Hokkien Noodles (KL Style)

Today is the eve of Chinese New Year. Twenty-five years ago today, I’d be watching my mum ironing me and my sister’s new clothes we’d soon wear. I’d see my parents packing red packets to be given out later. I, myself would bring a small purse to keep the red packets that I’ll soon receive.

My family would head out to my paternal grandparents’ home for our reunion dinner. I remember everything vividly. Just getting out of the car was a challenge. There was an army of geese and stray dogs ready to peck little kids’ legs. It was stressful.

Once we all got into the house safely, my sisters and I would greet very loudly (as though our family members had hearing problems ) “Gong Xi Fa Cai” which means wishing someone to be prosperous in the coming year. Walking into the kitchen, I’d see my grandparents slaving away, cooking an 8 course meal for the entire family. My dad has 6 brothers and sisters.

My grandparents house sat on a very unique structure. The second floor of the house (which was the main area) was on a higher terrain than the first floor. There were stairs that connected the two floors and boy they were the scariest stairs in the world. Walking down the steps, you’ll see a wire fence on both walls. You could basically see the bottom of the second floor through the fence. On the ground were rocks, bushes, puddles and all things scary any kid could imagine. It was dark and creepy. I would always go up and down the stairs as fast as my little legs can.

Down here on the first floor, there was a back door that led out to what looked like a completely different world from upstairs. Once you’re out, you’d have to walk quite a bit around the area and uphill to get back to the second floor’s entrance (To date, I have no idea how to do so). For a kid, this was just magical. Like Harry Potter going into Diagon Alley from a London street. Or like the wardrobe to Narnia.

In no time, dinner would be ready and everyone would sit around a big round table. I’d take one small bite of everything and proceeded to stuffing the rest of my little tummy with my grandfather’s famous Hokkien Noodles (pronounced Hawk-Kee-Yen). It’s stir-fried thick yellow noodles with sliced pork, shrimp, squid and vegetables cooked in lard and pork and shrimp broth with its beautiful black color from thick caramel sauce.

Everyone would stay up until 12 am where it was time for the younger generation to give the older generation some well wishes in exchange for our ‘that’s all we cared about’ red packets. Everyone would head home sleepily and the next day would be the start to many home visits (and more red packets) for the next two weeks. Yes, Chinese New Year was awesome like that.

Sadly, my grandfather has passed and I will never have Hokkien Noodles cooked by him again. So thank you ‘Ah Gong’ (grandpa) for your Hokkien Noodles…. and for your fertility for that matter. Actually.. thank you to my parents’, my grandparents’, my great grandparents’ and all my ancestors’ fertility. If any one of you weren’t fertile, I wouldn’t be here and neither would this recipe. Gasp.

Quick Recipe                       Serves 4

what you need:

Prawn stock:
Shells, heads, tails, legs of 1 lb prawn
2 1/4 cup pork stock

Pork crackling and lard:
6 oz pork fat, thin & small cubes

2 lb thick yellow (or Japanese Udon) noodles
8 garlic cloves, finely minced
1/2 lb pork, sliced
1 lb raw large prawns, peeled (reserve the heads, shells & tails for stock)
1 lb squid, sliced
1 1/2 lb yu choy or white cabbage or both
1/2 cup thick caramel sauce (for color)
2 – 4 tbs light soy sauce
Salt to taste

directions:

Prawn stock:

1. In a saucepan or stockpot, place the heads and shells of the prawns and over medium high heat, fry them until they turn orange.

2. Add the pork stock and bring it to a boil. Once boiled, turn the heat to medium low and simmer covered for 30 minutes.

3. Strain and set aside the broth. You will need 2 cups of prawn stock. Discard the shells and heads.

Pork crackling and lard:

1. In a wok or large pan, add the pork fat and over medium low heat, render lard for 10 – 15 minutes. The pork fats will crisp up into cracklings.

2. Leave half the pork cracklings and 1/4 cup of lard in the wok. Set aside the remaining.

Noodles:

1. Over high heat with 1/4 cup of lard, fry the garlic. When garlic turns a light brown, add the pork.

2. When pork is no long raw on the outside, add the stock, thick caramel sauce and light soy sauce. Bring the sauce to a boil.

3. Let the sauce boil for 1-2 minutes, add the noodles, stir and make sure sauce evenly coats the noodles. Cover and bring it to a boil.

4. Once boiled, uncover and continue stirring. Add the cabbage and stir.

5. Add the prawns and squid and continue to stir. The sauce will reduce and thicken.

6. Keep things moving without breaking the noodles as the liquid continues to be absorbed. You’ll see lots of steam coming out and the sauce will start to boil hard. This is good which means your heat is high enough (Chinese called ‘wok hei’).

7. Add the yu choy and give it a stir. The noodles will start to turn a darker color. Taste and add soy sauce or salt if it’s not salty enough.

8. Towards the end, keep a constant stir until most gravy has thickened tremendously. It’s up to you how much gravy is left.

9. Turn off the heat, swirl the remaining lard and pork cracklings on the noodles for ultimate porkness. Serve immediately with raw diced garlic, chopped fresh red chilies in soy sauce, or sambal.

10. After the meal, serve hot Chinese tea to cleanse all that pork and oil down your system.

Note:

Yes, it’s a lot of lard but that’s the beauty of this dish. For a more health conscious eater, reduce lard to 2-3 tablespoons and skip the additional swirl at the end. It still tastes good, just not as good.

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Oh, please do share your grandpa’s absolute best dish.