Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Indonesian Sambal Potatoes with Green Beans
印尼參巴薯仔四季豆
Recipe overview
Par-cooked potatoes are gently simmered with green beans and sambal, absorbing the sauce while keeping their shape.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 600 g potatoes
- 250 g green beans
- 150 g tomato
- 120 g onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 10 g ginger
Stir-fry seasoning
- 3 tbsp sambal oelek
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp sweet soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 200 ml water
Cooking oil
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
02
Tools
- chopping board
- kitchen knife
- saucepan
- colander
- deep lidded frying pan
- spatula
- measuring spoons
- measuring cup
03
Steps
Step 1
Cut and rinse potatoes
Peel and cut potatoes into 2.5 cm cubes, rinse away surface starch and drain.
Step 2
Prepare green beans
Wash the beans, trim both ends and cut into 4 cm lengths.
Step 3
Cut aromatics and tomato
Dice onion, mince garlic and ginger, and cut tomato into 1.5 cm pieces.
Step 4
Parboil potatoes
Boil potatoes for 6 minutes until slightly soft outside but firm in the centre; drain.
Step 5
Blanch green beans
Boil the green beans in the same water for 2 minutes until bright green; drain.
Step 6
Brown the potatoes
Heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat and fry potatoes for 5 minutes until lightly golden; remove.
Step 7
Fry the onion
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil and fry onion, garlic and ginger for about 2 minutes until softened and fragrant.
Step 8
Fry the sambal
Add sambal and tomato paste; cook over medium heat for 1 minute until fragrant and red oil appears without burning.
Step 9
Make the tomato sauce
Add tomato, sweet soy sauce, sugar, salt and 200 ml water; bring to a gentle simmer.
Step 10
Add potatoes
Return potatoes, stir, cover and simmer over low heat for 8 minutes until the centres soften.
Step 11
Add green beans
Add green beans and cook uncovered for 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats the vegetables.
Step 12
Check and serve
A skewer should slide easily into a potato centre and the beans should be cooked but still crisp; taste and serve.
Common mistakes
- Cutting uneven potato cubes so they cook differently.
- Fully boiling potatoes before frying so they break apart.
- Burning sambal over high heat and making it bitter.
- Adding green beans too early so they lose colour and texture.
Tips
Parboil then brown potatoes to shorten braising while preserving their shape. Fry sambal over medium heat and add beans near the end; reduce sambal to 2 tablespoons for less heat rather than masking burnt flavours with sugar.
