (ngan yee chye). I do love eating them and I also heard mum say that they are very rich in calcium. See not all things good for you tastes bad.

This is a rather special type of stir fry kai lan as the leafy part of the kai lan is the unusual part of the dish, and not the tiny silver fish. You have to fry the leaves first to make it crunchy. It is rather appetizing, and a good inducement for people and kiddos who do not really like the green taste of the leafy part of the vegetable.

For this dish, what you do is firstly clean the kai lan in a bit of salt water. Mum says this is to "disinfect" the vegetable and since mum knows best, I do not question her.. just do as instructed.

Wash the little silver fishes and rinse well as they are sometimes a bit dirty as I have seen them being dried on the sun uncovered. You just don't know what has landed on them.

Take out the kai lan and cut the leafy part from the stem. Try to shake the leaves as dry as you can. Then using your knife (chopper), slice the leafy part. These are to be fried in oil and when they are done, take them out and sprinkle in some salt.

Cook the stems like normal. Put a little oil in the pan/wok and put in some slice or chopped garlic when the oil is hot. Put in the little fishy when the garlic turns aromatic. Stir them abit and put in the kai lan stem. Add a little salt and rice wine (optional). Once they are done, quickly stir in the fried leaves and turn off the fire. Serve with rice.

By the way, does anyone know what these little fishies are called? This mystery is killing me!

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