Hokkien mee is one of the most popular noodle dishes in Malaysia and can be found pretty much in any hawker stall all over the country. Its one of my favourites and I always have it when I’m back for holidays in Kuala Lumpur. What’s so special about this dish? Well, it has to be the extra crispy pork lardons that’s in it! Oohhh, we definitely cant eat it everyday but when we do, we got to fully enjoy it, right? RIGHT! ( ;
Although I would have liked my version to be much MUCH darker (and trust me I tried but the dark soy sauce I have is £%&*^!), this plate of noodles tasted really good. And this time I made my own pork oil with lardons and all! So I’m sharing it here:
1 ) Marinate the below for at least 1 hour before you start:
- 150g pork – fat removed, sliced
- 2 cloves of chopped garlic
- 1 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp corn flour
- a pinch of white pepper
2) Crispy Pork Lard ( Chu Yau Char )
Fry the chopped pork belly fat (which you saved from above) in about 3 Tbsp oil in medium/slow heat for about 30 mins+ till golden brown and crispy. Add a tiny bit of salt to this before you fry. Once fried, set aside. You can store the balance oil and use it for any other dish.
3) Using the pork oil from above, start stir frying
- 3 Tbsp oil on medium/high heat
- Add the marinated pork belly slices and fry till it browns
- Add 2 cloves of garlic slices, 1 chopped spring onion, 50g shrimp, (I also added some chillies here, you don’t have to)
- Add 300g egg noodles (thick yellow noodles works better), pak choy and mushroom slices. (or any veg you like)
- Add 5 Tbsp dark soy, 2 Tbsp light soy, 3/4 cup water (some use chicken stock but I think it gets too salty) and 1 Tbsp coconut sugar. (Add more liquid if its too thick)
- Add some crispy lardons which you fried earlier to this too.
- Once everything is cooked and nicely coated with the sauce, add about 1 Tbsp corn flour mixed with 3 Tbsp of water to thicken everything up.
** don’t forget to taste it as you cook and adjust the seasoning accordingly. Any Chinese grocers in London would have these ingredients. You can also substitute the meat or veg to whatever you can get locally, I do this all the time.
This noodles is best served with some spicy sambal belacan but I didn’t have any, so some fresh chili padi from my garden will have to do for now. Let me know if you have any questions! x
