Ban Mian 面粉馃

Ban Mian 面粉馃 (Soup Base)

Its been some time since my last post and I felt really bad about it because I should and I could have write more but I am just plain lazy and unmotivated. So, today I am gonna write a quick post about a dish that has a special place in my heart and I can say its one of my comfort food. This dish never fails to put a smile on my face whenever I see it on my dining table.

Ban Mian is also know as Min Fan Gao (in cantonese) and its quite a popular dish in Malaysia and Singapore. In Singapore, the dough its more commonly found in noodles type whereas in Malaysia it comes in different odd  shapes and most importantly it must be FLAT!

The preparation for this dish is divided into 3 parts; the dough, the condiments and the soup.

Ingredients:

Soup:
For quick and easy soup, you can just use those cube anchovies. 1 cube can make a pot of soup enough for 3 pax. For healthier version, you can check out how to make soup using Fried Anchovies.

Condiments for my Ban Mian

Condiments:
Cai Xin - blanch
Anchovies - Fried till crispy
Minced Meat - Marinated with oyster sauce
Meat Balls
Chilli Padi
Minced Garlic
Mushroom (Optional)
Eggs (Optional)

Dough:
Plain flour
Water
Salt

When I was googling for other Ban Mian recipe online, I realized that mine was lacking of mushroom and egg, which I think its really important to this dish. Well, when I have time to have another go and this dish, I'm gonna make sure I don't miss them out again!

Instructions:

Kneading of dough (a video will be updated soon for easier reference)

Soup:

Heat up a medium sized pot with some oil

Sauteed minced garlic till fragrant and pour in 3 bowl of water (750ml to 1 litre)
Put in 1 anchovy cube and let it boil for 20 minutes
Put in meat balls to boil and set aside

Preparation of condiments:

Boil a pot of water and put in some salt

Blanch cai xin and set aside

Marinate minced meat with 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce and add in 1 teaspoon of flour. Scoop minced meat in a ball shape and boil it in hot water for 5 minutes and set aside.

Fried anchovies and set aside.

Ready to cook!
Bring a small pot and place in soup

Heat up and start putting the dough (by pulling small pieces from the main dough and flatten it) into the soup

When the dough starts to float up, (it indicates that the dough is cooked) start putting in all the condiments except for the crispy anchovies

Let it boil for one last time and scoop up
Put in the fried anchovies and its ready to serve!

There you go.. My comfort food.. Is it yours as well??

Mee Tai Mak with Salted Fish

When I was younger, I used bring my group of poly classmates to Seremban, a small town in Malaysia to eat a dish called "Claypot Rat Noodle" or in cantonese we called it "Sa Po Lou Shu Fen".

Yummy Lou Shu Fen~!

Rat Noodle or Lou Shu Fen which also knowns as Mee Tai Mak in Singapore its a type of noodle which looks like a rat tail but shorter and hence the name. Its does sounds kinda disgusting if you are listening it for the first time in your life but I can guarantee you that it doesn't taste anywhere close to a taste of a rat (tho I never tasted a rat before but I assume its disgusting! =P)

Recently my classmates been telling me that they miss the dish and they never forgot the wonderful taste of that dish even tho it has been like more than 10 years and sometimes I even wonder if the shop its still open for business. So, I decided to try my hands in making this dish and hopefully I can cook it myself and let them rekindle that wonderful taste that they have been missing.

Ingredients:

1 packet of Lou Shu Fen/Rat Noodle
4 cloves of Garlic
Green Onions for garnishing
5 prawns (de-viens and cut to tiny pieces)
Minced meat
1 slices of salted fish
3 chilli padi (if you like it spicy)
1 bowl of chicken stock (180ml)
Any type of Green Vegetable

Seasoning for minced meat:

1 tsp of Rice wine
2 tsp of Oyster sauce
1 tsp of Sesame Oil
A pinch of Pepper

Minced meat and prawns

Salted fish, green onions, chilli padi and garlic

Rat noodle / Lou Shu Fen

Chicken stock

Instructions:

1. Stir fry garlic and salted fish till fragrant
2. Add in marinated minced meat and fry till meat are cooked
3. Add in prawns
4. Scoop up minced meat and prawns and set aside
5. Heat up some oil and fry Lou Shu Fen
6. Add in the minced meat and prawns and stir fry together
7. Add in chicken stock and let it simmer till it thickens
8. Add in a pinch of pepper
9. Add in your greens
10. Once the gravy thickens, its ready to serve!
11. Garnish with green onions, chilli padi and a little soya sauce

Before and After (Clearly I was very hungry)