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Kangkung Belacan Recipe (Water Spinach & Shrimp Paste)

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My first attempts to cook with water spinach (also called ong choy, kangkung, rau muong) ended in failure: the veggie would rot before I got around to cooking it! Of course, old hands know that water spinach goes bad very quickly, so I would encourage you to buy your bunch the day-of and refrigerate it. Either way, water spinach is a wonderful vegetable - despite it's name, I don't think it tastes anything like spinach. The hollow stem gives it a light crunch, and flavor-wise it's very neutral. There are numerous ways to prepare this veggie (a Chinese method is a classic saute with garlic, soy sauce, oil & sherry), but I love the pungent Malaysian preparation, which uses shrimp paste. Recipe Ingredients: 1/4 cup onions, finely sliced 1 clove of garlic, minced cooking oil handful of small dried shrimp, soaked & minced 1 red chili, sliced 1 tbsp shrimp paste (belacan) bunch of water spinach (kangkung) dash of soy sauce salt Recipe Steps: Prep the water spinach by wa