My Improvised Hokkien Mee
Ingredients
300g pork belly, heavily salted, leave for at least 1 hr, overnight preferable
300g medium size prawns, deshelled, soaked in ice water with a tbsp sugar. Keep heads n shells for the stock
300g squid, slightly salted and cut to rings
300g bean sprout, washed, husk removed, and drained
1 thumb size belachan, roasted till it crumbles
2L chicken stock, made from boiling chicken bones. May be substituted by chicken cubes if bones are too much of a hassle
2 eggs, beaten with 4 tbsp of water and a pinch of salt and pepper
0.5 kg yellow noodle, blanche quickly in hot water to get rid of the excess oil and alkaline
0.5 kg of beehoon, thick or thin, soaked in boiled water until soft, then drained
100g chopped garlic, more if you love the garlicky taste
Preapring the Stock
Hokkien mee is all about the stock. The stock makes or breaks the dish. I cook and eat at home so as far as possible, I avoid MSG, therefore the chicken bones to add taste and body to the stock.
Boiled the chicken carcass for at least an hour, keep adding water to maintain the 2L volume. Discard carcass.
Crumble the knob belachan and fry it together with the prawns shells in a little oil until crispy. Blend the shells in a little water till it becomes a pink mash
Add this mash into the chicken stock and boil for 15 mins
Sieve the stock and discard the residue
Add the salted piece of pork and cook for 15 minutes. Cut the pork into thin slivers.
Add peeled prawns (sugar water discarded) until just slightly undercooked. Remove.
Wash squid rings to remove excess salt and add to stock until slightly undercooked. Remove.
Frying the noodles
Heat the wok up until smoking, add oil.
When oil is hot, add chopped garlic but be careful not to burn the garlic, otherwise the dish will be bitter
Loosen up the yellow noodle. I use to mix the yellow noodles and the beehoon up in a large pot first. It is quite difficult to do that in the wok. Add these in the wok. Mix the garlic well.
Slowly add stock into the noodles. The beehoon absorbs the stock fairly quickly, therefore the volume (2L)
Add beaten egg into the noodles, all the check be mindful of the liquid level, keep adding more as needed.
Add prawns, squid rings and pork slivers. Finally add the bean sprout.
Add fish sauce if you prefer it more salty. If you have a good sambal belachan, now is the time to bring it out. Serve it with a squeeze or 2 of lime.
Disclaimer: I am not a method cook, therefore the above is a little messy. Add a little more or less as you see fit. Experiment. That’s where the fun is.
