Prawn mee (hae mee)

Anecdote

This is my take on Hokkien prawn mee (hae mee). Traditionally it is often served with some sliced pork loin, fish cakes and beansprouts. I kept the toppings simple with a boiled egg and water spinach as in my opinion, the stars of the dish are the broth and fall off the bone pork. (I also have an aversion to beansprouts, it adds very little to my life so I almost always omit...)

Obviously this isn't a meal that can be cobbled together in 30 minutes. It's the slow simmer that brings out the deep prawn and pork flavours; you just have to let time do its thing. Though if you have a pressure cooker or instant pot, that will help speed things along.

It's very low effort in that once you blanch the pork and fry off the prawns, it's all chucked in the pot to simmer and you can retreat to the sofa. A little patience goes a long way. Did I mention the leftovers taste even better? All you have to do is heat up the broth, boil some more noodles, prep the toppings (if you can be bothered) and slurp away.

Ingredients

Stock broth (serves 4)

~ A gentle reminder to always make more for the freezer or next day leftovers ~

• 8-10 prawn shells and heads

• ~1kg misc. pork bones (make friends with your local butchers, they might even give it to you for free)

• ~300g ribs (3 large ribs) 

• neutral oil

• 2 tbsp dried shrimp, rehydrated

• 2 star anise

• 1 cinnamon bark (cassia)

• 3 dried red chillies (optional)

• 3 small brown onions, halved

• 4 cloves garlic, lightly smashed

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 20g rock sugar or ~ 1 tbsp sugar (feel free to put in less at the beginning and add in more once you taste the broth at the end)

• 1 tsp sea salt and more to taste

• white pepper to taste

Dried egg noodles (however many nests you like, I'm not here to judge)

Garnishes:

• soft-boiled egg, halved

• small handful of water spinach (morning glory), blanched 

• sliced spring onion

• sambal or chilli oil (when I made it, the sambal in my fridge was very much past its use-by date so I subbed chilli oil and it worked well too)

Optional garnishes:

• crispy, fried shallots - I always forget to make some in time... but if you have some in your cupboard, throw it on!

• fish balls

• blanched, sliced pork loin

• beansprouts

Note: a) you can add prawn meat if you have it, dropping them in the broth at the end and cooking until pink (I only had prawn carcass at hand...) b) feel free to adjust the amount of pork ribs. I found that the pork bones I got had a decent amount of meat on them already.

Recipe

Stock/broth:

1. Dump your pork bones and ribs into a large stock pot or dutch oven, cover with cold water and bring to a boil (while you are waiting for it to boil, action step 2). Once the meat has gone grey and the water has become all gross, frothy and scummy, gently pour out the water (don't burn yourself please) and give the meat a good rinse. Set aside the meat. Rinse and dry the pot

2. Rehydrate the dried shrimp by covering with boiling water and letting it sit for around 5 minutes. Prep your onions and garlic and rummage through your cupboard to find the other stock ingredients

3. In your dried pot, drizzle a bit of neutral oil. When it is hot, add the prawn shells and heads. Stir and fry until pink all the way through. Don't worry if it gets a bit caught on the bottom. Set aside the prawns

4. Drain your rehydrated prawns, dabbing dry with kitchen roll

5. Add a tiny bit more oil in the pot and then place your halved onions, smashed garlic and rehydrated prawns in. You want them to be browned around the edges but just make sure your garlic doesn't burn

6. After they have browned, return all the pork and fried prawn carcass bits into the pot, fully cover with cold water and add the remaining stock ingredients (fish sauce, sea salt, aromatics and sugar). Alternatively, you can also add the sugar at the end, adjusting to your taste

7. Bring the stock up to a boil, scooping away any frothy pink bits. Turn down the heat and simmer for 2 and half hours with the lid on

8. Taste the broth, add a dash of white pepper and adjust the salt if required

When you're around 2 and a quarter hours into the simmer, start prepping your toppings.

1. Boil your egg and blanch the water spinach for around 30 seconds

2. Cook your noodles to package instructions

3. Finely slice spring onions

Order of chucking things in the bowl:

1. Portion the noodles

2. Place the desired chunks of pork on top with one or two prawn heads (I think they look jazzy and still have a lot of flavour)

3. Drape the water spinach around the inside of the bowl

4. Ladle the broth into the bowl

5. Place your halved eggs on top

6. Sprinkle spring onions and drizzle the sambal or chilli oil

Slurp.