Friday 9 December 2016

Acar Bendi (Ladies Finger Acar)


Do you like ladies fingers (okra)? I know that some people do not like it because it is slimy. But me? I have always loved ladies fingers. My mum and my grandma usually boil the ladies fingers and then we eat them with sambal belacan.

There are many ways to enjoy ladies fingers - stir fried with sambal, made into kerabu, added into asam pedas and fish head curry. And until recently, I learnt a new recipe - Acar Bendi.

I just realised Teacher Azimah did not slice it like this. Sorry teacher.

Well, that's thanks to my new friend, Teacher Azimah who kindly shared her recipe with me in this post.  Azimah is our resident intrepid kindergarten teacher. Reading her posts on the kindergarten and her cheeky wards always brings me back to my own kindie days.

I was enrolled at St Theresa Kindergarten in Kuala Terengganu and I am sorry to say that I was one of those kids who don't like to go to school hah..hah... I would cry when I had to go to school and I believe Teacher Azimah would have had a lot of headache with me.

Subsequently I became a bully (with only one victim) and gave the nuns a lot of stress. But all in all, eventually I turned out to be a well behaved citizen. Perhaps I should tell you more about my kindie days in another post, eh?

Now back to the recipe. As with most Malay cooking, you need to do some blending or pounding first. Nothing too difficult especially if you have a blender.


The blended ingredients are sauteed in hot oil until aromatic and slightly dry. Then you add sugar. Add some water and all the ingredients in the tray above.

Cook briefly till they soften and then add the ladies fingers. Add some water, salt and vinegar and let simmer until ladies fingers are tender. Lastly add fried ikan bilis.

I cooked the ladies fingers to tender but still retaining a bit of crisp and this acar bendi is aromatic, salty, sweet and sour. I think it is a lovely dish which I have cooked twice already.


Thank you again, Teacher Azimah! Please let me have your comments if my cooking needs improvement 😉

Acar Bendi 
Recipe source : Adapted from Asam Garam Kehidupan

Ingredients :
- 300g ladies fingers, sliced
- 1 tomato, cut into wedges
- 1 big onion, sliced
- 1/2 a small carrot, julienned 
- 1 red chlli, sliced into strips
- 4 thin slices ginger, julienned
-  A handful of ikan bilis, fried till crispy

- 2 tbsp distilled vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
- 3 tsp sugar or to taste
- 1 tsp salt or to taste 

Pounded/blended ingredients :
- 4 dried chilies, soaked to soften
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 big onion

Method :
1. Heat oil in wok and saute the pounded ingredients until aromatic and dryish (sampai garing ler).
2. Add sugar and some water. 
3. Add tomato, sliced onions, carrot, chilli and ginger. Fry until softened.
4. Add ladies fingers and some water. Bring to a boil and add salt and vinegar.
5. Stir to mix and simmer until ladies fingers are cooked.
6. Turn off the flame and add fried ikan bilis.
7. Enjoy!

44 comments:

  1. Me is no thank to lady finger, hehe...

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  2. I love to eat lady fingers. This dish you cooked will make me eat many bowls of rice though I limit myself to half a bowl for one meal.

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    1. As I understand it, ladies fingers is good for bowel movement. Ooops I'm being gross >.<

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  3. Please do write more about your kindie days and how you manage to turn from a bully to a good citizen. Can't wait to read your posts on these subjects.

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  4. Hi Phong Hong, my hubby will love this bendi salad. He is a great fan of raw lady's fingers.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! Raw? I have not tried that. I suppose to eat raw, the ladies fingers must be those young and very fresh ones.

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  5. I belong to the group that loves ladies fingers. I'd eat it steamed with a dollop of sambal or stir-fried in belacan or with other veggies in "sei tai tin wong". At home, during lazy days, I'd just steam them with soya sauce and drizzle over some fried minced garlic and garlic oil...yum! ;) P/S: Didn't know you went to a Christian school when young (was that a Catholic school?).

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    1. Yes, the kindie is a Catholic school. Then my next Catholic school was Assunta in PJ. And then briefly at La Salle.

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  6. I like ladies fingers but no so for acar. Never a big fan of sour stuff.

    But your acar bendi is so colourful.

