Chai boey/choy guek/chap chai it’s a tangy, salty, sour and a little spicy dish of mustard greens boiled with meat (usually roasted pork). We used to have this dish after Chinese New Year with all the left over meat. This dish will taste much better the next day, and the next … It is great with steam white rice.
Chai boey ingredients:
2 roast pork leg (chopped)
Lots of mustard leaves (chopped into big chunks)
dried chillies, about 10 pieces (or more if you like it spicier)
10 pieces of dried tamarind slices (or more if you like it extra tangy)
2 tablespoons of tamarind paste, mixed with water and strained (to get tamarind juice) or 1 lemon
1 carrot
2tomatoes
4 mushrooms ( sliced)
A few chilies
1 inch of ginger
2 bulb of garlic
Salt and sugar to taste
How to cook chai boey:
Bring a pot of water to boil and add in mustard leaves for about 10 mins. This will take away the bitterness of the leaves. In another pot of boiling water( about 2 liters), add in tomatoes ,carrots, mushroom, garlic, ginger, dried tamarind slices and dried chillies. Boil for 20 minutes. Add mustard leaves, fresh chilies and meat at this stage (roast pork leg, chicken, duck, etc). Lower fire, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes.
Add in tamarind juice(lemon juice), salt and sugar. Adjust the seasoning and tamarind juice accordingly. If the water’s reduced, you can add more water to thin out the dish. The dish shouldn’t be too soupy though. Simmer for another hour to allow the taste to develop. Serve piping hot. This dish will tastes excellent when left to mellow overnight.
*There are some other extra stuff you can add to the dish. Whatever you add, it’s up to you. My mom used to add the left over meats and Chinese sausage to it and is like a treasure hunt for us when we were young….. Good old memories!!!!