My Ultimate Har Mee (虾面)

If there's anything at all that I really REALLY miss from back home, it is 虾面 (prawn noodle soup) - a Malaysian dish, known by the locals as Har Mee/Har Meen or Mee Yoke, depending on dialect used.

Har-mee is one of my brother's favorite hawker food that Penang is very famous for and we wouldn't mind driving 3-4 hours all the way up, to satisfy our cravings.

The other day I was at Coconut House, I was so tempted to order this dish, but the brother went, "No no no, not nice. Order the chicken rice."

The problem is, we've tried the har-mee dish here in a couple of Malaysian restaurants but unfortunately, none met our expectations. I decided then, to take matters into my own hands.

I headed out to Victoria Market to get some prawns and pork loin fillets, and then walked all the way to Chinatown Asian grocers to get kangkung and hokkien mee. For someone as lazy as I am, the brother was rather impressed with my determination.

Har Mee
(serves 2 big eaters)

For the stock, you'd need:
400g of prawns heads and shells
200g of pork loin fillets
10 cups of water
2 tbsp of oil

Finely julienned ginger

3 pieces of rock sugar, to taste

For the chilly paste:
I cheated! I used soup paste packet! :P

For the noodles:
500g of yellow hokkien noodles (scalded)
150g of mee hoon aka rice vermicelli (scalded)
2 bunches of kangkung (scalded)

For the toppings:
10 pieces of prawns (shelled and deveined)
2 hard-boiled eggs (shelled and halved)
Fried shallot crisps (for garnishing)


Method:
1) Bring to boil the 10 cups of water. Add in all shrimp shells/heads and pork fillets. Simmer on low heat for two hours, or longer.

2) Fetch the pork fillets out and let it cool then cut into slices for toppings later.

3) Heat in another pot 2 tbsp of oil, and fry ginger until aromatic. Add in 1 tbsp of chilli paste and throw in prawns. Once cooked, remove and set aside.

4) In that same pot, add in remaining chilli paste and continue to stir on low heat until fragrant. Strain the stock through sieve into this pot. You may now discard the prawn heads and shells.

5) Stir to combine, then simmer on low heat for an hour. You'll notice oil and orange “foam” forming at the top of the stock, scoop up and discard. Add in rock sugar and salt to taste.

6) To serve, place a portion of yellow noodles, rice vermicelli and kangkung in a bowl. Ladle hot stock over. Top with meat slices, cooked prawns, egg halves, and sprinkle with fried shallot crisps.

7)Serve immediately! :D

It is only my first attempt, but very successful! *proud* Almost four hours of cooking, but trust me, it is very worth it.

Especially when a har-mee big fan tells you, "This is sooooooooo good! Definitely better than Coconut House and Sambal Malaysia. In fact, I think yours can rival so many shops!"

The brother really really enjoyed tonight's dinner, and that makes me really happy. Of course, I myself loved it. Hmmm... The next time I crave for har-mee again, I guess I need not worry no more. ;)

If you ask me, what my secret ingredient is, I'd say it's this: