Kuala Lumpur Black Hokkien Mee

The style of frying these noddles, the darker the better, is only done well with the fat yellow hokkien noodles that are sold only in Kuala Lumpur but now, i am sure these noodles are readily available anywhere in Malaysia.. The crave for this noodle is so great that whenever we are home for holidays, we would request a stop to pack some as soon as we leave the airport for home. I homemake these hokkien noodle and although the thickness it there, i am not happy with the shape though. But, beggars have no choice - the pasta maker did it's best. I have also found an alternative by using japanese udon and it is very near to home. For this dish, pork fat rules and of course you could skip it and be healthy.




Ingredients:

500g fat yellow hokkien noodles (tai lok meen) - soak noodles in cold water for 15 mins to get rid of some of the potassium carbonate & sodium bi-carbonate solution used to make these noodles.
100g meat (pork or chicken) - cut into thin slices
150g prawns, shell and devein
100 g squid - cut into bite size
100g Choy sum wash and cut into 1 inch pieces
100g pork fat, cut into cubes and fried till crispy (keep the oil)
2 cups stock/water

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce(add more if not dark enough)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp monosodium glutamate(optional)

Method:

Season the prawns and squid with a dash of salt, sugar and pepper.

Heat 2 tsp of the lard (from frying the pork fat) and saute the squid and prawns. Dish out and leave aside.

Add in another tsp of lard and brown meat, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper to the meat before turning over to brown the other side.

Add in stock/water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding in the choy sum.

Then add in the noodles and the seasoning, mix well, cover wok with lid and simmer until noodles is tender. Add more dark soy sauce if the color is not black enough and simmer noodles till gravy is thick.

Add in the cooked prawns and squid and more lard.

Turn the heat to high again and give noodles a quick stir. Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.

Serve with sambal belacan

sambal belacan:

5 fresh red chillies - cut small
2 chilly padi(optional)
1 sq inch x 1/4 inch thick raw belacan or 2 tsp belacan powder.
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
lime juice.

Grill raw belacan until it is dried and fragrant. (i will wrap with paper kitchen towel and microwave 1 minute at the time until it can be crumbled)

I do not own a mortar so i use the chopper. Chop everything up except the lime juice.

serve with lime juice. adjust the taste as some belacan can be very salty.


Serves