Monday, November 1, 2010

Kari Mee/Bihun (Noodles or Rice Vermicelli Curry)

Unshelled cockles (kerang)
The first noodle recipe we have on this...yay! Mum absolutely loves this. Its one of those all time favourites for the family. The picture on the left is what cockles (kerang) look like before being shelled. Actually I'm not even sure why I think people abroad do not know what it looks like. Silly me! But since I took the picture, I might as well use it, no? ;-)

My sister from the UK has confirmed dates of her arrival in February. So there are big plans to celebrate her birthday. She is also planning to take mum and dad away to Langkawi or another tropical island. Guess who has to look for hotel accommodation lah? ;-) But truly i don't mind. Cheap and luxurious was the brief...hmmm. Is there such a thing these days? Anyway...will try and find lah. I will have some time off in February hopefully so I just might go with them.

Anyway, here is the recipe to this yummy-licious dish. Have fun making it. Its not so difficult. Just a lot of ingredients. Its normally served to the whole family. Hardly ever do I see people make it for one. So if you're planning a dinner or lunch, this is ideal.

Here goes...

The ingredients
The Ingredients
• A packet of yellow noodles (mee kuning)
• A packet of rice vermicelli (bihun)
• A quarter chicken (ayam) cut into small pieces.
• 10 medium sized prawns (udang) cleaned, shelled and cut into 2.
• 30 to 40 cockles (kerang)
• 20 shallots (bawang kecil) sliced thinly.
• 5 garlic (bawang putih) Sliced thinly.
• 1 inch of ginger (halia) cut in thin strips.
• 5 dried bean curd (tahu kering) cut into three pieces each.
• 3 stems of curry leaves.
• 6 to 7 tablespoons of dried chili paste (cili boh).
• 3 tablespoons of curry powder (rempah kari).
• 2 star anise (bunga lawang).
• 3 inches of cinnamon (kayu manis).
• 5 cardamon seeds (buah pelaga).
• Coconut milk (santan).
• Course salt

Garnishing
The Garnishing
• 4 hard boiled eggs, shelled and cut into 4.
• Some mustard greens (sawi) dipped in boiled water with some salt and a bit of bicarbonate soda. The bicarbonate soda will help to retain the green colour in the vegetable.
• Some green and red chillies (cili merah dan hijau) sliced thinly.
• Chinese celery and spring onions, sliced thinly.
• Some lime.

The Method: The gravy
• Heat up your oil in a wok.
• Once heated, add the star anise, cardamon, cinnamon and curry leaves first before putting in your onions, ginger and garlic. Leave to cook for awhile till yellow.
• Then add your dried chili paste and mix well. Also add some coarse salt.
• When the chili feels cooked, add your curry powder and mix.
• Add your chicken and mix it evenly. Add some water to cook the chicken.
• At this point take the stems of the curry leaves out.
•Leave to boil on a medium flame for 2 minutes.
• Then add the prawns and cockles. Mix well.
• Prepare your diluted coconut milk and mix it into the wok. If the coconut milk is too thick add water. Leave to boil to cook the chicken. This is where the aroma of the gravy comes out. Keep stirring so that it doesn't burn at the bottom of the wok. Leave it for about 10 minutes.
• Add the dried bean curd, mix it well and leave to simmer on low flame for another 8 to 10 minutes. Then it should be ready to be served. Don't let the gravy be too thick.

Mee/bihun
The Method: The noodles and the garnishing.
• Boil some water with salt.
• Once boiled put in the rice vermicelli to soften.
• The same method with the yellow noodles.
• Then add a bit of bicarbonate soda to the boiling water and add the mustard greens (sawi) into the boiling water.
• Also prepare your hard boiled eggs, lime, celery and spring onions to be served.

Here is the video. Wasn't hard to edit this time around. Hope i didn't mess it up. ;-)



So... masak lah dengan kasih sayang. Memang lagi sedap. Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Good thing to use that photo of the cockles. Some people abroad cam kat UK nih don't even know what a cockle IS, let alone what it looks like. Apparently the used to sell cockles like they sell popcorn once a long time ago. But cockles have gone out of fashion. So the younger generations, particularly those who live in London, wouldn't know what cockles look like. Great blog! :)

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