Yee Mee or Yee Mein (in cantonese) is a type of dried noodles which looks like lengthy rubber-bands. They are brown in colour and usually come shaped like a small cake. It is usually cooked with some sort of rich gravy and in some food courts, you will find it being served on a sizzling hot plate. Though it is quite common, nevertheless, it is still not as popular as the yellow noodles, bee hoon or kuey teow. I think this may have to do with the taste.

In its sold form, the Yee Mee can have a distinctive muski-smell which some might find it a tad artificial. To reduce this “artificial” smell, it is recommended that the Yee Mee be blanched in hot water for a couple of minutes before plunging it into cold water prior to cooking it proper with sauces. You will find that the water used to blanch the Yee Mee will turn brownish and thoroughly unappetising.

In some parts of Malaysia, you can find what is known as Sang Har Meen (fresh prawn noodles) wherein Yee Mee is predominantly used. With that in mind, I decided to cook my very own Braised Seafood Yee Mein using fresh sea prawns and fresh lala clams. I could have boosted the taste further with fresh slices of fish meat and cuttlefish but I couldn’t get my hands on them. Anyway, home cooking is usually not so extravagant. Prawns and lala clams are good enough for this session.

This is my recipe for Braised Seafood Yee Mein

Ingredients

• 4 pieces Yee Mein (1 piece per person)
• 200 grammes lala clams (rinsed thoroughly to remove mud and grime)
• 400 grammes medium prawns (remove shell leaving head and tail intact. Devein. You can also shell it completely. No worries)
• 300 grammes of choy sum (rinse and cut into smaller sizes)
• 3 slices of ginger
• 4 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 500 ml hot water (for cooking)
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasoning

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon chinese cooking wine

Method

Bring a pot of water to boil and blanch Yee Mee for 2 minutes until semi-soft. Drain and plunge into cold / iced water. Drain.

Heat wok until smoking hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil and 2 teaspoons chopped garlic. As the garlic sizzles, add Yee Mee and stir briskly for 1 minute. Remove and set aside.

In the same wok, add 2 teaspoons chopped garlic and prawns. Stir until prawns have curled up by half. Remove and set aside.

Then add ginger and stir until aromatic. Follow by water and seasoning (except salt, pepper and chinese cooking wine). Bring to boil before adding Yee Mee. Stir well and cover with lid for 1 minute.

Add prawns, choy sum and lala clams. Stir well and cover lid again for an0ther minute. Add salt and pepper to taste followed by chinese cooking wine.

Dish up when prawns have fully curled up and lala clams have opened up. If gravy is too thin for your liking, add a little cornstarch to thicken.

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Braised Seafood Yee Mein

The name Mee Siam means “Siamese Noodles“. Said to be of Thai origin, it is now probably more popular in southern Johor and Singapore. Cooked with rice vermicelli or bee hoon as what the locals prefer to call it, Mee Siam is great for parties as it is cheap (ingredients costs little) and tasty at the same time.

Mee Siam uses a few main ingredients which brings out its peculiar taste – tau cheo (preserved soya beans), chilli and dried prawns. The more elaborate Mee Siam calls for the pouring of tamarind gravy over the cooked Mee Siam whilst mine is a simpler version which uses freshly squeezed calamansi (limau nipis) juice. The combination of spicy, sweet and sour taste makes this Mee Siam dish appealing to many.

The key to cooking Mee Siam is using a stove which produces high heat and to use the thinner type of rice vermicelli. Why? You use high heat because you don’t want to cook the Mee Siam for too long. Otherwise, the rice vermicelli will break into tiny pieces. At the same time, you use the thinner type of rice vermicelli (I use the Erawan brand which shows an elephant logo) because it does not taste as nice when thicker or coarser rice vermicelli is used.

