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This is one of my favorite Grandma’s recipes, my family called it as simple as “Asam Chai” or “Kiam Chai” in Hokkien, which means Sour Asam Vegetable Stew. When I was young, I really didn’t know what are the ingredients in the bottom of the pot. Whenever my grandma cooked this dish, I would just dug up the vegetables and soup and I could just eat it with plain rice. This dish is basically cooked using the key ingredient of  Asam Gelugor, Asam Keping in Malay, or Tamarind juice.  By adding in some dried red chilies, ginger and garlic that bring out more of its exotic taste. Thus the vegetable stew is filled with flavors of hot, sourish and spicy tastes that are mouthwatering.

While getting to know about this dish, some families cook it differently by using the leftovers from dinner, like after the Chinese New Year celebrations. This is the best time you can make this dish by using the leftover dishes such as roast pork, chicken, duck and cook them with fresh mustard greens or pickle salted mustard. It is famously known as “Chai Buey” or 菜尾, literally means leftover.

However we didn’t have any leftover meats, so I decided to make it all fresh with pork rib and pork loin. That made this dish even healthier and a wonderful hot and sour vegetable pork stew for this festive season. So it totally depends on you to cook with other meats. If you cannot find the Asam Gelugor, just omit it and you can use the Tamarind pulps or paste, these can be found in the Asian market. There is no exact recipe, you just need to check and adjust the seasoning based on your desired taste.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb pork ribs
1/2 lb pork loins  (cut into 1″ pieces)
2 packs of fresh mustard greens (washed, cut into 2″ pieces)
4 pieces of Asam Gelugor or Asam Keping (optional)
1 tbsp Asam Paste or Tamarind paste (soak in some warm water to dissolve)
8 dried red chilies (break into halves)
2 tbsp cooking oil
2″ ginger (sliced)
6 cloves garlic (pounded, peeled, slightly chopped)
2 tbsp soy sauce
Few dash of salt to taste
4 cups water

Serve size: 4-6 people

Cooking Method:

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, blanch the pork ribs and pork loins in boiling water. Drain with cold water and set aside.
2. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Add in sliced ginger and chopped garlic, stir fry quickly till lightly golden brown.
3. Add in dried red chilies and Assam Gelugor, lightly fry until fragrant.
4. Add in pork ribs and pork loins, stir fry till lightly brown.
5. Add in the fresh mustard greens (Gai Choy), pour in about 4 cups of water or at fill till 3/4 level of the greens. Turn to high heat till water boils, then reduce to medium and cook for 15 minutes till the vegetables shrink. Add in Asam or Tamarind paste, and soy sauce.
6. Turn to low heat and cover the pot with lid, simmer for 1 hour until the stock slightly thicken, the greens will change to dark green color and pork meat will turn to brown color.
7. Check for desired taste or add some salt or sugar if needed.
8. Dish out and serve hot with steamed white rice.