Penang food and recipes (Penang Hokkien Mee Recipe (Prawn Mee / Penang Har Meen / 福建虾面)

While Hokkien Mee is made famous by Penang hawkers, it originated from the Fujian province in China, and hence the name "Hokkien" (which means Fujian in its dialect) and "Mee" (meaning noodle).

Recipe: Penang Hokkien Mee (Prawn Noodle /Penang Har Meen / 福建虾面)

ingredients:
15 cups of water
2-3 pieces of rock sugar
1.5 lbs of pork ribs (cut into pieces)Salt to taste

Chili Paste:
30 dried chilies (deseeded and soaked to soften)
10 shallots (peeled)
1 pound of yellow noodles (scalded)
1 pack of rice vermicelli (scalded)
5 cloves garlic (peeled)
2 tablespoons of water
6 tablespoons of cooking oil
Some kangkong or water convolvulus (scalded)
Some bean sprouts (scalded)

Toppings:
6 hard-boiled eggs (shelled and quartered)
1/2 pound of lean pork meat (boiled and sliced thinly)
1/2 pound shrimp (shelled and deveined)
Some fried shallot crisps (store-bought)

Blend the chili paste ingredients with a mini food processor until finely ground and well blended. Heat up the wok and add cooking oil. Stir fry the chili paste for 5 minutes. Dish up and set aside. On the same wok (unwashed), add in a little oil and cook the shrimp topping. Add in a little chili paste, sugar, and salt. Pan-fried the shrimp until they are slightly burned. Dish up, let cool and sliced them into halves.

Method:

1. Add 15 cups of water into a pot and bring it to bowl. Add in all the shrimp heads and shell and simmer on low heat for about 2 hours or longer until the stock becomes cloudy and tastes really prawny.
2. Strain the stock through sieve and transfer the stock into another pot. Discard the prawn heads and shells. Scoop up and discard the orange "foam" forming at the top of the stock.
3. Bring the stock to boil again and add in half of the chili paste. You can add more chili paste if you like it spicier.
4. Add in the pork ribs and continue to boil in low heat for another 1-1.5 hour until the pork ribs are thoroughly cooked.
5. Add rock sugar and salt/fish sauce to taste.
6. To serve, place a portion of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, water convolvulus and bean sprouts in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over. If desired, add a few pieces of pork ribs. Top with meat slices, sliced shrimp, egg quarters, and sprinkle with shallot crisps.
7. Serve immediately with more chili paste to taste.
   Cook's

notes:

• Traditionally, the shrimp heads and shells are stir-fried with oil until aromatic before adding them into the boiling water.
• The hawkers in Penang also blended the shrimp heads and shells after they are briefly boiled to extract all the flavors from the shell.

Penang food and recipes (Otak-Otak & Penang Sour Laksa)

Penang food is famous in Malaysia. Strictly, the term of Penang food is refers to "hawker food", that is, street food sold at the roadside. In Malaysia there are many state can found the Penang hawker food. But to taste authentic Penang food, there is no other place than Penang itself.

Otak-Otak:

Steamed fishcake drapped in banana leaves.

Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
600g fish fillet, preferably kurau or garupa
3 pcs limau purut leaves, thinly sliced
1 egg
225ml thick coconut milk from 1 coconut
2 tsp glutinous flour
1 ½ tsp salt
½ tsp sugar

Ground to paste:
15 dried chilies
1 cm pc turmeric root
2 stalks lemon grass
4 slices galangal (lengkuas)
15 shallots
½ pc belacan
2 pips garlic
12-14 pcs kaduk leaves
6 pcs banana leaves (20cm x 25cm)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients together and mix well. Add the fish last.
2. Spoon the mixture on banana leaves lined with mixture on banana leaves lined with kaduk leaves. Repeat till mixture is all used.
3. Wrap and secure with toothpicks. Trim the top for a neat finish. Steam for 10-15 mines in a prepared steamer. Serve hot or cold.

Penang Sour Laksa: Fish-based spicy rice noodle soup

Serves : 4

Ingredients :
1 packet laksa noodles (scalded & drained)

2 pieces fish cakes1 packet fish balls

800g mackerel (boilded, discard head & bones)
2 limes (quartered)2 hard-boiled eggs (halved)

3 tablespoons black shrimp paste / otak udang

15g polygonum leaves

1 stalk ginger flower / bunga kantan

3 dried assam slices

Finely sliced

350g pineapple

1 medium cucumber

2 large onions

1 red chilli
2 litre watersalt, sugar to taste

Ground ingredients

4 shallots

4 cloves garlic

8 dried chillies

2cm piece young ginger

2cm piece dried shrimp paste

Method :
1. Bring a large pan of water to boil. Put in the ground ingredients, assam slices, ginger flower, polygonum leaves and seasonings. Stir occasionally till it boils again. Reduce heat and simmer till the ingredients are cooked.
2. Add in black shrimp paste, fish cakes and fish balls. Let it boil once more.
3. Place laksa noodles in small bowls, top with the sliced ingredients followed by the eggs. Ladle the soup and squeeze lime juice on it to give the extra flavour.