I normally cook petai with ikan bilis, but this humble petai bean goes well with shrimp too. The cooking method is more or less the same. Heat up some oil (be generous), fry sliced onion until the latter starts to brown. Throw in the petai beans, turn up the heat, fry for half a minute, then throw in the shrimp. Once the shrimp turns red, put in one tea spoonful of sambal, one teaspoon of sugar and drizzle some light soya sauce over it.

The kids may not appreciate the sambal, but it’s another great accompaniment to white rice.

© Chan Joon Yee