Thursday, August 28, 2008

Merdeka Open House 2008: Pan Mee


I have to thank Babe for picking my idea, fixing the theme of this year's Merdeka Open House event as Mee and My Malaysia.

I am actually away from Kuala Lumpur, blogging all the way from my hometown, Sandakan. Yes, I am a proud East Malaysian, Sabahan to be specific, coming back home for the National Day long weekend break. I am not quite sure why but I am prone to raised-eyebrows whenever I mention that I originate from Sabah. Then, the conversation would proceed to questions like, 'Do people in Sabah still live on trees', 'Do you people travel in boats (luckily not sampan)?', 'So you are surrounded by refugees?', etc..... Oh my, I wonder how well school sujects like Geography and History actually help.

Despite the suggestion of submitting something that could be the comfort food of one's family, I've decided to do it a little differently. My submission for this annual event is actually a one-bowl noodle dish which I was not familiar with as a child and teenager. It was not until I left home for KL for my studies that this dish became one of my favourites.

Pan Mee, or literally means 'Sheet Noodles' owing to the flat, thin shape of the noodles, is believed to originate from the Hokkian province of China. As Sabah is basically dominated by the Cantonese and Hakka , it's not surprising that this dish is not popular in this part of the country. So, my ignorance as a child is excusable, I believe :). So, I brought back the idea, and made this noodle dish for my parents today. An aunthetic version, at least to my knowledge, and here it is.


Merdeka Open House 2008: Pan Mee
Serves 6

Ingredients:

(A) Noodles:
300g all purpose flour
200g high protein flour
1.5 tsp salt
3 eggs
8-10 tbsp water
2 tbsp corn oil
Tapioca flour for dusting

(B) Minced meat:
400g lean pork meat, minced
2 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp cornstarch
Few drops of sesame oil
Dash of pepper
4 cloves garlic, chopped

Oil for frying

Seasoning:

1.5 tbsp oyster sauce
1-2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

(C)
30g black fungus, soaked till soft and shredded
5 chinese mushrooms, soaked till soft and sliced
50g ikan bilis (anchovies), deep fried till crispy
3L chicken broth
30g leaves of
sayur manis
Fried shallots



Method:


1. To prepare handmade noodles, please refer to an old recipe of mine
here.
2. Marinade minced pork in light soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil and pepper in (B) for at least 1 hour. Heat oil in a pan, fry chopped garlic till fragrant. Add minced meat and fry till half-cooked. Add in mushroom and continue to fry. Add a little water if too dry. Season with oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, salt and pepper.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Add 1 tsp salt and few drops of oil into water. Blanch noodles in boiling water until cooked. Remove and soak in cold water. Remove noodles from cold water and drain. Divide into bowls.
4. Bring chicken broth to boil. Add black fungus and sayur manis; continue to boil for a while but not to overcook vegetable.
5. Pour soup into bowls of noodles. Top with minced meat mixture, deep fried anchovies and garnish with deep fried shallots. Serve immediately.


Left: Raw pan mee from pasta mchine; Right: Boiling chicken broth
Deep frying sliced shallots

10 comments:

pingmouse said...

oh i love pan mee, the tear type. the best one is in Subang Jaya SS19 i think. So soft and chewy and the minced pork is moist and tasty. U must try it, if you havent already :)

Jin Hooi said...

Pan Mee !! My favourate ;-)) I love chili pan mee too. Thanks for the recipe, Jo ;-)

Little Corner of Mine said...

Great submission! I think we do have a variety of noodles for this year Merdeka open house.

Nate @ House of Annie said...

I must admit that pan mee is not my favorite noodle. But perhaps I did not have very good ones.

Thanks for putting up this dish and also coming up with a subject we could all have fun with!

Vivien Lim said...

I love pan mee as well... can i have some all the way from Sandakan if you may :)

Unknown said...

jo,

i miss sayur manis in my pan mee. I must try your recipe cos mine a very lean with less egg

Anonymous said...

bloghopped from yasmin's baking project and found urs. sayur manis in a noodle soup, that's interesting!

Unknown said...

wow Jo, this is my first visit but I already love it - I absolute love pan mee and wow, I must really try making my own noodles like u! Usually I go get the pan mee Inamie when I have a craving here! Yours look so yummy!

Edith said...

I love pan mee too and home made ones are truly healthy.

Anonymous said...

im a Sabahan too! but im typing all da way from DUBAI! working here... anyway....luv pan mee ! like reading ur recipes.. but nvr had the chance to DO any of it yet! haha.. main reason.. no time and i cant seem to find alot of ingredients here..

love cooking.. but i dont have the talent! haha