Hokkien Mee

When I think of Hokkien Mee, I think of the big sizzling wok it is usually cooked in, the giant stove spewing with fire like a dragon's mouth, and the chef who is almost always a man - skinny, wrinkled and weathered from spending too much time close to the immense heat. Out from his skilled hands come this fragrant and glistening noodle dish. It derives it's aroma from the two most important ingredients - caramel dark soy sauce and pork lard. This is the delicious Hokkien Mee that I know, but of course, for health purposes we cannot all eat pork lard as and when we like. But I've discovered a simple recipe for a great Hokkien Mee without pork lard. 

This recipe is so simple that I like to think of it as my 1-2-3 recipe. Why? Because if you remember to put 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce and 3 tablespoons of dark caramel sauce then you are almost already there. Can you smell it?

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
500g thick hokkien noodles, blanched
100g choy sum or chinese cabbage
100g prawns, deshelled and deveined
50g pork, sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons of dark caramel sauce
dash of white pepper powder
1 teaspoon dried sole fish powder (optional)
water

Fry the minced garlic in oil till fragrant. Fry the pork and prawns until semi cooked. Add the noodles and vegetables to the pan, oyster sauce and dark caramel sauce and stir till combined and vegetables semi softened.

Add just enough water to cover  the noodles, close the lid and braise until sauce has thickened, around 10 minutes. There should still be a little bit of sauce left so don't be too worried if the sauce has not fully evaporated. If too wet, then open the lid and cook to the preferred slurpiness factor.