Friday 2 March 2018

My Favorite French Beans


When I was a kid, one of the vegetables that I disliked was French beans. Generally speaking, I disliked all vegetables. They were all very unappealing to me.

It did not help that my grandparents (I lived with them) did not encourage me to eat vegetables. Grandma herself was not a fan of vegetables (hah..hah...) except for kangkung. I always remember the story of how after giving birth, she requested for a big plate of fried kangkung.


According to traditional practice, after giving birth, women were not allowed to eat certain (or all?) types of vegetables as these were considered cooling.

Well, grandma was never a stickler for archaic practices. She maintained that vegetables are important for roughage and the last thing you want while in confinement is to be constipated. Way to go, grandma!


Grandpa on the other hand was all about proteins. He believed that proteins were all important to a growing child and it did not matter to him that his granddaughter was becoming a fatty bom bom (from too much proteins and other things like sweet drinks and nonya kueh).

Well, mum changed all that for me. She introduced me to vegetables and slowly I discovered that vegetables are actually delicious. It depends on how you cook them.


Now, let me see. Why did I dislike French beans? It was the smell, I think. French beans have a distinctive smell but that does not bother me anymore. 

My favorite was of cooking French beans is to stir fry them with garlic and salt and then pour in some beaten eggs. Sometimes, I don't bother with the eggs and I still find the stir fried French beans very tasty.


Since I had some leftover luncheon meat in the fridge, I decided to add them into the equation of French beans + eggs. I fried the luncheon meat first before adding the browned cubes to the vegetables. 

The luncheon meat added a lot of flavor to the dish and I am imagining an eight year old me picking up all the luncheon meat cubes.

French Beans Fried with Eggs and Luncheon Meat
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 300g French beans, sliced at an angle
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 100g luncheon meat, cut into cubes
- 4 eggs
- 1 tbsp light soya sauce
- pepper to taste

Method :
1. Heat oil in wok and fry the luncheon meat cubes until browned. 
2. While frying the luncheon meat, break the eggs into a bowl and add soya sauce and pepper and beat the eggs. Set aside.
3. Once browned, remove the luncheon meat and set aside. 
4. In the same oil, fry the garlic until fragrant.
5. Add French beans and stir fry until tender.
6. Pour in the beaten eggs. When the eggs are set around the edges, give a stir to cook the eggs further.
7. Add the fried luncheon meat and when eggs are cooked, dish out and serve.

34 comments:

  1. Chop the french beans differently...and, with the same ingredients, you can end up with an equally yum french bean & luncheon meat omelette! ^_* During my confinement, I was not allowed to eat ALL types of vegetables (even fish)....and kangkung was a big no-no! T_T

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    1. Oh yeah, I make the omelette like that too :) I cannot imagine not eating vegetable at all >.<

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  2. I used to like kangkung when I was a small kid in Thailand as we ate them raw by dipping into the fiery spicy Thai sambal belacan called "Nam Prik". Later years I was horrified to see that the maids plucking the fresh kangkungs from the dirty river banks and even the black smelly monsoon drains where the abundant kangkung plants grew beautifully! Somehow my mindset was affected by that sight even when the market's kangkungs today are grown on soil beds in Malaysia.

    Your mum is very smart and great to introduce the vegetables to you as they are more tasty than any meat. Do you realize that all the meat are tasteless, raw and bloody if we don't cook them enough?? So we need to add so many sauces & condiments to make the meat taste good and perfect to our liking. All these sauces and ingredients are made of 100% vegetables!!

    #MakAhHongPandai

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    1. Aiyo, now I look at kangkung differently LOL!

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  3. Actually when I was growing up, French beans was one of my fav vege. But I rmbr my parents telling me it's more expensive than other vege, so we don't always get to have it.

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    1. I like those baby french beans which I don't seem to see anymore.

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  4. Egg and luncheon meat make everything taste yummy :P

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  5. I always can't resist luncheon meat...

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  6. I love French beans. This is something New, adding luncheon meat to French beans. Usually I stir-fried French beans with eggs and anchovies. Next time I must try with luncheon meat.

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    1. It's a favorite of mine now even when plain fried.

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  7. Like your grandma, I break all rules during my confinement. Great idea to add luncheon meat to the French beans and egg! I am going to get me a tin of luncheon meat tomorrow! Hope I remember!

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  8. I like to eat french beans stir fried on its own. Very sweet! Since I like to eat them I don't notice any special taste about them.

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  9. Hi Phong Hong, French beans fried with eggs is always good what more with the tasty meat pieces.

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    1. Hi Kimmy! Yes, I also like to add eggs to bittergourd.

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  10. Phong Hong, thank you for replying back to me on your blog...although I do have you on my blog list, and on my third post, I still check yours, even on the Googl+ as well! I love this unusual (well, at least to us Americans)...French green beans made with scrambled eggs, and love the addition of the luncheon meat, which would be ham? salami? SPAM?...I would add bacon to complete the 'brunch' idea, and I see you added some nice red sliced chili peppers to it as well! Will try for sure!

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    1. Hi Elisabeth! Thank you for checking my posts and I am sorry for not visiting you earlier. As you can see, I am behind in replying comments LOL! Luncheon meat is the equivalent to SPAM which I happen to also love.

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  11. French beans, some more with eggs and luncheon meat cubes which are my favourites, i am hungry now, help!

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  12. Oh, how things have changed. I was never a fan of veggies as a kid. I have horrendous memories of sitting at the dinner table, teary-eyed, being forced to eat cold peas. Now, though, I can't get enough veggies.

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    1. What a difference. It's the same with me :)

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  13. I had french beans for dinner tonite, but only cooked with garlic which is equally nice if the beans are not "old". I find french beans are sweeter than long beans.

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  14. Most kids dislike greens but when they grow up, they change... I am speaking on behalf of my kids! hahaaa.. now they eat more greens than the mother! Your one-dish is good enough for me.. luncheon meat and greens, balanced liow.. :)

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  15. same like me
    masa kecil totally tak suka sayur langsung
    bila besar kaki makan sayur
    hehehe

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  16. My faveret jugak ni. Goreng jangan lama sangat biar dia krup krap krup krap dlm mulut.... Pergh
    Dlm rumah ni pun tak ramai yg suka sayur. Diaorang memasing memilih sayur ...geram tau!....

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    Replies
    1. hah..hah...biasalah budak2 tak berapa minat sayur.

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