Thursday 14 May 2015

Mystery Box Fridays- Episode 1 (Vegetarian Mee Siam- In Loving Memory of our Founding Prime Minister, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew)

Dear Viewers,

It is with immense honour that I post this video on my blog. It is not only the first ever video for Mystery Box Fridays (details on 'Mystery Box Fridays' post), but also, it is a humble tribute to one of the finest world leaders ever, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. This is a very small thing as compared to what he did for Singapore. Singapore was his first love and the most important thing for him. He lent a hand to all those who needed him especially during war time, and he turned Singapore from a tiny fishing village into a major city and trading port. Today, because of him, millions of tourists come to visit us and actually report wonderful things about us. 

According to an interview with Mdm. Monica Lee, Mr. Lee loved Singaporean fare like gado gado (vegetable salad with peanut sauce) and mee siam (what we are going to prepare here). As explained here, mee siam is a noodle dish with coconut milk and other fragrant spices. This is a wet version of mee siam and on this blog, there is another recipe for dry mee siam. 

Please watch this video and give your views: 





Transcript of the recipe is available here. 

VEGETARIAN MEE SIAM- GLASS NOODLES WITH VEGETABLES, COCONUT MILK AND OTHER FRAGRANT SPICES
Serves: 6-8 people

Calories: 1, 454
Per person: 181.25 

For chilli broth: 
4 dry red chillies
1 fresh red chilli 
1/2" ginger
3 small shallots
4 cloves garlic
1/2 stalk lemongrass
2 tsp sambal belacan
2-3 tsp salted soybeans (tau chio-Chinese), washed and drained- gets rid of excess saltiness
1 tsp soy sauce
Salt to taste
1-2 tsp tamarind paste (soak tamarind in water before use)
1-2 tbsp oil for frying paste
About 1/2 tsp chives, finely chopped - Chinese chives
1/4 cup coconut milk OR 2 tbsp coconut milk mixed with less than 1/4-1/2 cup low fat milk 
1/2 cup hard tofu puffs (tau pok- Chinese), cut into juliennes
*Ginger, garlic, shallots and lemongrass need to be washed before use, peeled and cut roughly. 

For main noodle preparation: 
150g rice noodles or vermicelli (also known as 'bee hoon'- Chinese), washed, drained and boiled  before use
1/2 cup bean sprouts (taugay- Chinese)
2-3 slices mock (vegetarian) wu fish, cut into juliennes - optional
1 tbsp oil for stir-frying
 Salt to taste
*Bean sprouts need to be washed before use

For garnish: 
Chives, finely chopped- about 1/2 tsp
Small limes (about 4)


METHOD
1. In a blender, blend dry red chillies, fresh red chillies, ginger, garlic, shallots and lemongrass together.
2. Add salted soybeans, soy sauce, salt if needed and tamarind water. Mix well.
3. For best results, heat oil in a pan and fry the paste to get rid of raw flavours. If not, then just bring mixture to a boil with lots of water.
4. Add chives and coconut milk to make a nice broth, throw in the tau pok and bring to a boil.cook for 2 mins, before reducing to a low simmer.
5. For noodles, heat a bit of oil and add bean sprouts. Add wu fish if you wish. Cook till crunchy.
6. Add noodles and top with a little sambal belacan to give pink colour. Mix well.
7. Pile the noodles onto a plate with gravy, and garnish with chives and small limes. Serve hot.