This is one of those dishes that the name bears no link at all to the country it’s named after. Very much like ‘Singapore noodles’. Yet, this Mee Hong Kong is a popular yellow noodle dish popular in Malaysia and Singaporean Malays. I’ve never heard of my Chinese friends eat this. Unless they call it by another name. Hmmmm…I’ll ask my friends one day.
It’s a wet noodle dish. Not soupy, because the addition of the cornstarch slurry is supposed to make the soup thicken. Plus, the yellow alkaline noodles will absorb the liquid and make it…not dry? So basically it’s what the Malays will call a wet (basah) dish – not meant to be dry, neither is it meant to be soupy.
It’s very easy to make! All you need are proteins here and there (the best is to finish up whatever small amounts of prawns or squid or fishballs that you have), some greens like Chinese leafy pak choi or chye sim and yellow noodles.
The first step is to heat a wok. Then add a tablespoon of oil. When the oil is hot, add two heaped teaspoons of garlic and four thin slices of ginger. Before the garlic burns, quickly add thinly sliced beef. Stir fry. Add prawns. And then add lots of white pepper. Now, this dish calls for lots and lots of white pepper – about one tablespoon. Add water and let the mixture simmer.
Once the beef and prawns are cooked in the stewing liquid, add your other proteins like fishballs and fish cakes. Season the mixture with a tablespoon of oyster sauce and a good dash of light soy sauce. Add a teaspoon of cornstarch slurry. Add yellow noodles (I have here two packets so that’s about 800g) and the leafy greens. Stir the mixture well.
The Occasional Cook 