Browsing Category: "Chinese"
Braised Noodles with Stewed Pork Slices
Breakfast, Chinese, Dinner, Lunch, Noodles, Pork January 31st, 2007
Braised Noodles with Stewed Pork Slices is again, one of my experiments. Setting up this blog has resulted in me having to experiment with new recipes so that I can keep up with my postings! Haha!
Before you go “wah!” about this dish, let me tell you first that it is more a dish / recipe of convenience and simplicity than sheer cooking-from-scratch. So, the stewed pork slices come from the can and the noodles are from Sitiawan, Perak (where I previously cooked Sitiawan Noodle ala PabloPabla). Feel free to use any type of instant noodles but I think it will work well with the noodles which are slightly flat, not unlike fettuccine or linguine. As for the result, it’s simply delicious! Hochiak!
This is my recipe for Braised Noodles with Stewed Pork Slices
Ingredients
- 5 pieces of instant noodles (this should serve 3 to 4 people)
- 1 tin of stewed pork slices (cut into rings)
- 300 grammes bean sprouts (remove root)
- 1 small carrot (julienned)
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
- 2 large eggs (beaten)
- Have 150 ml warm water ready
- 4 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil)
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon of fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons of dark soya sauce
- 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
- salt to taste
- 1/3 teaspoon of white pepper powder
Method
Using a non-stick frying pan if available, fry the eggs in a couple of batches to form thin layers of fried egg. Cut the fried eggs to strips.
Next, boil sufficient water in a pot. Cook the noodles till al-dente and then, run it over cold water. Place them in a bowl. Drizzle the sesame oil over the noodles and stir well. Place aside.
Heat oil and saute garlic with carrots. Add fish sauce and about 50 ml of water. Open the tin of stewed pork slices and pork half of the stew into the carrots. Let the gravy simmer, add the rest of the water plus seasoning. Add the cooked noodles and bean sprouts and reduce to medium heat, stirring well to ensure noodles are coated with gravy. Cook for not more than 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, with the frying pan, heat up the pork slices with the remaining gravy from the tin till it begins to boil. Remove from heat. Pour gravy onto the noodles and mix well.
Serve noodles onto individual plates and garnish with egg strips and pork slices.
Mee Suah Kueh is my wife’s recipe. In fact, many have not heard let alone seen this “cake” which is made using Mee Suah. The mee suah used in this recipe is the one manufactured in Muar, Johor which comes in little packets with red banner. There are about 4 pieces of mee suah in each packet.
This recipe comes in 3 stages. Firstly, to cook the mee suah in a wok, followed by quick steaming and then, cooling it overnight before frying it the next day. Despite the complexity it sounds, it is actually very simple to cook.
It is great for tea time and can also be eaten with rice. Dip it into chilli sauce for added oomph!
This is my wife’s recipe for Mee Suah Kueh
Ingredients
- 2 packets mee suah (8 pieces)
- 50 to 100 grammes lean pork / chicken meat (chopped roughly)
- 50 to 100 grammes prawns (chopped roughly)
- 1 whole bulb garlic (chopped finely)
- spring onions (chopped)
- 2 tablespoons palm oil
- 2 soup bowls of hot water
Seasoning
- 2 teaspoons of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper powder
Method
Heat oil in wok and fry garlic till beginning to brown. Add meat and continue to stir fry till meat changed colour. Next, add prawns and stir well for 15 seconds.
Add water and bring to boil. Add mee suah and stir well to evenly coat with other ingredients. Sprinkle the spring onions at this stage.
Add more water to just cover the mee suah so that it cooks in a thick and sticky soup (not runny). Once the mee suah is evenly coated, remove onto a stainless steel plate or pan.
Steam it for 3 minutes. Allow to cool overnight.
Cut into squares, dip into beaten egg and deep fry till golden brown. Remove and place onto kitchen napkin to absorb excess oil prior to serving.
Mee Suah Soup is one of my favourite noodle soup. Mee Suah, which is usually sold in dried form, is made from rice flour and is very brittle in uncooked form as the strands are really thin. This dish is more or less an automatic dish for breakfast on the first day of Chinese New Year at my home. It is also eaten to celebrate the chinese birth days at home.
Mee Suah is also cooked in different ways. There is the famous Red Mee Suah cooked by the people of Foochow dialect and there is also the chicken soup Mee Suah. Our family recipe is quite easy to prepare and cook and if you could get your hands on the ingredients, give it a try. Oh, by the way, generally there are two types of mee suah (or at least, in Malaysia). One is the factory pre-packed mee suah manufactured in Muar, Johor whilst the other is made by the Foochow community - usually from Sibu and Sitiawan. The former is thicker and bland tasting on its own whilst the latter is fine and thin (and smoother) but saltish in flavour. If you are using the former, you will need to add seasoning (eg. salt to taste) but for the latter, no seasoning is needed. My recipe here uses the latter.
This is my recipe for Mee Suah Soup
Ingredients
- 250 grammes of mee suah (or 4 pieces)
- 50 to 80 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly)
- 5 pieces dried chinese / shiitake mushrooms (sliced thinly)
- 2 large eggs
- 5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
- 2 stalks spring onions (for garnishing)
- 4 tablespoons palm oil
- 5 soup bowls of hot water
Method
Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots.
Leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil in wok, add mushrooms and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Push to the side of the wok.
Add pork and stir fry till changed colour. Push to the side of the wok. Add remaining oil into wok and fry the eggs. Try not to break the eggs too much. Return mushrooms and pork into the fried egg and stir well for another 15 seconds or so.
Add water and bring to boil. Add mee suah and stir well. Mee suah cooks fairly quickly and should turn colour when done.
Garnish with fried shallots and spring onions prior to serving. Serves approximately 3 to 4 bowls here.
Stir Fried Asparagus with Prawns
Chinese, Dinner, Seafood, Vegetable January 24th, 2007
I like asparagus very much and it’s a really healthy vegetable (if you can stand the smell). In chinese cooking, I think asparagus and prawns are like a match made in heaven. Some cooked them in belacan but I prefer mine simple with garlic. Less oily, I guess. These asparagus I bought from the supermarket are the local variety grown in Cameron Highlands. They are thinner in size compared to their Aussie or European counter-parts.
As you prepare the asparagus spears, gently remove the thin layer of skin using your fingernails (wash your fingernails first, please - ahem!). It’s not easy but you’ll get the hang of it. You can skip this process but you may get too much stringy fibre between your teeth when you chew on them. LOL!
Anyway, this is my recipe for Stir Fried Asparagus with Prawns
Ingredients
- 250 grammes of asparagus (cut to 4 or 5cm lengths)
- about 5 to 10 medium sized prawns (remove shell with tail intact, devein)
- 4 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
- 30 ml warm water
- 2 tablespoons palm oil
Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
- a pinch of salt
- a dash or two of white pepper powder
Method
Heat oil in wok on high heat. Saute garlic till beginning to brown. Add prawns and stir till begins to turn red. Add asparagus and seasoning.
Stir well and add water. Cover lid for 30 seconds to a minute. Check to ensure that dish does not dry out. Add a little bit more water if it is dried out. Asparagus should be cooked in less than 2 minutes with just a little gravy to keep the dish moist.
