PENANG CURRY MEE / MEE KARI PULAU PINANG

Penang Curry Noodle is usually made up of yellow noodles and/or rice vermicelli in a spicy curry soup with a dash of coconut milk, then garnished with dried tofu, prawns, squid, chicken, egg and mint leaves. 

Sometimes it is referred as Curry Laksa and mostly people in the southern region referred this dish as Curry laksa. In Penang it is known as CURRY MEE.

I grown up with dish. This is my favorite meal during canteen break. Very popular dish in Penang and those days many schools had this in their menu and this Curry Mai Fun is one of the Chinese top breakfast menu. If you love hot and spicy try this mee, it is very satisfying!!!!!

INGREDIENTS

• 600g shelled cockles/ 600 g kerang rebus dikopek ambil isinya.
• 500g prawns, steamed and shelled; use the heads to sweeten the stock by liquidising them with 500ml water/ 500 g udang direbus atau dikukus bersama500 ml air untuk dijadikan stok sebgai pemanis
• 10 -20 pieces fish balls/ 10 -20 biji bebola ikan
• 4 pieces fish cake slice thinly/ 4 keping fish cake dihiris nipis
• 200g fried soya bean cubes (tow pok, available in local wet markets),  halved or quartered / 200 g tofu kering dibelah dua atau empat
• 300g shredded, cooked chicken meat / 300 g isi ayam yang direbus dan dicarik-carik
• 500g blanched bean sprouts (taugeh) / 500 g taugeh dicelur
• 200 g string beans cut into 1:length and blanced / 200 g kacang panjang potong 1" panjang dan celur
• 600g blanched mee / 600 g mee kuning yang dicelur
• 300g blanched meehoon / 300 g bihun yang dicelur
• 1kg grated coconut, mixed with 4 litres water and squeezed for general santan to be used as main stock/1 kg kelapa yang diperah bersama 4 litre air untuk dijadikan santan
Seasoning:
• 4 tbsp salt or to taste / 4 sdb garam
• 1 1/2 tbsp rock sugar / 1 1/2  sdb gula batu
• 1/2 tbsp monosodium glutamate / 1/2 sdt secukup rasa
Spices (finely ground):
• 100g shallots / 100 g bawang merah
• 25g garlic / 25 g bawang putih
• 3 tbsp coriander seeds (biji ketumbar) 2 sdb biji ketumbar
• 4 tbsp chilli paste / 4 sdb cili giling
• 2 tbsp sliced lemon grass (serai) / 2 sdb serai
• 10 peppercorns / 10 biji lada putih
• 1/2 tbsp belacan granules / 1/2 sdt belacan
Chilli oil:
• 110g chilli paste /11o g pes cili kering
• 25g garlic, pounded / 25 g bawang putih tumbuk
• 175ml to 200ml oil / 175 ml - 200 ml minyak

PREPARATIONS

1. Heat 1/2 cup oil to saute the spices till fragrant. Add in salt, rock sugar and 500ml general santan and bring to a low boil till sugar dissolves./ Panaskan minyak dan tumis bahan rempah sehingga naik baunya. Masukkan gula batu, garam dan santan. Didihkan sehingga gula hancur.
2. Add in the rest of the general santan, and tow pok , When soup comes to a boil, add prawn stock and seasoning, then bring to just boiling point./ Masukkan semua bahan lain, bebola ikan fish cake dan tofu. Bila kuah sudah agak mendidih masukkan stok udang dan perisa.
3. Remove from fire and use stock as a soup for the mee and meehoon. (Should the gravy or stock curdle, strain it.) Angkat dari api dan sendukkan ke dalam mee
4. For the chilly oil: Saute garlic and chilli paste in oil until the chilli disintegrates and oil floats to the surface. (Use this to garnish when serving.)

Serving Penang Curry Mee
Place some noodles, rice vermicelli and bean sprouts in a bowl. Ladle the curry mee stock over, along with a couple of tofu puffs fish cake, fish ball taugeh and string beans. Mine I put some hard boiled eggs. Add the toppings and serve immediately with 1 teaspoon (or more) chili paste. Mix the chili paste well with the noodles and broth and eat immediately.

Cook’s Notes:
1. Penang Curry Mee comes with various toppings, but the usual suspects are the above I featured. Some are served with fish balls and fish cakes, even char siu slices, and some are topped with refreshing mint leaves.
2. I used shrimp shell stock for my curry mee stock because I have heard that some of the most famous stalls use shrimp shell stock as the base, which makes perfect sense because it’s just more flavorful.
3. Contrary to most beliefs, Penang curry mee doesn’t use curry powder for the broth. The only spice is coriander powder, which lends that unmistakably subtle but not over-powering curry flavor in the broth.

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Mee kari atau di sebelah selatan Semenanjung lebih dikenali sebagai Kari Laksa adalah top breakfast menu dikalangan masyarakat Cina. Saya membesar dengan  Mee Kari ini kerana ianya merupakan menu utama disekolah. Sedap dimakan bersama sambal cilinya. menariknya tentang Mee Kari asli ia tidak menggunakan rempah kari yang sedia ada sebaliknya biji ketumbar dikisar untuk dijadikan rempah asas. Satu lagi keistimewaan Mee Kari ini ialah sambalnya yang digoreng sehingga gareng. Untuk topping pula kita boleh gunakan apa aje mengikut selera tetapi yang biasa digunakan ialah bebola ikan, fish cake,udang, kerang, kepala sotong mahupun isi ayam. Sayuran yang kerap digunakan ialah taugeh dan kacang panjang celur. Untuk memaniskan kuah gula batu dan stok kulit udang digunakam. Memang sedap bagi yang meminati pedas.

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