The Recipe
Serves: 2 people
Preparation: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 10 minutes
It is based very loosely on one of my favourite dishes in Singapore - Bak Chor Mee which I always have with Mee Pok (a flat egg noodle).
I am by no means an expert in Chinese or Singaporean dishes, however, I have lived in this country for 6 years and have my favourite hawker foods. I admit I do not eat them often because I always feel like my meal should always have some fresh and crunchy element to it…. so a trip to the hawker is an indulgence for me that I will do probably once every two weeks.
With moving to my new place, I have accumulated some extra kitchen space for my private dining events and am enjoying working from home and experimenting at home.
Why Monday noodle? I had a craving on Monday, it is now Friday and the response from the picture of this dish was overwhelming. It is based very loosely on one of my favourite dishes in Singapore - Bak Chor Mee which I always have with Mee Pok (a flat egg noodle). I was at home and had the ingredients to kind of make a Bak Chor Mee. I had tempeh so I substituted that for the minced pork. I toyed with the idea of adding ikan bilas for a bit of extra crunch but decided to make the dish completely vegetarian.
INGREDIENTS
120g tempeh
1/2 large carrot, sliced thinly
300g leafy chinese greens - your choice!
150g fresh shiitake mushrooms
300g mee pok noodles or whatever takes your fancy
dark soy sauce
soy sauce
fish sauce
oyster sauce
white pepper
vegetarian stock cubes
Chilli sauce of your choice!!!!
Braised Mushrooms
METHOD
Simmer 1 cup water, 2tsp dark soy sauce and 1/2 tsp fish sauce in a small saucepan. Throw in the shiitake until they are cooked and have taken on a nice brown colour. (20 minutes)
Mix 2 tsp oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, 1/2 a vegetable stock cube (MSG is welcomed), 1 tsp white pepper and 4 tbsp of the mushroom broth with about 500 ml water. Bring to a boil, cook noodles until al dente. Blanche Chinese greens and carrot.
Chop the tempeh in small cubes, season with a bit of sea salt and shallow fry in coconut oil until nice and crispy. Add a small dash of dark soy to give it a nice blackened colour.
Place noodles, vegetables and tempeh in a bowl. Pour over a little bit of stock, take a photo and enjoy.
*disclaimer… I know how strongly Singaporeans feel about their hawker food. This is no replication or traditional recipe for Bak Chor Mee. It’s simply a tasty noodle dish inspired by my favourite hawker fare. Hope that’s ok.
