ANOTHER COUP IN MY KITCHEN

Posted by Unknown On Sunday, February 15, 2009 11 comments
Last Sunday, I blogged about how my younger boy cooked dinner for the family in this post called My Boy Takes Over The Kitchen. Following that successful attempt, he declared that he would cook dinner for us EVERY SUNDAY. Frankly, I did not take him seriously and went out happily with a friend to DOME, Island Plaza for my usual Sunday afternoon tea while his daddy took him to his piano class.Prior to that, he did ask me what are the ingredients needed to make Hokkien Mee and I wrote a list for him.

Happily, I had my usual Mocha (the staff there know I like it piping hot) and scones after which I walked around and got pretty bored. On the way home, I had a phone call and my boy declared that he had already peeled the prawns and that everything was ready except for my presence!!! Hurriedly, my friend drove me home. When I went to the kitchen, I was pleasantly surprised to see this:









My boy had painstakingly shelled the prawns and kept them in a container.










He had seen me making Hokkien Mee before and kept the shells aside as he knew that he had to boil the shells to make the soup. He did not do anything till I came home as he did not know which pot to use and feared his mother's nagging if he had used the wrong one :-).











So it was pretty easy. I took out the pot and instructed him to pour the shells into the water.
This is what it looked like at the beginning.















These are the prawn shells after Nick boiled them for some time.














And here's the cooked prawns, nicely peeled
but some looked a bit mutated hehe:-).
















The soup being boiled over a slow fire....

















My favorite - bean sprouts.
















The yellow noodles....
















The soup when it was all ready....















The other condiments...

















Finally - it was ready!! Voila! C'est tres bien!
Home-made Hokkien Mee - lovingly prepared by my boy with a little bit of help from yours truly.





For all the work that was involved in the preparation and the time taken, it is really easier to buy from the hawkers BUT the taste if home-made Hokkien Mee is unbeatable!!!
Try making it yourself and you will know what I mean :-).

11 comments to ANOTHER COUP IN MY KITCHEN

  1. says:

    mamasita Clever boy! Heres a flying kiss from me!! Nanti boleh jadi good househusband too..pandai masak! hehe

  1. says:

    Unknown Hello Datin,

    Terima kasih :-). Anak saya memang suka masak dan makan hehe...

    Tetapi susahlah - kerana saya terpaksa mop the floor and had to clean the stove thoroughly. Nasib baik yang lain dia sendiri cuci...termasuk pinggan mangkuk haha..

    Ni training sekiranya dia pergi ke lain tempat untuk belajar..boleh berdikari dan tak payah lapar :-)....

    Thanks for the flying kiss...here is a cyber hug from anak saya :-)...

    Take care!

  1. says:

    GobloKing I felt homesick in a nice way when I saw the pics of yr son's prawn mee. YUMMY!!!! Also things are "normal" so I feel very upbeat for TODAY!

    If you are so bored & you have absolutely nothing to do, try this endlessly tedious method that yields the best stock ever!

    peel meat fr shells. finely chop 2 large onions or 10 shallots.

    fry onions in oil till brown.

    Remove onions for later as garnish

    Fry prawn shells & heads in onion-infused oil until crispyish,

    Remove prawn shells/heads & blend shells to bits

    Put shell back into pot with oil. Pour hot water. boil 1/2hr.

    sieve shells from stock, THEN add ribs to boil another hour to sweeten stock

    NOW you see what truly bored & homesick housewives do in 3rd world countries?

  1. says:

    Unknown Hi my dear Gobloking sister,

    So nice to see you here and even nicer to hear that you are in high spirits!!! :-)

    WOW!!! MEGA WOW!!!

    You are some gourmet chef!!! The procedure you mentioned sounds delectably tempting BUT awfully tedious indeed. Although I seldom fry anything at all except maybe eggs ;), I will try this method the next time I make Hokkien Mee or any other soup that needs stock.

    The last time I made Hokkien Mee was for Fathers' Day last year and I used a crockpot to stew the ribs...Very tedious process as I also boiled the prawn shells...but yours is truly a labor of love for Uncle ;) and he is blessed to have you to pamper him this way!!!

    Thanks for sharing your recipe...Take care and stay strong and happy dear sister!

    hugs and lots of love,
    Paula

  1. says:

    Kak Ezza@makcik Blogger Paula, this hokkien mee sama kah dengan mee udang...kalau you ada resepi dia boleh pass sama saya tak?...hehehe,,saya suka makan mee udang tapi tak semua kedai pandai masak mee udang yang sedap!

  1. says:

    Unknown Hello Kak Ezza,

    Seronoklah jumpa Kak Ezza di sini. Terima kasih kerana sudi melawat blog saya...

