Food Sparks: 'Tis the season for morning glory

It never used to be so available in Chinese supermarkets, but in recent years, morning glory is fairly common when it's in season (right around now) in Toronto markets. They are considered "special" in restaurants with corresponding special prices. In reality, they sell for under $2 a pound and are surprisingly easy to make. I made it a couple of times last year after I came back from a trip to Vietnam where it was "the" vegetable. All I used was oil and soy sauce and it tasted great.
When I saw them this week at the local market, I bought some spicy fermented bean curd to make the veggie the traditional Chinese way - 腐乳通菜.

Morning glory, or water spinach (you'll recognize it by its hollow stems), tastes better than it looks. The hollow stems gave the impression that it might be chewy. But cooked right, the stems are crisp and crunchy, contrasting nicely against the soft texture of the leaves.

After you've washed it, cut the leafy part from the stems and cut the stems up into 3 inch pieces. Heat up oil in a pan - you may need to use a bit more oil than usual because morning glory likes oil! While oil is heating up, mash up 1-2 bricks of spicy fermented bean curd. Add the bean curd to the hot oil and when you can smell the flavour, add the stems first. Stir and mix the bean curd sauce with the stems until it's almost cooked (you can tell from the bright green colour), then add the leaves, a dash of sugar and stir some more. A couple more minutes and it's done!
Note: No need to add salt or soy sauce as the bean curd is very salty as is.