A Brunei Morning Meal

When I first went to Kuala Lumpur to study in the 70's our Sarawak's kolo mee and kampua mee were as alien as kasam babi to the local KL people. So I sort of learned to eat Hokkien Mee - those big black noodles with a good sauce to soothe my nerves. It then became a sort of comfort food for me. I gradually developed a fondness for it as it was a different kind of noodles all together and was definitely special. And true enough after coming back to Sarawak sometimes I crave for it. But very often I could only find pseudo and very unauthentic ones and then I finally gave up eating the stuff unless I was in Kuala Lumpur.

But then of all the places I have been to - believe me - only one place in Borneo has the real Hokkien Mee ala Kuala Lumpur. Big fat soft and black and of the right taste with lots of Chu Yu Char....in Bandar Seri Begawan in a shop tucked away in a market which sells non halal meat. It is a place I call Peaceful Valley Village at Jalan Kelaila.

And best of all one can get many different kinds of breakfasts from almost every Chinese dialect group there in the morning. On the menu you could even order a few Filipino dishes and Vietnamese noodles! Yes there is American BBQ rice too. So if you decide to buy non halal meat you could go there for breakfast on a nice Sunday morning with your family in Bandar. Something good may happen too.

My first visit to this market I got to meet up with my fellow kampong mate from Sungei Merah! As the sun rose in the east and filtered through the shutters I enjoyed the Hokkien Mee and switching back and forth in Foochow and English while other diners spoke in different accents (Filipino - Lun Bawang and Cantonese). For some wonderful moments in time you could imagine that you were back somewhere in time and enjoying your youth as the noodles slipped between your lips and you drink in the salty sweetness of the sauce.

Here his the recipe from a friend who is a KL born Chinese (but not Hokkien):

Ingredients:

500g fat yellow hokkien noodles soak in cold water for a while
2 tbsp chopped garlic
a small chinese bowl of meat (pork or chicken) - cut into thin slices
some fresh prawns, shelled and deveined
one or two squid - cut into bite size (optional)
about half a bowl of pig liver - sliced thinly
Some slices of cabbage
some slices of fish cake
2 or 3 innos of mustard green or yew chai - wash and cut into 1 inch pieces
some pork fat, cut into cubes and fried till crispy (keep the oil)
2 cups stock/water

Seasoning:

1 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark thick sweet soy sauce(add more if not dark enough)
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp sugar


Method:

Season the prawns and squid with a dash of salt, sugar and pepper.

Heat 2 tsp of the lard (from frying the pork fat) and stir fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the soy sauce and let it heat through and then add some sugar to caramelize the sauce. Sautee the squid and prawns quickly. Dish out and leave aside.

Add in another tsp of lard and brown meat, sprinkle in a pinch of salt and pepper to the meat before turning over to brown the other side. Add the cooked prawns and squid.

Add in stock/water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes before adding in the greens.

Then add in the noodles and the seasoning, mix well, cover wok with lid and simmer until noodles is tender. Add more dark soy sauce if the color is not black enough and simmer noodles till gravy is thick.

Add in the cooked prawns and squid and more lard.

Turn the heat to high again and give noodles a quick stir. Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.

(My friend once told me that it is good to serve Hokkien Mee with sambal belacan - and this is true Malaysian fusion cooking.



10 fresh red chillies - cut small
4 chilly padi(optional)
1 sq inch x 1/4 inch thick raw belacan or 2 tsp belacan powder.
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
lime juice from three or four fruits.

Toast some raw belacan until it is dried and fragrant.

Pound the remaining ingredients using a mortar.

Add the lime juice just before eating.