"The Strange But Wonderful Food Of Kuching 1" Tomato Kway Teow 茄汁粿條,

I am back from my self imposed exile and now I must get back to my blog that has given me so much joy. I will also be able to start reading all your blogs again. ...

During my 3 year stay in Kuching, Sarawak; not only did I have to adjust to a small town lifestyle, language barrier (everyone speaks Hokkien which I learnt after a few weeks) and worst of all the strangely unfamiliar food. This is an example of such strange dishes, yes it might look just like a plate of hawker style fried noodle but the difference lies in the sauce which is flavoured with tomato puree and ketchup. It didn't take me too long before becoming a convert to this peculiar dish and I will start introducing other strange but wonderful dishes of Kuching over the coming weeks, so stay tuned. If you have been to Sarawak, have you tried this dish?

P.S Again I learnt this by standing behind a hot blazing wok in Kuching. Crispy egg noodles or rice vermicelli can be prepared the same way.

recipe per serve

you'll need;

200 g of rice noodle, loosen and mix with a dash of dark soy

100 g of choysum

6 prawns

a handful of chicken slices or meat of your choice

chopped garlic

1 cup of chicken stock

1 tbs of tomato puree

1 tbs of tomato ketchup

dash of soy

dash of oyster sauce

white pepper to taste

corn flour solution

Char noodles in a hot wok, do not move the noodles too much. Set aside and keep warm.

Saute garlic with a little oil then add prawns and chicken slices, cook for a minute.

Add choysum and seasonings and continue to cook on high heat for 30 seconds.

Add stock and thicken with a little corn solution, check for seasonings.

Serve hot with cut chillies and soy.