I love baby lady fingers.

My favourite way of eating it is tossing the batch to the BBQ, sprinkle with sea salt.

When it is done and lightly charred, I eat it whole, stem and all.

A must have at my BBQs.

I have intended to stir fry the baby lady fingers with sambal but changed my mind as we had one too many spicy dishes recently.

Boiling it is the easy way out and just need a dip or sauce to go with it.

It is commonly served with a spicy dried shrimp paste, but I wanted something different and non-spicy.

I have a box coconut cream in the fridge which will go very well with chinchalok (fermented tiny shrimp), but I have no chinchalok. 

I am not about to rush out to buy as I hope and like the challenge of finding the substitute to chinchalok.

I ransacked my fridge yet again and saw a bottle of Chinese plum sauce (balance from making the raw fish salad for CNY) sitting right inside.

Excitedly, I mix the plum sauce into the coconut cream, tasted it and let out a big WOW!
There's something about the creamy, smooth, salty, sour and sweet that transforms it into an unforgettable dip. (It reminds me the first time I tasted salted caramel ice cream, only better!)

The soft and tender lady fingers came "alive" that night with each mouthful of this incredible dip.

This recipe is definitely for keeps!

You will need:

200-300gm baby lady fingers

3 tablespoon thick coconut cream

1 teaspoon of plum sauce

zest of lime (optional)

1 teaspoon salt

Methods:

1.Bring water to a boil in a pot or wok and add a tsp of salt. Add in the lady's fingers and cook (uncovered) till crisp tender, about 5 mins. You may want to test the degree of doneness to your preference.