Home-cooked Heng Hua Pa-Mee (兴化打面)
My mum’s version of Heng Hua pa-mee that she adapted from our neighbour many years back. The broth contains all the sweetness from the venus clams (la-la) that gives the dish its distinct flavour. Absolutely delicious!
Ingredients: (Vary amounts according to your liking)
1. Pa-mee 1 kg (feeds 8 people)
2. Wong Bok (chinese cabbage)
3. Prawns 300 g
4. Venus clams 1 kg (soak and wash sand away)
5. Pork belly 100 g
6. Lean meat 200 g
7. Flat taupok 5 pieces
8. One chicken breast
Method:
1. Stir-fry minced garlic and shallots together with sliced pork belly till fragrant or light brown.
2. Add water (about 8 big soup bowls) and chicken breast. Simmer till broth is slightly creamy (about 1 to 1.5 hours). (Add ikan billis if you like.)
3. Use a strainer to remove residue in the broth.
4. In another pot of water, cook the venus clams till they are cooked (opened). Discard those that did not open. Let this water stand for about 30 minutes so that any residual sand can sink to the bottom of the pot. Otherwise, use a fine mesh strainer.
5. Add this water to the broth and bring to boil.
6. Cook the noodles in another pot of water so that the excess starch does not go into the broth.
7. Slice up all other ingredients. Add ingredients and noodles into broth. Mix in the venus clams.
8. Season with salt.
9. Garnish with coriander, spring onions, fried shallots and serve hot.
10. Mince some garlic and chilli to make a garlic-chilli dip. This goes very well with the noodles.
맛있는라면
This packaging doesn’t really state the flavour of the noodles except only that it’s spicy. Just by looking at the colour of the soup, you are well assured that it is of certain spicy-ness. The taste is really quite good and you get the “shiok” factor after slurping it down.
후루룩 칼국수
These noodles have a nice texture accompanied by a light chicken base broth. The garnishes add a lively yellow, green, orange and brown colour to the slightly off-white flat noodles.
바지락칼국수
It was a surprise when I opened this packet of noodles for lunch yesterday! It comes with a vacuumed packet of clams!!!
The noodles are not the traditional thin type. It is white, flat and thin! Its texture is good too!
I cooked this in a microwave, so after the noodles are cooked, I opened the packet of clams and poured them inside my noodles. The clams opened themselves so elegantly!
The soup base is light yet filled with the sweetness of the clams. Lovely instant noodles!
Mamee Kari Xtra Pedas
My colleague introduced me this instant noodles saying this is hotter than Maggie’s kari pedas. I can’t find this in Singapore’s stores. My colleague bought this from JB’s supermarket.
The soup color is redder than Maggie’s and is really hotter. Try it!
Instant Bi Bim Myon 비빔국수/국수비빔/골동면
Me getting a little sick of kimchi ra myeon decided to buy a packet of noodles lying on the shelf that looks interesting. Missing Korea’s cold noodles, I decided to purchase a packet of instant noodles that is eaten dried. The first packet I bought is this:
Bi Bim Guk Su $2.40
I bought from the korean mart at KeyPoint (Beach Road) – SHINE. The instructions says to wash the noodle under running tap after being cooked. It is optional to put in into ice water after that. This was what made the noodles spring-y. It comes with seaweed and sesame seeds garnishings. I’ve added pork balls to my noodles. I must say that it tasted really nice though I have some hesitation taking my first bite. It is not that spicy and tasted more like tomato sauce. The sesame seeds enhanced its flavour. I finished it within five minutes. It was really tasty and I love the texture of the noodles.
I visited Sol-Mart at Tampines 1 not long after and bought two more packets of bi bim myeon. Here’s one of them:
Char Bi Bim Myeon $1.70
The one that I cooked doesn’t even look like the one in the picture on the packet! The instructions that comes with it does not say to run the noodles under running water or cool it in ice. It was still palatable but doesn’t taste as nice as the first. It also doesn’t come with seaweed and sesame seeds garnishings.
The second packet:
Yor Mu Bi Bim Myeon $1.80
This packet is more spicy than Char Bi Bim Myeon. It tasted a little better but the texture of the noodles can’t be compared to the first packet. Probably because the first one is so-myeon and the second and third packets are instant ra-myeon. I added additional seaweed in the noodles. Again no sesame seeds in this packet.
