Category: Noodles and Pasta

Asian Dishes, Noodles and Pasta, Singapore

Mee Hong Kong

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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 mixture of seasoned soupy proteins before the noodles and leafy greens are in.
The noodles done. Very soon, all that liquid will be absorbed by the yellow noodles.
This is best served very hot. It can’t be left out too Long and they definitely don’t keep well. Eat with a sprinkling of fried shallots and pickled chillies. Yummy!
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Asian Dishes, Noodles and Pasta, Singapore

Maggi Goreng

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Maggi is like a brand that is so bought over by a huge business entity. It is so synonymous with many products here -instant noodles, ketchup, chilli sauce…

And one popular dish that is favoured by late night supper goers is freshly fried from the wok fried instant noodles or Maggi goreng. Served with a sunny side up. It’s comforting supper food.

1. Take any random instant packet noodles and boil just the noodles
2. In a wok, fry minced garlic, ground dried chilli paste till the chilli paste is cooked.
3. Add oyster sauce and tomato ketchup. 4. If you used dried fried instant noodle, just rip out some of the seasoning and add them in too.
5. Add cubes chicken breasts
6. Add vegetables of choice. Here I used cabbage, Chye sim (Chinese greens) and carrots.
7. Add noodles and stir.
8. Add two tsp of chicken powder stock
9. Add kecap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce)
Serve with fried egg and fried shallots. I added some more ketchup on my egg for added oomphness.
Asian Dishes, Malay, Meat, Noodles and Pasta

Macaroni Goreng(Fried Macaroni)

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This is my ultimate comfort food. And it’s so easy to make…now. I think I posted this many years ago when I started this food blog for my daughter but now that I’ve grown older and wiser, I’ve discovered shortcuts.

The chilli paste in many Malay home cooking is a blend of dried chillies, onions and garlic. But I’ve discovered bottled ground chillies. It doesn’t have the onions but it doesn’t matter anyway.

This is how I cooked my delicious comforting lunch. It’s spicy and tangy, and that’s how I love it.

In plenty of oil (I used olive oil) cook till the oil separates one heaped teaspoon of chopped garlic, and 1-2 tbsp of ground chilli from the bottle. If you don’t have this, then it won’t taste as good but you can substitute with a bit more of ground chilli flakes. Here, I added a packed of chilli flakes so that I could have more colour.

Then add minced beef. Here, I have 300g of minced beef.

Make sure the meat is well cooked. Then add a packet of chopped tomatoes. I like these form Sainbury’s. Add one heaped tablespoon of ground cumin, 2 Teaspoons of sugar and salt to taste.

Let the mixture simmer nicely till the oil is really bright red and everything looks soft and unctuous.

Then add cooked macaroni.

Mix macaroni well with the sauce. Taste and add more salt if needed.

Sprinkle with spring onions cut to fairly large pieces.

Then serve with a sprinkling of fried shallots. Yummy!

Asian Dishes, Noodles and Pasta, Singapore

Char Kway Teow

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Char kway teow is soooo famous in Singapore and Malaysia. It’s got to be cooked in a Super hot wok so you could have that Smokey flavour or what the locals call ‘wok hei’ – the breath of the wok. And for the chinese, it is cooked in lard and lots of chinese pork sausages.

My ex-colleagues got me a trinity of books by The Meat Men, a local group of youtubers who have their own cooking channel. I tried making it at home, and it was ok. I had to omit the lard but at home the main problem is getting that wok hei flavour. You’ve got to use a Super hot cast iron or metal wok to get the same effect. Non-stick will not do.

I followed this recipe for the sauce closely and I must say, it works! The kway Teow turned out sweet and it was good enough. I’ll be trying to make this again soon but for this initial version, here’s how I did it.

First, buy some cockles, wash clean and take out the meat.

In a hot work, add oil and then your meat, sausages, chopped garlic. Add a dollop of chilli paste. Stir fry. Then add noodles. I used my leftover pad Thai noodles but the fresh broader Chinese rice noodles will be better. Add the sauce and stir fry. Lastly, add cockles and vegetables, cover to wilt then stir fry again till cooked.

The recipe called for eggs and prawn but since I had neither that day, I omitted.

Here’s the full recipe from the book to try:

Italian, Noodles and Pasta, Western

Spaghetti Primavera

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I remember when I was a young Uni grad working part time at this Italian restaurant. And on the menu was spaghetti primavera. All I remembered was simply pasta with a whole lot of vegetables.

And since I am on a mission to feed myself and the family more vegetables, I decided to make my own version of it by adding more vegetables then I could remember in that Italian restaurant version!

I first sautéed garlic in olive oil and then added sliced shiitake mushrooms. Cook till browned. And then added zucchini slices and blanched broccoli followed by cherry tomatoes. And then I added my cooked spaghetti in and toss to mix. The last was from my fridge, I had a glass container full of my oven baked capsicum and slices of garlic in olive oil slices. I added about two huge tablespoons including some of the oil into the mixture. Season with sea salt and black pepper and a handful of grated Parmesan. To serve, sprinkle some red pepper flakes.

I am happy that the family ate this up. Lots of goodness in a plate. If you want to add more vegetables in your diet, I strongly recommend this simple yet delicious and nourishing dish!