Monday, October 1, 2012

Mee Hoon Kueh 麵粉粿

Serves 2-3

Ingredients

For the dough
- 250g plain flour
- 100ml water
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 egg (lightly beaten)
- 1/2 tsp salt

For the soup
- I use frozen chicken soup stock as the soup base.

Others
- 4-5 dried chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked and cut into smaller pieces)
- 1 clove of garlic (rinsed and bruised)
- leafy vegetables, any type will do (I used chye sim)
- 150g minced pork (pre-marinate with light soya sauce and pepper, rolled into small balls)
- 3-4 heaped tbsp dried split fish (washed/rinsed with boiling water, do not soak, dab dry with kitchen towel)
- fried shallots

Method
- For the dough, combine all wet and dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and using your hands, knead for about 10mins until it forms a smooth soft dough. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour. If too dry, add a bit of water. Once you get a springy dough that does not stick onto your fingers, shape it into a ball and set aside for an hour, wrapped with clingwrap.
- Prepare the soup base. I used frozen chicken soup stock diluted with water. Alternatively, you can cook ikan bilis soup by boiling about 150-200g of ikan bilis with water for about 45minutes. Add a few cloves of garlic to the soup.
- Using 2 tbsp of oil, fry the dried split fish till crispy. You can add abit of salt if you want. Set aside to cool for garnishing.
- Using the remaining oil (add more if need be), fry the mushroom till cooked. Set aside.
- When the soup is hot and boiling, tear the dough using your hands into thin bite size pieces. Drop each piece into the boiling soup. Add the minced pork and mushrooms. When the dough is cooked (they will float) and the soup is boiling, add the vegetables. Season with light soya sauce and pepper to taste.
- Top with the crispy split fish and fried shallots, served hot.




Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Braised pork in dark soya sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
- 500g pork shoulder meat (cut into big chunks)
- 10 chinese mushrooms (pre-soaked)
- 10-15 dried chestnuts (pre-soaked)
- 8-10 pieces of dried oysters (pre-soaked)
- 1 star anise
- 2 cloves
- 1.5 whole cloves of garlic (with skin and lightly bruised)
- 4 eggs (pre-boiled till cooked and shell removed)

Seasoning
- Light soya sauce
- Pepper
- Dark soya sauce
- Sesame oil
- 1/3 tsp of five spice powder
- Rock sugar, 4-5 small pieces

Method
- Pre marinate the pork with light soya sauce, pepper and sesame oil.
- Heat the stew pot with cooking oil, and dry fry the meat till half cooked.
- Remove from pot and set aside, leaving the meat juices in the pot to saute the garlic cloves till fragrant. Add more oil if too dry.
- Add the mushrooms and fry for 2-3 minutes. Combine with pork, dried chestnuts and dried oysters. Season with pepper, dark soya sauce, five spice powder. Add enough hot water until the meat is fully submerged. Simmer for 10mins in medium heat. Turn down the heat to low and simmer for 2hours till the meat has softened and the sauce has thickened in texture. If the sauce runs low, add more hot water. You can also add rock sugar half way through the cooking.
- If you will like to add vegetables like carrot and potatoes, add them after 1-1.5hours.
- If you like it saltier, add more dark soya sauce. If you like it sweeter, add more rock sugar. If it's too salty, add more water.