This is my recipe for Mee Siam (for 2 persons)

Ingredients

• 150 grammes of rice vermicelli (pre-soaked for 30 minutes till softened. Drained)
• 100 grammes of bean sprouts
• 30 grammes of dried prawns (pre-soaked for 15 minutes to semi-soften)
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon tau cheo (preserved soya beans)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 pieces of fishcake (optional. sliced) or fresh prawns (cleaned and deveined)
• 2 teaspoons of cili boh (chilli paste which you can buy from supermarket. Alternatively, grind / blend 4 pieces red chilli with 4 cloves garlic and 4 bulbs shallots)
• 2 to 3 pieces calamansi (halved)
• 300 ml hot water
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasoning

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce or to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method

Heat oil in wok. Add onions and dried prawns. Stir till onions are translucent and dried prawns are aromatic.

Push ingredients to side of wok. Add tau cheo and cili boh / mixture. Stir well for 15 seconds before pushing back the ingredients into this mixture. At this point, add fishcake or prawns. Stir fry for about 30 seconds, then push them aside.

Add eggs into wok and allow to fry till almost done. Push back ingredients into the egg followed by rice vermicelli. Stir well and sprinkle water occasionally to keep it moist. Add seasoning to taste. Cook till rice vermicelli is done (soft but not mushy to bite).

Dish up and serve with a squeeze of calamansi juice.

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Mee Siam

Sometimes I need a break from Asian food – I will cook Italian instead

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When I am not cooking Asian

What I like most about noodles is the versatility of this staple food. You can cook fry noodles, stew them or even cook them in soup. Recently, I had with me a couple of slices of pork loin and some french beans and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out something new again. Hence, Pork Chop Noodles was created. In Melaka, there is this famous Taiwanese Pork Chop Noodles but that is different from what I have cooked here. Whereas the Taiwanese Pork Chop Noodles uses soya noodles, I have used the dry noodles bought from Sitiawan instead.

This dish is pretty due to the use of french beans and carrots for the contrast in colour. It is also healthy as it contains carbohydrate, protein, fat and fibre. The french beans and carrots lend a crunchy bite to the otherwise springy noodles whilst the aromatic pork chop (which is cut into strips) becomes the highlight as far as the taste is concerned. Give this dish a try. You can use all kinds of noodles really. I would suggest soya noodles, instant dried noodles (eg. Vit Mee) and even soba for this dish.

This is my recipe for Pork Chop Noodles

Ingredients

• 3 slices pork loin
• 3 portions of noodles (measure according to size of serving plate)
• 12 pieces of french beans (you can also use snow peas. Remove ends)
• 1/2 carrot (julienned)
• 3 shallots (sliced thinly)
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• 200 ml hot water
• 300 ml cooking oil

Marinade (for pork loin)

• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• liberal dashes of white pepper powder
• a few drops of worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon chinese cooking wine

Seasoning

• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• a pinch of msg (optional)

Method

Using the blunt side of a knife / mallet, beat the pork loin slices till they are about 5mm thin. Marinade for 2 hours.

Heat oil on high and fry pork loin slices till golden brown. Remove and set aside. Cut into strips.

If using dried / instant noodles, blanch the noodles in boiling water till soft, rinse with ice cold water and plunge it back into boiling water just to reheat it quickly. Then drain and set noodles aside.

Heat up 3 tablespoons of oil (you can use the oil previously used to fry pork loin if it is not too dark or dirty) in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots. Add garlic and fry till aromatic.

Before garlic turns brown, add french beans and carrots and stir well for a minute. Sprinkle some hot water to just to keep moist. Add seasoning followed by noodles and stir evenly. Adjust seasoning to your preference. If you like the noodles with a little bit more sauce, add more water.

Dish up, garnish with fried shallots and serve with pork chop strips.

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Pork Chop Noodles

At some wet markets or stalls in Malaysia, you will find hawkers selling fried noodles at an economy price ranging from RM1.00 to RM1.50 per plate / pack. These noodles usually sell well because of the pricing and simpleness in the ingredients used. The type of noodles used are the yellow noodles which are commonly available in the markets themselves.

For home cooking, I have cooked this type of noodles once in a blue moon and the usual ingredients which I use are garlic, sliced fish cake, eggs and bean sprouts. Sometimes I do add in a little chinese green mustard leaves (sawi). It is pretty simple to cook though the preparation of the bean sprouts can be a little time consuming when removing the tail / root.

