Pan Mee / Mee Hoon Kueh 面粉糕 recipe

One of my favourite Malaysian food is mee hoon kueh a.k.a pan mee in KL. When I was living in Malaysia, I used to travel all the way from Puchong to Klang just to enjoy my favourite pan mee/mee hoon kueh at Fatty Mee Hoon Kuih House. It is the best pan mee/mee hoon kueh I have tasted so far and mind you, it's very popular!

I reckon pan mee/mee hoon kueh is the only Malaysian food I miss after moving to Melbourne. A few Malaysian restaurants in Melbourne actually sell pan mee/mee hoon kueh but I haven't found one that is as good as Fatty's. Asian Gourmet Hut in Doncaster is the best I can find so far. Well, I suppose home cooked pan mee/mee hoon kueh is the only way to satisfy my craving before my next visit home.

To me, what makes a good bowl of pan mee/mee hoon kueh relies very much on the soup and the noodles. Tasty ikan bilis broth plus thin pan mee/mee hoon kueh noodles are the keys to perfection. A flavourful ikan bilis broth is not hard to achieve, you just need the right ingredients. I found that the ikan bilis/dried anchovies from Malaysia produce tastier soup than those from other Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam and Korea. I managed to source the dried anchovies imported from Malaysia at Laguna Asian supermarket in QV. Next, the dough needs to be in the right texture in order to tear out thin pan mee/mee hoon kueh from the dough. How? Check out my recipe below. Hopefully it helps you in making a hearty home cooked pan mee/mee hoon kueh! It's especially good during winter.

Recipe:

Dough (2 servings):

1 egg
1/3 *cup of water
Pinch of salt
Dash of pepper
230g plain flour (approximately)

*1 cup = 236ml

1. Whisk egg in a mixing bowl using a fork. Add in salt, pepper, water and mix well.

2. Slowly add in flour in batches and mix until it becomes a dough.

3. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes (like making pasta dough where you fold the dough, squash down, turn a quarter and repeat the steps) until it is firm but elastic. The dough should not stick to your hand and it should not be too hard. I found that by throwing the dough real hard onto the mixing bowl multiple times makes the dough softer.

4. Wrap the dough with cling wrap and keep it in the fridge for at least 3 hours. The dough can be kept overnight too, just make sure it is wrapped tightly.

Soup:

2 tablespoon oil
6 cloves garlic
2 shallots
100g ikan bilis/ dried anchovies
1 piece of pork or you can use pork bones
4 bowls of water
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cut the garlic, shallots and pork into slices.

2. Wash and rinse the ikan bilis twice.

3. Heat the pot and pour in the oil. Add in garlic, shallots and ikan bilis. Stir fry for 1-2 mins or slightly brown. Add in pork slices and stir fry for another 1-2 mins.

4. Pour water into the pot and bring it to boil. Boil at low flame for 1-2 hours. The longer it is cooked, the tastier the broth is.

5. When the soup is almost done, add in salt and pepper to taste based on your liking.

6. Once it's done, ladle out the garlic, shallots, ikan bilis and pork or you could strain the soup through a sieve to get the broth. Keep the clean broth in a pot for making pan mee/mee hoon kueh later.

Ingredients for pan mee/mee hoon kueh:

- Thin pork slices marinated with oyster sauce/soya sauce and a dash of corn flour

- Eggs

- Asian green veggies (Choy sum/Kai lan (Chinese broccoli)/Siew pak choy)

- Mushrooms (shiitake or you can use other fresh mushrooms)

Note: You can always add/swap other ingredients you like to go with the pan mee/mee hoon kueh. Just follow your heart.

Garnish:

- Fried ikan bilis
- Fried shallots (must have!)
- Spring onions
- Coriander
- Grated carrot (my version)

Dipping:

Cut bird eye chillies or chilli padi with soya sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice.

Cooking the pan mee/mee hoon kueh:

1. Remove the dough from the fridge 5 mins before you start cooking.

2. Tear thin pan mee/mee hoon kueh from the dough and add to the broth at low flame. I suppose you could use the pasta machine to roll the dough if it's hard for you to achieve the thin texture.

3. Add in pork slices and mushrooms, follow by green veggies and eggs. Bring it to boil.

4. Garnish with fried ikan bilis, fried shallots, cut spring onions and coriander as well as grated carrot.

5. Serve with cut chillies with soya sauce and a squeeze of lemon juice.