About this recipe
Thick yellow noodles braised in a dark, glossy soy gravy with pork, prawns, squid and cabbage, and finished with cubes of crisp fried pork lard scattered over the top. This is the Kuala Lumpur dish, sometimes called Hokkien char, and it is quite different from the Penang Hokkien mee of the same name, which is a clear orange prawn-and-pork broth soup. It belongs to Chinese Malaysian cooking, is built on pork and lard, and is not halal; it is not eaten by Malay Muslims and no halal version of it is offered here, because removing the pork and lard removes the dish.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 2 servings — cook one portion at a time
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 15 minutes
- Total
- 40 minutes
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Spice
- Mild
Allergens Contains shellfish (prawns, squid), soy, wheat and PORK including PORK LARD. Not halal.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The crisp lard (chu yau char)
- 5 oz (140 g) pork back fat, cut into 1/3 in (8 mm) cubes
Per portion
- 10 oz (280 g) fresh thick yellow noodles (Hokkien mee noodles), rinsed and drained
- 3 oz (85 g) pork belly or pork loin, sliced thin
- 4 raw prawns, peeled and deveined
- 3 oz (85 g) cleaned squid, scored and cut into pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 cups (140 g) napa or green cabbage, cut into 1 1/2 in (4 cm) pieces
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) chicken or pork stock
- 1 tbsp (15 g) of the rendered lard, for frying
The seasoning, mixed in a small bowl
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) light soy sauce
- 1 tsp (5 ml) oyster sauce
- 1 tsp (4 g) sugar
- 1/2 tsp (1 g) ground white pepper
To serve
- Sambal belacan, or pickled green chillies in vinegar
Equipment
- Carbon-steel wok, 14 in (35 cm)
- Small pan for rendering the lard
- Wok spatula
- Lid for the wok
Method
- Render the lard: put the pork back fat cubes in the small pan with 2 tbsp water over low heat. Cook 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the water has gone, the fat has run clear and the cubes are small, golden and crisp. Lift the cubes onto paper and reserve the liquid fat.
- Rinse the noodles under warm water, separating them with your fingers, and drain well.
- Heat the wok over high heat until it smokes. Add 1 tbsp of the rendered lard and swirl.
- Fry the minced garlic 10 seconds, then add the sliced pork and stir-fry 1 minute until it colours.
- Add the prawns and squid and stir-fry 45 seconds, until the prawns are opaque at the edges. Do not cook the squid longer than this.
- Add the noodles and the mixed seasoning — the dark and light soy, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper whisked together — and toss hard 1 minute until every strand is evenly coated and very dark brown.
- Pour in the stock, add the cabbage, and bring to a fast boil. Cover the wok and braise 2-3 minutes — this steaming step is what distinguishes the KL dish from a straight stir-fry.
- Uncover and toss over high heat 1-2 minutes more, until the liquid has reduced to a thick glossy gravy that just coats the noodles rather than pooling.
- Taste and adjust with a little more dark soy or white pepper.
- Tip onto a plate and scatter generously with the crisp lard cubes. Serve immediately, with sambal belacan or pickled green chillies on the side. Repeat for the second portion.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Hokkien Mee (KL Style) sits in the Malaysia chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Malaysia chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.