This is my recipe for Economy Fried Noodles

Ingredients

• 300 grammes yellow noodles
• 100 grammes bean sprouts (tail / root removed)
• 1 piece fish cake (sliced)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• 2 large eggs
• 200 ml hot water
• 3 tablespoons cooking oil

Seasoning

• 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce (preferably the thick and sweet tasting type)
• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• 1 teaspoon oyster sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder

Method

Heat oil in wok and saute garlic till aromatic. Just as the garlic is browning, add fish cake and eggs. Stir well.

Once eggs have cooked, add noodles and seasoning. Stir briskly to coat seasoning evenly. Sprinkle water every now and then to keep the noodles moist. Cook for about 3 minutes.

Add bean sprouts and continue to cook for another minute before dishing up.

Sprinkle with fried shallots or anything else you fancy

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Economy Fried Noodles

Cabbage Tang Hoon recipe is more or less a fake Shark’s Fin recipe. Why? The glassy look and texture (tang hoon as also known as glass noodles) of the tang hoon is quite comparable to the shark’s fin, albeit not as crunchy. If I am not mistaken, there is a Stir Fried Shark’s Fin recipe out there which is quite similar, though more princely in price.

For those who are non-supporters of eating shark’s fin, this dish is a good substitute and can even be served as a main dish itself, much like any noodle dish. The main ingredients are simply tang hoon, cabbage and eggs. If you have fresh crab meat, that would be excellent but since not all homes are privileged to have crab meat most of the time, we shall have the “pauper’s” version here.

This is my mother-in-law’s recipe for Cabbage Tang Hoon

Ingredients

• 5 to 8 leaves of cabbage (sliced thinly)
• 30 grammes of Tang Hoon (pre-soaked till soft)
• 2 to 3 eggs
• 3 cloves garlic (chopped finely)
• Warm water (to sprinkle to keep moist)
• 4 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)

Seasoning

• Salt to taste
• White pepper powder to taste

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in wok and saute garlic till aromatic. Just as the garlic is turning brown, add cabbage and stir fry for about 1 minute. Cabbage should start turning limp.

Add pre-soaked tang hoon and continue to stir fry, whilst sprinkling warm water to keep it moist. Add seasoning to taste. After stir-frying for about 2 minutes, push ingredients to the side of the wok to create a well.

Add 2 tablespoons oil into the well. Break eggs into the well and lightly pierce the yolks. As the eggs are cooking, fold the rest of the ingredients into the eggs and gently stir them together and allow eggs to cook completely.

Adjust seasoning and moisture level of dish to your liking before dishing up.

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Cabbage Tang Hoon

Loh Mee is literally translated as “Stewed / Braised Noodles”. Whilst it is not stewed as long as say, a meat dish, nevertheless the cooking time is longer for this type of noodle compared to other types. Oh, by the way, Loh Mee is in the hokkien dialect. There are two known types of stewed noodles here in Malaysia, the other being Lam Mee. The gravy is slightly different.

Our family recipe for Loh Mee is southern-styled, meaning from Pontian, Johor. It is quite similar to the one from Ulu Yam. Lam Mee has a slightly different taste ot the gravy compared to Loh Mee. The highlight of this dish for me is the use of black vinegar which gives this noodle a slightly sour, but appetising taste. We used to have this often during Chinese New Year.

Thick yellow noodles are used for this recipe. It is not as thick as udon or even hokkien mee but definitely thicker than wan ton noodles or even mee goreng noodles. Because it is thicker and has a “tougher” texture, it requires a longer time to cook it. Hence, it is stewed in the gravy for at least 5 minutes, covered.

