And in a blink of an eye, we're approaching the end of 2016............. If I had a dollar for everytime someone asked why I haven't updated my blog the past year, I wouldn't be a millionaire but probably a hundred bucks richer. I am humbled whenever people tell me how much they've missed seeing my posts. Trust me, I've missed blogging a lot myself.
Truth is, I've started a new role in my job and trying to balance that and find rest in between family time, social life, exercise, travels and everything else has proved to be really challenging. I literally just make dinner and go to bed on weeknights and weekends are spent catching up with friends/family. So hard to find the time to blog, as much as I'd like to.
That said, I told myself that I HAD to share this Mee Siam recipe if I were to only blog one recipe this year. This spicy and sour noodle dish is very popular in Malaysia/Singapore and has always been one of my favourite noodles to eat. I made it from scratch for the first time earlier this year when I had a bunch of my friends over and it was a huge hit. I was really happy with the flavours.
Normally, I am quite critical of my own thinking but I thought this was really delicious to eat, if I do say so myself. The nostalgia may of eating this again after so many years may have played a part in the enjoyment of it too.
Anyway, I sincerely apologise for the lack of updates but hopefully this recipe makes up for it. It's definitely a winner for me so I hope you try and enjoy it too.
Mee Siam Recipe
(adapted from this recipe by Fong's Kitchen Journal)
Ingredients
400g thin rice vermicelli
300g prawns
2 pieces fried bean curd
4 eggs
4 handfuls of beansprouts
2 handfuls of chives
4 tbsp tamarind paste
4 cloves garlic
3 tbsp oil
2 - 3 cups of water
3 tbsp sugar
Fish sauce to taste
Spice paste:
7 small dried chillies
5 large fresh red chillies
3 tbsp dried shrimps
1/2 tbsp belachan
15 small or 5 large purple shallots
5 cloves garlic
2 tbsp soy bean paste
Garnish:
1/3 cup fried shallots
Handful of coriander (chopped)
2 large limes (cut to wedges)
Method
1. To prepare the ingredients: Soak the vermicelli in water until soft. Drain and set aside. De-shell and de-vein the prawns. Cut to 1 inch long and 1/2 cm thick strips. Fry the eggs in 2 batches into a thin omelette and cut to thin strips. Cut the chives to 1 inch strips. Mix the tamarind paste in 1 cup of water. Sieve the liquid and discard the seeds. Mince the garlic.
2. To make the spice paste: Soak the dried chillies in hot water, squeeze out the water and remove the seeds. Halve the red chillies and remove the seeds. Soak the dried shrimps in 1/3 hot water for 5 minutes and retain the liquid. Toast the belachan in an oven for a few minutes until fragrant. Place all the ingredients for the paste in a blender or food processor and blend until it forms a smooth paste.
3. To cook the noodles: Heat up the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the garlic and fry until fragrant. Add in the spice paste and fry the mixture on low - medium heat until it turns dark brown (approx 25 - 30 minutes), stirring occasionally. Stir in the tamarind juice, 2 cups of water, rice vermicelli. Cover the wok and allow to simmer until the vermicelli has soaked up most of the liquid in the wok. Toss the vermicelli with the wok spatula and large chopsticks until the noodles are well combined. Add the sugar and season the vermicelli with fish sauce to taste.
4. Add in the prawns, fried bean curd, bean sprouts, chives and stir fry for a couple of minutes until the prawns are cooked and mixture is well combined. Add a bit more water if the mixture is too dry. Stir in the omelette strips.
5. To serve, garnish with fried shallots, coriander and wedges of lime on the side.