Try making your own Bibim myeon: http://www.homecookingdiary.com/2008/03/korean-spicy-cold-noodle-gook-soo.html
Bibim guk su is one of the most popular traditional noodle dishes in Korean cuisine. It is a cold dish made of very thin wheat flour noodles called “so myeon” with added flavorings. It is also known as “guk su bibim” or “gol dong myeon”. All of which literally mean “stirred noodles” or “mixed noodles”. This dish is especially popular during summer.
What makes this dish so distinct from other cold noodle dishes from different cultures is the strong spicy flavor produced from the combination of red pepper powder, “go chu jang” and minced garlic, along with a sweet-and-sour flavour created by vinegar and sugar. Most spicy cold noodles are prepared with a slight touch of sesame oil to enhance the richness of its flavor.
Typically the dish would be prepared by stir-frying diced beef, julienned pickled cucumbers and mushrooms in sesame oil, which is all mixed together with the cooked noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds and sugar. Garnishes placed on top and around the spicy noodles include hard-boiled eggs, pickled mu, dried gim strips, sliced cucumbers and sometimes sliced Korean pear or tomato.
– adapted from Wikipedia
Home-cooked Somen in Chicken Broth
Had the mood to cook for my family one Saturday morning. After visiting the dentist, I went to NTUC and bought my ingredients. Light and healthy lunch!
Method:
Soup:
1) Wash and cut one whole chicken.
2) Fragrant the pot with smashed garlics and dried ikan bilis.
3) Then pour water into the pot over the fragrant garlics. Add more water to make the soup.
4) Put in the chicken to boil together.
5) Once the chicken is cooked, remove it from heat. Tear out the chicken meat into shreds and save it for serving later.
6) Put the chicken bones back into the soup and continue boiling under gentle flame for 1 hour.
7) At the end, you can add chicken stocks or mushroom powder, salt and pepper to taste.
Ingredients:
1) Wash and clean the prawn intestines.
2) Cook the prawns in a separate pot. Add some of these “prawn” water into the chicken soup.
3) Wash and cut the chinese cabbage. Cook in the chicken soup to add in the sweetness. Remove from heat after cooked.
4) Boil the quail’s eggs in a separate pot. Remove shells after cooked.
5) Cook the fish balls in a separate pot too if you do not like the “fishy” smell to get into your soup base.
Noodles:
1) I bought Japanese somen. Used 3 bundles to serve 4 pax.
2) In a wok of boiling water, I cooked the noodles.
3) Be careful not to overcook the noodles.
4) Remove from heat and throw into ice water to make them springy.
5) Separate into individual serving bowls.
Add the cooked ingredient into the bowls and run and strain everything with the hot soup, then finally add soup.
Garnish and serve hot!
Home-made Instant Noodles with CP Wanton
Mum wasn’t home today, and I was in a mad rush preparing for my presentation. So I opened the fridge to see what I can find and quickly whip up with. Taa-daa!! My CP wanton that I bought over a week ago is still lying in the freezer!!
So I am going to cook the wanton!! But I’m also craving for egg and noodle!! So I opened a pack of Nissin Tokyo Shoyu instant noodles and cracked an egg into the pot. Delicious wanton instant mee.
But it was too much, I couldn’t finish my noodles. LOL! What a waste. Oh, do remember to cook your wanton separately in another pot, otherwise the soup will be thick and taste like flour.
Kolo Mee (Home-made)
My parents came back from Sarawak and bought home 2 kg of kolo mee which cost only RM$10!! My mum cooked the mee and matched it with her braised chicken wings!! The mee is soft and chewy, and chicken wings are super tender! The soya sauce is fragrant! YUMMY!
hicken Wings Kolo Mee
Dried mee of course has to go with chilli!!! Chilli padi from Sarawak! AH! I love Malaysia’s chilli padi!! They are really spicy and fragrant!
Chilli Padi
Also, my mum cooked this soup with green radish, carrots and maize bought from Hong Kong. Imported stuff always make your dishes sweeter!
Soup
starhealer
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