KL Hokkien Noodles 福建炒麵

Whenever I am feeling down, I either eat nothing at all or choose to cook something that reminds me of my childhood and there was no exception tonight. Although not really something that we cooked at home but rather a dish that I must have every time I am in Kuala Lumpur. (the famed Kim Lian Kee of course!)

It might look like a rather boring and unremarkable noodle dish, but there is no looking back once you have tasted it. The star ingredients in this dish are of course the lard and the crispy bits from rendering the lard (click HERE on how to render pork fat). I used some pork belly instead which has enough fat - the crispy pork belly is even tastier!

Give this dish a miss if you are not comfortable with lard being used. Only 4 tbs of fat was used in my version and that's less than your average animal fat in a serve of bangers and mash!

Another very important ingredient is the dark caramel sauce that gives this dish the rich brown glossy look. Can you spot the liquid gold in the middle?

P.S I can't really get the thicker noodle traditionally used, but Hokkien noodle is quite a good substitute til I get a pasta machine! hint! hint!

serves 3

you'll need;

800g of hokkien noodle, blanched and drained

1/4 of cabbage, roughly chopped

200g of prawn meat

200g of pork fillet, thinly sliced and marinated with some salt and pepper

250g of pork belly, cut into small pieces and rendered
1.5 tbs of oyster sauce

3 tbs of light soy

5 tbs of dark caramel sauce

1 cups of chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

for the sambal belacan;

3 red chilies

3 to 5 bird chilies

1 tbs of toasted belacan* (shrimp paste)

1 tsp of salt

2 tsp of sugar

juice of one lime

Blend everything in a blender and check for seasonings.

*to toast the shrimp paste - wrap shrimp paste in foil and place in a pre-heated oven for 10 minutes

Saute garlic then add in prawns and pork with a little lard in a hot wok.

Cook cabbage til wilted and add stock. Remove pork and prawns and set aside.

Add noodles and seasoning, mix well and simmer til noodle is tender.

Tip in the rest of the lard and some crispy pork, give it a really good stir. Simmer til sauce thicken, noodles will turn darker too. This is worth the extra 10 minutes in the gym :)

Serve immediately with extra crunchy cracklings and sambal belacan on the side...mmmmm

The double storey Restoran Kim Lian Kee (金蓮記) was once a humble little tin roofed noodle shop the famed noodle dish was an invention of the founder many years ago.