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    1. Oh, opposite of me, I love sour stuff :)

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  7. oh no, you don't sound like a kindergarten bully! but i guess we all have our own sordid past, heheh :D ooo, remember we were talking about pickled petai over on my blog ... so this is pickled ladies fingers ... i bet all these types of acar/jeruk would go well together :)

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    1. That was a very, very, very long time ago hah..hah... I love all kinds of jeruk!

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  8. Ish, ish..whose your victim? Must be small boy/girl right? Kesian dia tau. I bet all kids are same, afraid their parent go away and never come back, haha..that's why they cry as no more tomorrow for them.
    Your acar bendi look good and colourful. Cantik. Never mind with the cut, but i just follow what my mother teach me, slice like you did pun ok..lagipun nak masuk perut juga.

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    1. hee..hee..it was a small girl. Itu kisah zaman silam...masa PH jahat...

      Thank you for the pujian, Ticer Azimah. It's a nice dish, PH suka :)

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    2. Tq PH coz you like this recipe and share it here. Moga resepi my late mother ni ramai lagi yg suka nk try;)

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    3. Seronok PH bila dapat cuba resipi baru. Hari tu ticer Azimah punya resipi tempeh pun PH nak cuba. Ni tunggu beli tempeh aje.

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  9. I suka bendi PH, kalau buat kari/asam pedas mesti letak banyak2.
    Kalau buat goreng2 cam u punya ni makn ratah2 jer..tambah ada ikan bilis tu krup krap...sedapppppp

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    Replies
    1. Ya Lina, PH memang makan ratah gitu jer. Tak payah makan nasi pun.

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  10. Nampak sedap.

    And I love bendi too.

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  11. I like this, ladies fingers one of my fav, but I can do without the Ikan Bilis

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    Replies
    1. It's also good without the ikan bilis.

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  12. I love bendi too! Bendi steamed, stir-fry with sambal, in curry, etc. all I like. Your Acar Bendi looks delicious!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Nancy. This will be another addition to bendi dishes you like :)

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  13. I can do this!!! Got lots and lots of ladies fingers in my garden, it doesn't seem to be coming to a stop! Hehehehehe!!!!

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  14. ish.. ish.. lapar perut.. hee~ makan dengan nasi panas2 sedap nih.. adoi !!

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    1. hee..hee.. memang sedap. Kalau makan ratah gitu jer pun best.

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  15. Hi PH
    as usual selalunya the last few people to come visit you..heheh
    first time I came across acar bende..harus dicuba one day..thank you PH & teacher Azimah..for the recipe..:)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ayu, don't worry lah. Better late than never, kan?

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  16. My favorite way of eating bendi these days are cooking them in soup, the slimy things make the soup thicker and nicer in my opinion hehehe...

    Actually I'm not a huge fan of acar, or more like I don't get the point of it. Usually the acar that I get is served cold. Is that the normal way? It baffles me why people would cook something to become piping hot and delicious, then serve it cold instead.

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    Replies
    1. In soup macam itu American gumbo? I tried that once, I thought it was weird. Yes, acar is served either cold or at room temperature.

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  17. Alahaiii sedap ni PH
    Macam nak kena beli bendi lah lepas ni
    Walaupun yg mkn bendi ni hanya sorang je
    Anak2 kurang gemar entahlah nama pun budak2 kan
    Ayam daging mmg fav lah
    Kita ni lebih ke sayursn kan PH

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    Replies
    1. Kak Noor, biasanya budak2 tak suka sebab bendi ada lendir kot. Tapi PH masa kecik2 dulu pun dah suka bendi. Betul lah, budak2 lebih suka makan ayam. Kita yang berumur ni lebih suka sayur2.

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  18. Hee ... hee... I kapor ask who was your victim?
    Anyway, I'm not a fan of ladies fingers.

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    Replies
    1. My victim was a fair, pretty and skinny girl. Me bad :(

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  19. This acar looks delicious! I love ladies fingers, even grow my own. I've just given a bunch of ladies fingers to my neighbour. But my plants are dying off after months of harvesting dozens of ladies fingers. Would love to give this a try!

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    Replies
    1. Wah...your harvest is very good! When you harvest your future batch, you can give this recipe a try. Organic ladies fingers are sure to taste even better :)

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  20. My girl & I love lady's fingers and I have 3 home grown lady's finger plants at my balcony garden :)

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    Replies
    1. How nice! I still have not attempted planting ladies fingers.

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