Home-cooked Yee Mee

According to my picky brother, I cook really good yee mee. He once mentioned that it is up to par with the hawker stall aunty's famous yee mee, whom we frequent regularly when we're back home in Malaysia.

Yesterday night, he returned home from work at 9pm, requesting for a bowl of yee mee. I thought I'd take a couple of pictures so I could share the recipe with you. :)

If you haven't got any idea what yee mee is, they are round coils of noodles which have been deep fried and thus, are really crispy.

If I'm not mistaken, I think it is a Malaysian-thing, but of course, you can get them here too, in asian grocers, like Laguna QV. They come in a pack of 5 coils for probably $1.50 or maybe slightly more.

It's a really simple dish. All you have to do is to prepare the soup and pour it over the noodles. It took me less than 15 minutes to prepare, cook and serve. My favourite dish to cook during exam periods.

For the broth, you can either throw in a handful of ikan bilis (anchovies) into hot boiling water, or you may opt to use the ikan bilis stock cube which is a lot more convenient. I like to add a little more flavor to my soup by adding in some oyster sauce and light soy sauce.

Then, depending on personal preference, you may add in as much ingredients as you like into the ikan bilis broth.

Usually, for my brother, I'll throw in some sliced lean pork seasoned with soy sauce, a few peeled prawns, fish tofu, fish balls, and several fishcakes.

I personally like to have some greens in my meal, so I'd add in some 'choy sum' which I think suits noodle soups best. Some people like it with 'bak choy' too, so it's up to you really.

Allow the soup to simmer for a while, then once the rest of the ingredients are cooked, add in an egg. I like to give it a good stir and break my yolk, but you can choose not to do so.

You then turn off the heat, and pour the soup over prepared yee mee. The noodles will soften, but still have its crisp texture to it. Garnish with some fried shallots, and serve immediately while it's still hot. :)

There are a few other styles of cooking yee mee too but for me, this is the easiest. I've been wanting to try braised yee mee, but I haven't got myself a claypot yet. I guess I will, on my next visit to the asian grocers.

And maybe, while I'm at it, I might get a hot plate too, so I can cook my all time favourite 'tit ban yee mee' (sizzling plate noodles) with chicken and mushroom. Om nom nom nom!

Till then, give this a try and let me know if or not you like it. ;)