Nyonya Mee Siam

I am on a local food fare craze recently. As I observe the local food scene, I could see that real authentic Singapore food will slowly disappear and only be talked about as memories as it gets lost in the midst of commercialization. 

This is probably one of the reasons that I decided to learn more about local delicacies. Recently I attended a cooking class in a community center and got to learn about making great local dishes. Mee siam is one of them. Mee siam has been always a puzzle to me. What is the secret to the spicy, salty, tint of sweetness and sourish gravy? It has a complexity of taste which it is not easy to tune. There are few versions of mee siam and I prefer this nyonya one. 

After learning, my friends came over and we had a Mee siam cooking party. It was really fun to have friends to cook together and catch up at the same time. We even added fishballs and calamari into our mee siam. 

Nyonya Mee Siam (8 portions)

Ingredients:

A) Spice Paste (Make approx. 3 portions of rempah)

• 200g Shallots
• 90g Lemon Grass
• 80g Galangal
• 30g Garlic
• 40g Ginger
• 4g Tumeric Powder
• 10g Belachan 
• 50g Buah Keras (Candle nuts)

Steps:

1. Using a electric blender, blend all ingredients in paste form. 

 B) Noodles

• 1 pkt of Bee hoon (400g), soak in water for 30mins and drain
•  6 tbsp Oil
• 4 tbsp Chili Paste
• 30g Dried Shrimp, grounded
•  2 tbsp Belacan 
• 150g Beansprouts
• 300ml Water

Steps:

1.  In a wok, heat oil and fry the chili paste, dried shrimps and belacan.
2. Add in beansprouts and bee hoon.
3. Add in 1/3 of the water. Toss the bee hoon. Cover wok and reduce to low fire.
4. Add the rest of the water slowly.
5. Cook the bee hoon until it is soft on taste.
6. Transfer bee hoon to a serving tray.

C) Gravy

Ingredients

• 8 tbsp Oil
•  4 tbsp Tau Cheo
• 200g Dried Anchovies
• 1 no Large Onion
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• 120g Spice Paste
• 200g Chili Paste
• 4 tbsp Tamarind Paste (150g)
• 2 litres Water
• 250ml Coconut milk
• 4 tbsp Sugar/ Gula Melaka
• 200g Ground peanuts

Steps:

1. In a pot, heat oil. Add anchovies, sliced onions and lemon grass.
2. Add tau cheo, chili paste and spice paste.
3. Add taramind paste and water.
4. Bring gravy to boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Strain gravy and discard solids.
5. Add in coconut milk, peanuts and simmer for another 30 minutes.
6. Adjust gravy accordingly with sugar and extra tamarind paste.

D) Condiments

• Hard boiled eggs
• Fresh prawns, boiled and shelled
• 4 stalks Chinese chives, chopped
• 4 pcs Tau pok, chopped
• Limes, halved