Grandma's Fried Mee

No, no, I did not eat this recently. Hee..hee...I am now on my low or rather NO carbohydrate diet (very tough, leh!). This noodle dish was cooked sometime December 2012 when I was doing a lot of comfort eating. Somehow carbohydrates like potato chips, kerepek ubi, cakes and noodles cheer me up when I am feeling down. And my favourite pastime is eating so, what can I do? Hee..hee...excuses......

As far as fried noodles are concerned, I prefer meehoon (vermicelli) or koay teow (flat rice noodles). I like mee (yellow noodles) in soups but I make an exception for Grandma's fried mee. I used to enjoy her fried mee during  the weekends. The noodles are fried with a spice paste made simply by pounding fresh chillies, onions and garlic. And in addition to soya sauce, my Grandma uses our Terengganu magic sauce - kayciap, which can be substituted with sweet soya sauce (kicap manis).

Blended chillies, onions and garlic.

One thing to remember when frying yellow noodles is to take note of the saltiness of the noodles before adding your sauces. The saltiness varies between different brands. I remember my Mum had a misadventure with her fried noodles when it turned out too salty to serve. It was a case of "Char Mee Siow Kiam" (in Hokkien that means Fried Noodles Too Salty) and  it became a little joke between us at home. So remember to taste the noodles first.

My Grandma uses either chicken or pork to fry the noodles and as for the vegetables, it was mustard greens (chye sim) and beansprouts. Sometimes she will also add prawns. I had a case of carbohydrate hunger and instantly craved for my Grandma's fried noodles. The recipe below has been recreated from memory and based on best estimate. It turned out pretty good :)

Grandma's Fried Mee

Recipe source : Phong Hong's Grandma

Ingredients :

- 450 grams yellow noodles

- Chicken meat from 1/2 chicken breast, cut into cubes

- 2 cloves garlic, minced (to season chicken)

- 1 tablespoon light soya sauce (to season chicken)

- 100 grams mustard greens (chye sim)

- A handful of beansprouts

- 3 tablespoons kayciap (or sweet soya sauce)

- 1 tablespoon dark soya sauce

Blended ingredients :

- 2 red chillies

- 2 big onions

- 3 big cloves of garlic

Method :

1. Season chicken meat with soya sauce and minced garlic. Set aside for 15 minutes.

2. Blend chillies, onion and garlic.

3. Blanch the yellow noodles in hot water to get rid of excess oil and drain.

4. Heat oil in wok and saute the blended ingredients until fragrant.

5. Add chicken and stir fry until cooked. You can add some water and cover the wok to cook the chicken.

6. Add kayciap/sweet soya sauce and dark soya sauce. Stir to mix.

7. Add mustard grees and fry till wilted.

8. Add noodles and stir until well mixed with sauces.

9. Fry until noodles are fairly dry.

10. Add beansprouts at the last minute and continue to mix to distribute the beansprout evenly.

Note : If you prefer your noodles more moist, you can add some water. I generally like my noodles dry with the exception of soupy noodles or noodles with gravy. Garnishing with fried browns onions will make the noodles tastier :)