Friday, October 21, 2011

Mi Hoon Kueh -Typical Hokkien Favourite


This dish never failed to bring back my childhood memories growing up in Klang and having it pretty often either for lunch or dinner. This is indeed a typical Hokkien dish as the name of the dish itself - Mi Hoon Kueh simply derives from the direct translation of "flour cake" in Hokkien.

Memories of my aunty cum nanny kneading the dough from scratch (flour, egg, cooking oil, water) are still fresh in my mind.....however I have to admit that I've 'cheated' in the dough part simply because I tried kneading it myself and failed miserably. Found the easy way to make this dish without the dough-kneading process - pre-packed dried noodles (picture below) found in an Organic shop near my place ;). As an aternative, u can also use the pre-packed chinese noodles (pan mee) found in many supermarkets. Sometimes, I replace it with mee suah (rice vermicelli) as well.


Ingredients for a hearty bowl of Mi Hoon Kueh (serves 5):

Soup/broth:
One full handful of dried anchovies (ikan bilis)
6 big bowls of water
few pieces of dried scallops (washed)
3 tbsp chopped garlic

Condiments:
1 big piece of black fungus (soaked and sliced thinly)
6 pieces shitake mushrooms (soaked and sliced thinly)
100g minced meat (pork/chicken) seasoned with light soy sauce and pepper
1 tbsp each of chopped garlic and shallots
1 tsp tauchu paste
sugar, salt & pepper to taste
fresh spinach or any green vege of your choice. (washed and leave aside)
deep fried crispy anchovies (prepared in advance)
deep fried crispy shallot for garnishing
fresh egg (optional)

...and of course the main ingredient of all - the Mi Hoon Kueh itself ;)

Method:
Soup/broth:
1. In a deep cooking pot, sautee 2tbsps garlic until fragrant and add in the dried scallops. Add in 3 big bowls of water and bring to boil. (Pot A)
2. In another separate pot, sautee 1 tbs garlic and anchovies and fry til fragrant. Add in the balance of the water and bring to boil. (Pot B)
3. At slow fire, leave both pots to simmer for about 15 mins.
4. Sieve the ingredients in Pot B and add in the broth into Pot A, with the remnants of anchovies removed.
5. Leave Pot A to simmer for another 10 mins.

Main condiments:

1. In a frying pan, sautee the garlic and shallot with some cooking oil and add in the seasoned meat. Fry til meat is thoroughly cooked.
2. Add in black fungus and mushroom and fry till fragrant. Add in tauchu, some sugar, salt and pepper to taste.
3. Dish out and put aside for serving later.

Serving:
1. Scoop enough soup for a bowl and add in your preferred amount of the mi hun kueh pieces/noodles. Continue stirring so that the noodle pieces would not clump together.
2. Add in spinach and leave to boil until spinach is softened. Crack in an egg (optional).
3. Garnish with the earlier fried meat, shallots and anchovies. Serve hot.


Churned out directly from Aniston's Kitchen...

Peach Salsa Dip for Nachos/Tortilla Chips

A recipe shared by a closed friend with a bit of changes made to my liking ;)



Ingredients:
1 canned peach (chopped semi fine)
1 capsicum (chopped)
2 tbsps chopped coriander leaves
2 tbsps chopped peppermint leaves
1/2 big onion (chopped)
1 lemon (juice squeezed)
Vinegar and honey to taste

Method:
Mix everything together and serve with fresh crispy, crunchy plain nachos or tortilla chips.
A perfect appetizer for an evening of western cuisine menu. Goes well with wine too!


Churned out directly from Aniston's Kitchen...

Hearty meat porridge

One of my self-improvised porridge recipes which makes my kids consume all the vege unknowingly :D
The one I'm about to share here is one with minced pork. You can also simple replace the pork with fresh fish fillet as a variation to your menu.

Ingredients:

200g mince pork (seasoned with light soy sauce and pepper for about 2 hours)
2 cups of rice
2 tbsp chopped garlic
1 whole carrot (chopped or grated) or any chopped vege of your choice
chopped spring onions for garnishing
about 2 litres of water (or according to how you prefer your porridge to be)

Method:
1. Wash the rice and leave aside
2. Heat up the wok (or non-stick deep cooking pot) and add in some cooking oil and sautee the garlic for abt 30 seconds.
3. Add in the washed rice and fry til they turn aromatic.
4. Add in the water and leave to boil.
5. Add in the minced pork (bit by bit using a table spoon) once the rice in the pot expand and turned semi rice-like. (picture below)


6. Stir occasionally while dropping in the minced pork (at slow fire)
7. Once all the minced pork are added in, put in the carrot or vege into the boiling porridge.


8. Stir the porridge and leave to boil for a lil while longer or according to your prefered rice texture. We like having our porridge still looking rice-like :)
9. Garnish with spring onion (optional) and serve hot.




*for fish porridge, simply replace minced pork with fish fillet and boil to your preferred texture*


Churned out directly from Aniston's Kitchen...

For the kids - omelette and minced pork with tauchu paste

I make this dish at least once a fortnight simply bcos my boys love it and it's easy to prepare as well...



Ingredients (serves 5):
6 eggs
1 tbsp tauchu (bean) paste
1 tbsp oyster sauce
200g minced pork (seasoned with light soy sauce and pepper)
salt, light & dark soy sauce, sugar and pepper to taste
1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 1.5 cups of water
1 tbsp chopped garlic
cooking oil

Method:
1. Beat the eggs and add in some light soy sauce and pepper to taste.
2. Make a huge omelette out of the 6 beaten eggs. Cut into small pieces and leave aside.
3. Heat up the wok and add some cooking oil.
4. Sautee the garlic and add in the minced pork.
5. Fry till pork is well cooked. Add in tauchu paste and 1/2 tsps of sugar. Next add in the oyster sauce.
6. Add in the corn flour water and about tbsp of dark soy sauce.
7. Add in the prepared cut omelette. Stir thoroughly.
8. Serve hot with white rice.

*you can add in chopped carrots or any vege of your choice into this dish so that your kids will have a complete meal of meat & vege*

Churned out directly from Aniston's Kitchen...