Mee Siam

Ingredients

Mee Siam and Sambal

• water for scalding vermicelli
• 1 packet coarse rice vermicelli (Hokkien: bee hoon)
• 250 9 beansprouts
• 100 g Chinese chives (Hokkien: koo chye)
• 500 9 small prawns
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 4 firm soybean cakes (Hokkien: taukwa)
• 5 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 250 millilitres water
• 2 tablespoons tamarind powder mi e
• 4 hardboiled eggs, sliced
  Rempah
  • 5 tablespoons dried prawns (pounded separately)
  • 5 large onions
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 6 candlenuts
  • 20 dried chillies
  • 3 tablespoons belacan powder
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
    
  Gravy
  • 2 litres water
  • 4 tablespoons tamarind powder
  • 3 tablespoons fried rempah (see method)
  • 2 tablespoons preserved soy beans (Hokkien: taucheo), mashed a little
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 1/4 coconut, grated
  • 150 millilitres water

  Directions

  Boil a large kettle of water and scald vermi- celli for 10 minutes, longer if necessary to soften until strands are pliable and soft to the touch. Wash and tail beansprouts. Cut chives into 4 cm lengths. Wash and drain. Wash and peel prawns. Heat 3 tablespoons oil and fry firm soybean cakes until brown. Cut into pieces 1 x2x 1/2 cm.
  

  Sambal Heat 5 tablespoons oil and fry pounded dried prawns for 3 minutes. Add all other rempah ingredients except sugar and salt and fry until oil seeps out again. Add sugar and salt and stir once. Remove about half the amount of rempah and put aside. In remaining rempah, add sliced onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add prawns and tamarind liquid and simmer for five minutes. Remove and set aside.
  

  How to Fry Vermicelli Putting all but 3 tablespoons of the reserved rempah in a kwali, fry vermicelli and bean- sprouts for 8-10 minutes, stirring all the time until cooked. Moisten occasionally with tamarind liquid from the gravy allow- ance if vermicelli gets dry during frying. Add about 3 tablespoons of fried soybean pieces and half the chives to this fried vermicelli. Dish up and arrange on a large plate with sliced hardboiled eggs, remaining chives and remaining soybean pieces for garnish.
  

  Gravy Bring tamarind liquid to a boil. Put all ingre- dients in. Adjust seasoning to suit your taste. Serve Mee Siam with sambal prawns and as much gravy as each person wants from a gravy boat.

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