MEE SIAM - THE WET VERSION

Tomorrow Muslim all over the world will be celebrating Aidil Adha, another auspicious festival and another round of family gathering. My children reached home last night. Today it's FULL HOUSE, enough quorum to cook. I will be busy preparing for Eid Adha as such I made heavy breakfast this morning to cater both breakfast and lunch.

Some context on Eid Adha Festival exerpted from Wikipedia :-

Eid al-Adha or "Festival of Sacrifice" or "Greater Eid" is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham (Ibrahim) to sacrifice his son Ishmael (Isma'il) as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.

Eid al-Adha is the latter of two Eid festivals celebrated by Muslims, whose basis comes from Sura 2 (Al-Baqara) Ayah 196 in the Qur'an. Like Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Adha begins with a Wajib prayer of two Raka'ah (units) followed by a sermon (khuṭbah).

The word "Eid" appears in Sura al-Mai'da ("The Table Spread," Chapter 5) of the Qur'an, meaning 'solemn festival'.

Eid al-Adha is celebrated annually on the 10th day of the 12th and the last Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah of the lunar Islamic calendar. Eid al-Adha celebrations start after the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide, descend from Mount Arafat. The date is approximately 70 days (2 Months & 10 days) after the end of the month of Ramadan, i.e. Eid-ul-Fitr. Ritual observance of the holiday lasts until sunset of the 13th day of Dhu al-Hijjah.

The name Mee Siam means “Siamese Noodles“. Of Thai origin, it is now probably more popular in southern Johor and Singapore. The Malaysia and Singapore version of Mee Siam has some influence of Chinese Peranakan and Malay.  Cooked with rice vermicelli or bee hoon as what the locals prefer to call it, Mee Siam is great for parties. You can serve it dry or with gravy. Today I'm gonna share with you the wet version.

Mee Siam uses a few main ingredients which brings out its peculiar taste – tau cheo (preserved soya beans), chilli and dried prawns. The more elaborate Mee Siam calls for the pouring of tamarind gravy over the cooked Mee Siam whilst mine is a simpler version which uses freshly squeezed calamansi (limau nipis) juice. The combination of spicy, sweet and sour taste makes this Mee Siam dish appealing to many.

Ingredients

• 1 packet of rice vermicelli (pre-soaked for 30 minutes till softened. Drained)/ 1 packet bihun direndam
• 100 g of bean sprouts / 100 g taugeh
• 50 g Chines Chive cut 1" length / 50 g kucai dipotong 1" panjang
• 30 grammes of dried prawns (pre-soaked for 15 minutes to semi-soften) / 30 g udang kering direndam dahulu
• 1 large onion thinly sliced / 1 biji bawang besar dihiris nipis
• 2 tofu fried and thinly slice / 2 keping tahu digoreng dan hiris nipis
• 200 g shrimps shelled and devined/ 200 g udang dibuang kulit
• 1 cup chicken stock/ 1 cawan stok ayam
• 5 tablespoons cooking oil/ 5 sdb minyak masak

Chili paste

• 15 dried chilies soak / 15 biji cili kering direndam
• 9 shallot / 9 biji bawang merah
• 5 cloves garlic/ 5 ulas bawang putih

Blend all ingredients to form wet paste. / Blend semua bahan menjadi pes basah.

Seasoning

• 2 tbsp light soya sauce or to taste / 2 sdb kicap cair
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce / 2 sdb kicap pekat
• 2 tbsp tomato sauce v/ 2 sdb sos tomato
• 1 teaspoon sugar / 1 sdt gula

Garnishing

2 spring green onions - chopped / 2 tangkai daun bawang dicincang

1/2 cup fried shallot / 1/2 cawan bawang goreng

2 thinly slice red chilies /2 biji cili merah dihiris nipis

2 eggs either you make hard boiled or thinly slice omelette/ 2 biji telur samada dibuat telur dadar atau direbus

10 calamansi / 10 biji limau kasturi

Method

Heat oil in wok. Saute slice onion till brow. Add in the Chili paste. Fry till oil surface. Add  dried prawns. Stir till onions are translucent and dried prawns are aromatic./ Panaskan minyak dan tumis bawang besar yang dihiris nipis sehinggga garing. Masukkan pes cili dan goreng sehingga naik baunya. Masukkan udang kering yang ditumbuk halus. Goreng sehingga naik minyak.

Add in fresh shrimps and cook till shrimps turned color./ Masukkan udang basah dan masak hingga udang bertukar warna

Add in the seasoning and continue stirring / Masukkan bahan perasa dan terus kacau

Stir well and sprinkle water or chicken stock occasionally to keep it moist. Add rice vermicelli and cook till done. (soft but not mushy to bite)./ Masukkan stok ayam atau air dan kacau. Masukkan bihun dan gaul rata.

Finally add in chives, tofu and bean sprout. Combine well and off the heat./ Akhir sakali masukkan kucai, tofu dan taugeh, gaul rata dan adjust rasa.

Dish up and serve with a squeeze of calamansi juice./ Hidang bersama bahan hiasan dan kuah taucho.

For The Gravy - Adapted from Cookig Tackle.

5-6 shallots/ bawang merah

3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp tamarind juice from 2 tbs tamarind pulp

*dissolve with little amount of warm water

2 tbsp peanuts

1 tbsp tsp dried shrimp/ udang kering

1 tomato

2 tbsp salted soy paste / taoco

5-6 red chilli / original recipe using 6-7 dried chilli

3 bird eye chillies--optional 

4 thin slices galangal

1 tsp shrimp paste/ belachan/terasi

2 candlenuts

1 Lemon grass

1 inch fresh turmeric

1 tsp whole white pepper

Salt sugar to taste

Flavor enhancing if using *I use ikan bilis cubes without msg

700ml water *add another a cup ofwater if required

Oil for frying

For the gravy Gravy:

Using a blender or perhaps you prefer mortar and pestle , grind all the ingredients for the gravy, except asam gelugur, lemongrass and galangal

Heat the oil in a pot, fry the gravy spice paste until aromatic Once it aromatic and make sure the raw spices smells are gone away, add water and asam gelugur, galangal and lemongrass

Bring to the boil and shimmer about 10 minutes--do not cover the pot Check seasoning and taste 

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Di rumah udah penuh dengananak-anak yang pulang cuti Raya Adil Adha, so saya punya alasan untuk masak. Oleh kerana tengah hari nanti saya akan sibuk menyiapkan sajian Aidil Adha, jadi sarapan pagi ini saya masak agak berat sedikit supaya boleh lajak sampai tengah hari. Mee Siam berkuah adalah pilihan saya pagi ini. Saya memang suka Mee Siam yang dimakan dengan kuah yang berladung-ladung kuahnya. Sedap gitu.

Next Post - Masakan Sunda - Gulai Cumi

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