Recently, I tried KL Style Hokkien Mee at Geylang and thought I’d try to recreate a healthier version of it at home minus away the so-good-but-so-sinful pork lard. The KL version of Hokkien Mee is quite different from the local one we get here and the most obvious difference is in the colour. KL one is ‘black’ (colour comes from dark soy sauce) whereas the SG one remains ‘white’. The former has a more intense flavour of soy sauce whereas the latter is rich in prawn broth. In terms of cooking style, both are rather similar though as the noodles have to be braised in broth to achieve that moist (and a little saucy) texture. My recipe may not have any pork lard for that extra oomph but this is equally tasty as a home-cooked fare. Give it a try!
Check out my Fried Hokkien Prawn Mee Recipe for my own twist of SG Hokkien Mee.
KL Style Black Hokkien Mee Recipe
Ingredients (serves 3-4)
500g thick yellow noodles
12 prawns, deshelled
200g lean pork, thinly sliced
150g fish cake, sliced
150g chye sim (choy sum)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
2 cups fresh chicken stock
cornstarch solution (combine 1/2 tbsp corn flour + 1 tbsp water)
Instructions
1. Heat a little vegetable oil in wok and stir fry the fish cake and prawns till the latter turn opaque. Remove and set aside.
2. Stir fry the pork slices till cooked through. Add garlic and continue stir frying till fragrant.
3. Add chicken stock, dark soy sauce and light soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
4. Add the noodles and allow to simmer and braise for 10 minutes. Add chye sim and thicken the gravy with corn starch solution.
5. Return the fish cake and prawns to the wok. Mix thoroughly with the noodles and serve.
The fresh chicken stock I used was very well seasoned, hence I didn’t add in additional salt or sugar to flavour the noodles. If you are using ‘unsalted’ stock, you’d have to adjust the seasonings to your preference.