Hokkien Prawn Noodles (Halal Version) 福建蝦麵 (清真版)- "Malaysian Monday 70"

Apart from asam laksa and char kway teow, Hokkien prawn noodles or simply known as hokkien mee in Penang is a must try dish for tourists visiting the island. This culinary treasure brought to Malaysia by Hokkien migrants a century ago can now be found all over Malaysia.

My plan was to make some Ipoh hor fun (a dish derived from prawn noodles according to renowned food historian  Lin Jin Cheng (林金城)- click here to read the article); but decided against a trip to Victoria Street just to get the rice noodles, using what I had in my pantry seemed like a much better idea on a very hot afternoon.

Traditionally pork ribs are used but I used chicken instead to better promote this delicious dish to my Muslim readers. The broth is the soul of the dish so do be patient and wait for the rewarding result. 

P.S the next MMM roundup will be up next Monday, remember to send in all your entries to my friend Sharon from Test With Skewer at its.sharon@gmail.com

serves 4 to 6 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
500g of banana prawns, poached and shells reserved
2 chicken breast, poached and shredded
1 packet of hokkien noodles
1 packet of rice vermicelli, soaked in warm water till soften and drained well
1 bunch of kangkong (water spinach), washed and cut into 6cm lengths
1 packet of bean sprouts
fried shallots
chopped spring onions
cut chillies in soy to serve

for the broth;
3l of water
4 chicken wings
1 head of garlic, bashed
3 slices of ginger
1 tsp of peppercorns
4 tbs of cooking oil
reserved prawn shells
salt to taste

Bring 3l of water to a simmer then add in the chicken wings, garlic, ginger and peppercorns. Bring it to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer and cook for an hour.

Discharge the solids from the pot and bring the stock back to a boil. Add prawns and cook for until just done (~ 1.5 minutes). Remove and allow to cool before peeling the prawns leaving the tails intact.

Fry prawn shells with 4 tbs of cooking oil in a separate pan for 5 to 8 minutes, using a potato masher to press down the prawn heads to release all the goodness. Add the content of the pan to the pot with the stock and simmer for 30 minutes, remove the solids and season well with salt.

Bring the broth to a boil then add in the chicken breast, turn off the heat after a minute, put the lid on and let the chicken poach in the hot broth for 18 minutes, remove and allow to cool.

Shred chicken into neat slivers. halve prawns lengthwise and have the rest of the ingredients ready.

Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, cook both noodles to your liking and lightly blanch the kangkong and bean sprouts.

Top with prawns and chicken and ladle some of the hot broth over garnish with fried shallots and chopped spring onions and serve with some cut chillies with soy on the side. 

My friend Sharon from Test With Skewer is hosting the first event of the year, please send all your entries to its.sharon@gmail.com

To find out more about the event and on how to enter, please click HERE.