Stir-fried two noodles (hokkien mee)

4 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
Stephen Ceideburg
1 cup Water
1 cup Basic Chicken Stock
1 tablespoon Light or dark soy sauce
½ pounds Pork shoulder, in one piece
¼ pounds Squid, cleaned and cut up
¼ pounds Raw shrimp in the shell
2 tablespoons Oil or lard
3 Unpeeled cloves garlic, crushed
6 ounces Thin egg noodles, boiled, drained, and tossed in a
1 tablespoon Oil
4 ounces Thick rice sticks (see Note), soaked and drained
2 cups Bean sprouts
¼ cup Chinese chives or garlic chives, cut into 1-inch lengths

Directions

This is a favorite street snack among the Chinese in many Southeast Asian cities. Hokkien is the local pronunciation of Fujian (Fukien) province in southeast China, the origin of many Chinese emigrants over the years. In a typical noodle-vendor's stand, the pork and shellfish are cooked in a stock that simmers for hours, picking up more flavor all the time. In this home version, the extra flavor comes from reducing the stock after cooking the meats.

1. In a small saucepan combine water, stock, soy sauce, and pork. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until meat is tender. Remove meat and set aside. Return stock to a boil. Add squid and cook 30 seconds. Remove and set aside. Cook shrimp 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and set aside, reserving stock. Peel shrimp and devein if necessary. (For additional flavor, add shrimp shells to stock and simmer 10 minutes longer.) 2. Bring stock to a boil and reduce by half. Strain stock. (The recipe may be prepared to this point several hours ahead.) 3. Slice pork into bite-sized pieces. In a wok or large skillet, heat oil or lard and garlic to near smoking. Remove and discard garlic cloves when they brown. Add noodles and rice sticks and stir-fry until they are lightly browned in places. Add stock, cover, and cook 2 minutes. Remove cover, add pork, squid, shrimp, and bean sprouts, and continue stirring and cooking until noodles have absorbed' most of the liquid, about two minutes.

@1'transfer to serving platter and garnish with Chinese chives.

Serves 4 with other dishes.

Note: The authentic rice noodle for this dish is a thicker rice stick called laifen in China and pancit luglug in the Phil- ippines, but ordinary thin rice sticks may be used.

From the California Culinary Academy's "Southeast Asian Cooking", Jay Harlow, published by the Chevron Chemical Company, 1987. ISBN 0-89721-098-0.

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini

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