Sweet Potato Leaves in Coconut Gravy (Pete/stink beans is involved)

To keep inline with today's theme of Meatless Monday, I decided to post a vegetarian (turns out this recipe contains anchovies) veggie dish, that should be satisfying on its own without leaving me feeling something is amiss without the presence of meat.
When I thought about filling, satisfying veggie dish, my mind always goes to anything involving coconut gravy. And what better combination with coconut milk if not the stink beans/pete??!

I think these dynamic duo is the bomb, whenever they're together, they make magic, alleviate a dish to a whole new level, at least that's what I think. It's hard to go wrong if you use these two items together.
So I decided to make a veggie dish based entirely off the basic combination between coconut milk and stink beans. To add to the complexity, I decided to throw in fried anchovies/ikan teri. Just so the coconut milk doesn't taste too heavy, and gives the veggie another layer of flavor. What better veggie that can take this many punches if not the sweet potato leaves? The taste is more or less neutral, subtle, but can withstand the coconut milk-stink beans combo. Thus, this recipe was born and starting today has become the new family favorite!

And this is basically how my mind works every time I think of a new way to cook an ingredient, whatever that maybe.

Source: springyn.en.alibaba.com

The sweet potato leaves is my new favorite veggie. It may not always appear in the supermarkets here, but when they do, I rejoice! They are great as stir fries, soup, or even eaten raw (though this I've never tried before). Well I did try it raw once when I was trying to cook it for the first time, just never really consume an entire bowl of raw sweet potato leaves before (as a real meal). It tasted surprisingly refreshing and juicy crunchy (as opposed to dry crunchy which I initially guessed by the looks of it).

According to health websites (like this one), the sweet potato leaves contain a great deal of vitamins, in an amount even larger than those obtained from the sweet potatoes themselves. The leaves have 3 times more vitamin B6, 5 times more vitamin C, and almost 10 times of riboflavin than the sweet potatoes. Interesting fact! Makes me love these greens even more.

Anyways, now that we know the benefits of consuming the leaves, let's discuss on how to cook it best. Since this is my blog, the following is how I think it should be cooked :D.

The herbs and spices used in this recipe are actually pretty simple and easy to find; shallots, green chili, stink beans (pete), candle nut, and coconut cream or coconut milk. I also added mushroom bouillon to enrich the flavor of the dish. Also some salt and brown sugar to taste. Instead of flavor enhancers, I like to use brown sugar to get that 'tastiness' that I look for.

Candle nut also has tons of benefits; treatment of diarrhea, cholesterol lowering agent, weight loss supplement, and arthritis treatment. But these are not the reasons why I include it in my recipe. Candle nut adds body to the gravy. And in my mind, I think it's what this dish needs.

I also added fried anchovies/ikan teri, because I simply imagined it'd taste nice. I've never added fried anchovies in any of my recipes before, so this was a first. I have to say, with this one, I'm glad I did it. Excellent choice, which is a rare occasion.

So first step, ground together the shallots, candle nut, and green chili with a little bit of salt into a somewhat smooth paste.

This consistency will do. I like seeing bits and pieces of the spices floating around with the veggies, but that's me, if you'd like to make it into a finer paste, I don't think it should post any problem. So go ahead.

The next step is to saute the ground up paste in a pan with a little bit of oil. When it starts to smell fragrant but before they turn brown, add in the leaves and stink beans. I'd add some water at this point to get the process going. The water will help cook the leaves and steam the stink beans to release it's wonderful 'aroma'. Add in the mushroom bouillon and some salt for taste. When the leaves start to wilt, I added the anchovies (deep fry them first before we start cooking).

The anchovies will start to add its slightly salty flavors into the gravy, and this will be a perfect time to add in the coconut cream. I also added brown sugar nearing the end just before the dish is done.

When you think the taste is to your liking, remove from heat and the sweet potato leaves with coconut gravy is ready!
Feel free to tinker the recipe according to your taste. If you like it to be more heavy on the stink beans side, adding more should be okay. Or if you enjoy more anchovies with your veggie, you can add more of that too. There's no one strict way to use this recipe, it is there for guidance, but the rest is up to you.
Details for this recipe is listed at the bottom of this post.

I've also made a video of the cooking process, I hope it's useful to you:

Feel free to let me know if you have anything to add or anything you might find confusing in the instructions. Thanks for tuning in :).

Sweet potato leaves with coconut gravy:

1 bouquet sweet potato leaves

Ground together
2 big shallots
2 green chili
1 candle nut
salt

Stink beans (pete)
2 tbsp fried anchovies/ikan teri
1 tsp mushroom bouillon
1 small packet coconut cream
1/2 tsp brown sugar

Oil for frying
5 tbsp water
Salt to taste