Teochew Style Fried Noodles II ( Teochew Mee Teow )

Unknown Tuesday, May 27, 2014 Rice Pasta No comments

Teochew Mee Teow is also known to the Chinese as longevity noodles. It's a symbol of long life. It's a Teochew noodle I have come to know since I was a little girl. My grandma and my mum love this noodle very much and they cook it without fail everytime a member in the family celebrates his or her birthday.

My mother in-law who is a Teochew also loved this noodles so much that I got to see her
cooking it very often. It has become a tradition in the family to cook this noodles every time there s a celebration or special occasions of any kind. Everyone in our family just love this noodles and there is always not much left once it's out from the wok!

This Mee Teow recipe is unlike others as there are only 4 ingredients needed..namely garlic,

bean sprouts, chinese chives and pork lard.

Ingredients:

600g Teochew Mee Teow / 2 packets ( loosen and cut to shorten the strands )
10 clove Garlic ( minced)/ about 1 bowl
350g Bean sprouts ( taugeh )
150g Chinese chives ( kuchai, cut into short strips about 1 inch in length )
150g Pork lard

Method:

Blanch Mee Teow in boiling water in a wok until 80% cooked. Place in a colander and rinse under running water. Drain well.
Briefly wash the pork lard with salt added. Drain the lard. Then put the lard in the wok under medium heat. You do not need any oil for frying the lard pieces as the lard will produce oil with heat and the lard will start to fry by itself in the hot oil.
Fry till the lard pieces is slightly golden. Be careful not to over fry as this will cause the lard to turn bitter. Separate the fried lard from the oil. Chop the fried lard into small pieces when cooled and set aside.
With the lard oil in the wok, sauté the chopped garlic until fragrant and golden colour. Be careful not to over fry. Otherwise there will be bitter taste when fry with the Mee Teow. Transfer half of the oil and the fried garlic into a bowl. Put in the cooked Mee Teow into the remaining garlic infused oil in the wok.
Fry the Mee Teow with the oil making sure that the noodles is mixed well with the garlic oil. This frying process has to be done slowly with slow fire. Add the remaining garlic oil gradually into the Mee Teow as you fry. ( use a pair of long chopstick to fry ). When Mee Teow is about done, it will turn slight yellow in colour.
Add the bean sprouts into the noodles. ( place the bean sprouts under the noodles ). Stir fry until the bean sprouts about cooked. This will take only about 1 minute.
Add the fried garlic into the cooked Mee Teow and mix well.
Then add the Chinese chives. Stir well, about 30 seconds.
Lastly, sprinkle the chopped fried lard over the Mee Teow and mix well.
Fry for about 1 minute and the Mee Teow is done. Dish up and serve.

Leftovers can be frozen for later use. The overnight Mee Teow taste even better as all the

garlic and lard oil are better infused into the noodles. Crack an egg into the Mee Teow to fry

for a more flavourful experience.

Notes:

Rinsing in cold water reduce the saltiness of the noodles. Can rinse once or twice depending on your preference.
Do not over fry the garlic and lard. Otherwise the Mee Teow will taste bitter when mixed together.
Bean sprouts and Chinese chives need only to be fried briefly. Otherwise they will become limped. Add the bean sprouts under the Mee Teow in wok. This will ensure bean sprouts to be cooked evenly.
Fried garlic is only added after the Mee Teow has been cooked and mixed well with the garlic oil. Otherwise the fried garlic will become bitter in taste.
There is no need to add salt or any seasoning as the Mee Teow is already savoury.