This is our family recipe for Loh Mee

Ingredients

• 500 grammes of thick yellow noodles
• 5 pieces of pre-soaked chinese dried mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms (sliced)
• 50 grammes of pork tenderloin (sliced thinly)
• 2 large eggs
• Choy sum / Sawi / Chinese Mustard Leaves (amount up to you, cut into 6cm lengths)
• 5 bulbs shallots (sliced thinly)
• 1 litre warm water or chicken stock or water previously used to soak mushrooms
• Potato / Corn starch (mix 1 tablespoon of potato / corn flour with 100 ml water)
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil (palm oil preferred)

Marinade (for pork tenderloin)

• 2 teaspoons light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon corn flour

Seasoning

• 1 to 2 tablespoon dark soya sauce
• 1 tablespoon light soya sauce
• Salt and white pepper powder to taste

Method

Marinade pork tenderloin for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till brown. Remove shallots and set aside. Remove oil and place in a suitable container leaving about 1 tablespoon of oil behind.

In a heated wok, add mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute. Add pork slices and continue to stir fry till pork turns colour (add some of the oil previously used to fry shallots if wok is drying up). Add 500 ml warm water and bring to boil.

Once water starts boiling, add noodles and seasoning. Stir well and add more water to ensure that the water covers the upper layer of noodles. Cover with lid and stew for 5 minutes on medium to high heat whilst stirring once a while to ensure even cooking. Add more water if drying up.

I usually chew the noodles to see if it is cooked which should be slightly soft by then. Add choy sum and stir it well. Next, break eggs over the noodles and stir it into the noodles, allowing it to break.

The noodles are to be served slightly wet, but not soaking in gravy. If it is too wet, add a little potato / corn starch to thicken the gravy.

Dish out and sprinkle fried shallots over the noodles. When serving on individual bowls, add black vinegar (to taste) to the noodles.

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Loh Mee

Kolok Mee refers to a dry version of noodles originating from Sarawak (I stand corrected). It is sometimes known as Sarawak Kolo Mee or simply Kolok Mee. It takes a few platefuls of this noodles before it grows on you. Perhaps it has to be due to the fact that it is rather plain looking compared to other more colourful noodle dishes. However, once you grow to like it, it can be addictive.

What I have cooked here is my home-made version of the Kolok Mee. Not the making of the noodles but rather, the mixture of sauces which came up with the Kolok Mee taste. It can be a tad saltish to some, so you might want to go easy on the amount of seasoning used here. As for the noodles, I am using dried instant noodles bought from Sitiawan, made by the Foo Chow community. The texture (which is a bit like pasta, but stiffer) is quite suitable for this seasoning…almost like Kampua Noodles. Wantan noodles are also suitable, especially the curly stringy type. Yellow noodles are not suitable. As I don’t have char siew available, I have decided to just have minced pork only for the topping. Try this recipe if you can and adjust the measurements according to your preference.

This is my recipe for Kolok Mee (serves 3 portions)

Ingredients

• 3 pieces of instant noodles
• 100 grammes of minced pork
• 1/2 bulb of garlic (finely chopped)
• spring onions for garnishing (chopped finely)
• 6 tablespoons of palm oil

Seasoning (for 3 servings)

• 3 teaspoons of fish sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon of salt
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• 1/3 teaspoon of monosodium glutamate
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder

Marinade (for minced pork)

• 2 teaspoons of fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
• a couple of dashes of white pepper powder
• 1 teaspoon of corn flour / potato flour

Method

Marinade minced pork for at least 1 hour.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add instant noodles and cook till almost done. Remove noodles from pot using a net or colander and run it through cold or tap water. Return noodles to boiling water to heat it up again and thereafter, drain the noodles after 30 seconds. Set aside.

Heat oil in wok using medium high heat. Fry garlic till golden brown. Remove fried garlic and set aside.

Scoop up oil into a bowl leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil remaining in the wok. Increase heat to high and stir fry minced pork till completely cooked (about 2 minutes). Sprinkle some water whilst stir frying to prevent burning. The minced pork should be just moist after cooking and not soaking in gravy. Remove cooked minced pork and set aside.

In a large bowl, add all the seasoning and stir well. Add cooked instant noodles and stir till evenly coated by the seasoning. Separate the noodles onto three serving plates. Add some cooked minced pork and garnish with fried garlic and spring onions.

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Kolok Mee