Cook Claypot KL-Style Hokkien Mee With Egg In Less Than 30 Minutes

Traditional KL-style Hokkien noodles are anchored by a thick dark caramel soy sauce that is hard to come by in Singapore. The best substitute is a good quality superior dark soy sauce, whose thickness will coat the noodles with its lovely inky darkness, and sugar, which will give this dish the sweetness it needs. Don’t try to use Indonesian kicap manis as a substitute as its floury sweetness is not suited to this dish.

Photo: EAMart

If you can’t find the flatter yellow Hokkien noodles (we got them from FairPrice), then feel free to use regular yellow wheat noodles (available at supermarkets or wet markets), or even udon or thick rice noodles (chor bee hoon) in a pinch.

You can throw in ingredients that you have on hand. For instance, if you don’t have prawns, leave it out or substitute with fish slices. If you have fish cakes lying around in the fridge, slice them up and add them to the mix. If you have cabbage instead of green veggies, by all means, use them. And if you have pork lard hanging out in your pantry, then you’re in for a real treat. If you don’t, we suggest you trim the fat off your pork belly and render it at the start of cooking so you get a bit of that deep savoury flavour in the dish. If even that feels like too much trouble, don’t bother — you’ll still get a tasty meal out of this. Lastly, we added a dash of our secret if unorthodox ingredient — sambal belacan. You won’t be able to taste it per se, but what it does is add a hint of toasty, umami depth.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

80g pork belly

2 tbsp cooking oil

3 cloves garlic, finely minced or grated

5-8 fresh prawns, shelled and de-veined

1 tbsp light soy sauce

400g Hokkien noodles

3 tbsp superior dark soy sauce

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp sambal belacan (try Sing Long brand)

a handful of leafy green veggies like chye sim, cut into bite-sized pieces

1/3 cup water or light chicken/pork stock

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp ground white pepper

1 egg

1. Trim pork belly, separating the fat from the meat. Slice the meat into 4cm by 0.5cm strips (or whatever size pieces you want). Chop the fat into small pieces.

2. Place the pork fat and oil in a clay pot or wok over medium heat. Stir-fry until the pork fat starts to render and brown, about 3 to 4 mins.

3. Add the garlic and stir-fry until it releases its fragrance, about 30 secs.

4. Add the pork slices and prawns and fry for about 30 seconds before adding the light soy. Stir-fry to mix.

5. Add noodles, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and sambal belacan (if using). Stir fry for a minute or two to make sure everything is coated evenly.

6. Add the vegetables and water or stock and stir-fry vigorously to coat.

7. Taste and add more light or dark soy, if needed. If the noodles look a little dry, add a bit more water or stock.

8. Add the sesame oil and ground white pepper and stir to mix.

9. While still hot, serve with a raw egg on top. Stir to mix evenly before consuming.

Annette Tan