Stir Fried Longs Beans with Dried Prawns and Aaauuwwch!!!!

Last Wednesday, I had an episode. An episode of what, you ask? Some drama on the home front - I threw out my back. I was peacefully watering the garden while waiting for my partner to pick me up. Then I bent down to pull out a weed from a flowerpot. "Pop!" That's what I felt in my lower back and the "pop!" was accompanied by a sharp pain that made me want to lie down on the driveway. But I couldn't do that of course because (i) the driveway was wet, (ii) my neighbors would freak out and (iii) my partner would freak out.

So I squatted down to ease the pain. I should have stayed down longer for my back to settle, but I got up, very slowly. I was in pain but I managed to shuffle to the garden tap to turn off the water. I knew I was in trouble. When my partner turned up, I told him I had to take a day off.

I went upstairs and painfully lowered myself on my bed. Lying down eased the pain but of course I could not lie down the whole day. I got up, with much pain and went to my study room and sat down. I basically alternated between my bed and the chair. Every time I lowered myself on the bed or the chair, I would let out a cry. Same thing when getting up. Auuuwch!!!! AAAAAuuuuuwwch!!!! Even sneezing or coughing would leave me in agony.

Certain maneuvers in the bathroom would elicit loud yelps of pain. Waarghhhh!!!! And at times I would grunt like a pig. Ermghh!!!! Ermghh!!!! I wonder if my immediate neighbor heard me. They must be wondering what's up with next door?

The next day, I was still in pain but it was manageable. I went to work as I had many things to take care of. Sitting at my desk (with intervals of walking to the copier and the toilet) did take it's toll as I experienced discomfort and pain at the end of the day. The next day, Friday, I bravely went to work in spite of the pain. At about 3:00pm, I had to give up. I was almost in tears and my partner had to send me home.

When I reached home, getting out of the car was sheer torture. Waaarghhh!!!! My partner joked to cheer me up "You sound like you are having a baby! Twins!". But laughing caused stabbing pains. "Don't make me laugh!", I pleaded. But my guy is a funny guy and when he lets out the funnies he can't stop and I can't stop laughing. So I burst out in tears because of the pain. When I closed the door behind me, I sobbed my heart out. I guess it is one of the ways to relief the pain.

And to make matters worse, there was a major water disruption and I discovered that the tap had run dry at 6pm. The bathroom of course was still working as it was running on the storage in the water tank. Since I was unable to cook or go out to eat, my partner packed our dinner home. That evening, I was supposed to attend my Tua Pek's (my dad's eldest brother) 80th birthday party. I was looking forwards to the event to meet and catch up with my cousins and other relatives. Sadly, I had to cancel.

Anyway, to cut the long story short, the water supply came back on Saturday evening much to my and everyone's relief. As of today, my back still hurts but it is getting better, slowly but surely. From experience, I know that it would take at least 2 weeks or more for me to get back to normal.

So, I leave you with this very easy but delicious vegetable dish. Back home, I remember my Grandma would stir fry long beans with garlic and salt. My Mum does the same and we love our long beans. And I prefer the long beans to still have some crunch to it. Most of the time at the "chap fan" (mixed rice) stalls, the long beans are overcooked. Yuks!

Simple ingredients.

I love long beans a lot and besides stir frying, it is also very good in assam fish, fried rice and vegetable curries. The addition of dried prawns to the usual salt and garlic makes this simple vegetable dish a lot tastier. I also added some red chillies to the dish. I can just eat this on it's own with rice.

I have not given any measurements as this recipe is so simple and you can just "agak-agak" (estimate) yourself. If you don't hear from me after this post, it would mean that I am still nursing my injured back. I hope to spring back to action soon. I miss cooking and baking :(

Stir Fried Long Beans with Dried Prawns

Recipe Source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :

- Long beans cut into 1" length

- Garlic, crushed and peeled (leave whole)

- Dried prawns, soaked and drained

- 1 chillie, sliced (optional)

- Fish sauce (to taste)

Method :

1. Heat oil in wok and fry garlic briefly till it is slightly brown.

2. Add dried prawns and fry till fragrant.

3. Add long beans and stir until tender but still crispy.

4. Add a dash of fish sauce to taste and serve.