    Hokkien mee ini agak seperti mee udang ...Biasanya lain orang menggunakan daging dan tulang b*** yang umat Islam tidak boleh makan. Tetapi, keluarga saya juga tak suka makan daging b*** jadi Hokkien Mee yang anak saya masak ini agak seperti mee udang.

    Resipi seperti berikut but u have to omit the daging b*** and replace with more prawns and chicken stock...

    1 ziploc bag of shrimp heads and shells (I used Ziplock Easy Zipper Bag)
    15 cups of water (reduced to about 12-13 cups of water after hours of boiling and simmering)
    2-3 pieces of rock sugar (about the size of a small ping pong ball) or to taste
    1.5 lbs of pork ribs (cut into pieces)
    Salt to taste

    Chili Paste:

    30 dried chilies (deseeded and soaked to soften)
    10 shallots (peeled)
    5 cloves garlic (peeled)
    2 tablespoons of water
    6 tablespoons of cooking oil

    1 pound of yellow noodles (scalded)
    1 pack of rice vermicelli (scalded)
    Some kangkong or water convolvulus (scalded)
    Some bean sprouts (scalded)

    Toppings:

    1/2 pound of lean pork meat (boiled and sliced thinly)
    1/2 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
    6 hard-boiled eggs (shelled and quartered)
    Some fried shallot crisps (store-bought)

    Blend the chili paste ingredients with a mini food processor until finely ground and well blended. Heat up the wok and add cooking oil. Stir fry the chili paste for 5 minutes. Dish up and set aside. On the same wok (unwashed), add in a little oil and cook the shrimp topping. Add in a little chili paste, sugar, and salt. Pan-fried the shrimp until they are slightly burned. Dish up, let cool and sliced them into halves.

    Method:

    1. Add 15 cups of water into a pot and bring it to bowl. Add in all the shrimp heads and shell and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours or longer until the stock becomes cloudy and tastes really prawny.
    2. Strain the stock through sieve and transfer the stock into another pot. Discard the prawn heads and shells. Scoop up and discard the orange "foam" forming at the top of the stock.
    3. Bring the stock to boil again and add in half of the chili paste. You can add more chili paste if you like it spicier.
    4. Add in the pork ribs and continue to boil in low heat for another 1-1.5 hour until the pork ribs are thoroughly cooked.
    5. Add rock sugar and salt/fish sauce to taste.
    6. To serve, place a portion of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, water convolvulus and bean sprouts in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over. If desired, add a few pieces of pork ribs. Top with meat slices, sliced shrimp, egg quarters, and sprinkle with shallot crisps.
    7. Serve immediately with more chili paste to taste.

    Cook's notes:

    1. Traditionally, the shrimp heads and shells are stir-fried with oil until aromatic before adding them into the boiling water. I tried this step before and found that my "cheated" method works equally well.
    2. The hawkers in Penang also blended the shrimp heads and shells after they are briefly boiled to extract all the flavors from the shell. Again, I tried this step before and found that my method works as well if you have plenty of shrimp heads and shells.

  1. says:

    ocho-onda Wow ! Looks yummiliscious ! Enough to make me feel homesick, lol . Hope it tastes as good as it looks ! :-)

  1. says:

    Unknown Hello Ocho-Onda,

    Oh - are you from Penang by any chance?

    Actually, it is very delicious although a trite too spicy :-).

    I am sure after looking at those pics, you must have been thinking of char koay teow, wantan mee, nasi lemak and lots of local goodies :-).

    Thanks for popping by...Take care and I hope to meet you one day if ever you are in Penang!

    cheers

  1. says:

    ocho-onda Hi Paula,

    I have loads of cousie-bros in Penang. My family roots can be traced back to Hang Li Poh, according to my great grand parents,lol.
    Looking forward to get re-acquainted with the yummy food served at the restaurant on the "end of the world" part of Penang island,(hope it is till there). Next time I get the chance to visit Penang, perhaps ! Cheers.

  1. says:

    Unknown Buenos Dias Ocho-Onda,

    ¿Cómo estás? Muchos gracias por visitar mi blog.Wow! Su familia que tiene una larga historia.

    ;) Picked up a bit of Spanish while staying with a friend in Singapore last year. As missionary in Bolivia for 20 years, she speaks fluent Spanish!

    It must have been a loooooooong time since you came to Penang. The 'end of the world' restaurant is out of vogue already and not doing as well.

    If ever you do visit, please let me know. My family loves seafood and we are going for a feast of crabs tonight with my cousin and his frens!!! Drool drool haha! So sorry to be wicked ;).It will be my pleasure to introduce you to the best hawker/seafood or whatever cuisine in Penang. Just let me know when you are coming..

    Take care and cheers!

  1. says:

    ocho-onda "It must have been a loooooooong time since you came to Penang. The 'end of the world' restaurant is out of vogue already and not doing as well."

    What a shame ! I had a wonderful time there when I last visited 3 years ago ! :-)

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