Sunday, March 20, 2011

Black Hokkien Mee v2.0



I know I've posted a recipe for this before in the past, but Hokkien Mee is one of those things that never always taste the same each time I make it. And the one I made today tasted almost perfect! This time, I fried some pork fat and used the lard to fry the noodles. I also added a little oyster sauce and chinese cooking wine. Another thing to note is that it's better to let the noodles braise for an adequate amount of time so that they release the starch, soften and absorb the flavours in the dish. If you let it sit for a while after it's cooked, the gravy will thicken a little more and coat the noodles beautifully.


Black Hokkien Mee v2.0

Ingredients:

500g thick yellow noodles, softened in warm water
4 cloves garlic
Prawns/fish cake/calamari
Sliced pork, seasoned with soy, pepper, sugar and cornflour
2 cups cabbage, roughly chopped
2 tbsp pork fat/lard, diced and fat rendered
2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp chinese cooking wine

Sauce:
1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
5-6 tbsp thick dark soy sauce (depending on how dark you want it to be)
2 cups stock
2 cups hot water
1 tsp chicken stock powder
Salt and pepper for seasoning

Method

  1. Fry the prawns/fish cake/calamari/meat until cooked, remove and set aside.
  2. Heat up the lard in a wok and fry garlic, then add oyster sauce and wine and stir for a few seconds. Add noodles and dark soy and toss until combined. Add sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Add cabbage and meat, cover and braise for about 10-15 minutes or until noodles have softened and are coated in thick, black and starchy gravy. Add more water/stock if necessary to cook the noodles further. You can add more dark soy if preferred.
  3. When cooked, add the prawns/fish cake/calamari, mix it through and it's ready to serve.