Char Kway Teow Mai Hum

Char kway teow is not really that difficult to make. The ingredients are simple and the consumer’s expectations are not high. Straw hats and dancing are optional. As long as your tastes and aromas are recognisable, you would have passed. Still, many food courts continue to fail in this simple dish. That’s when I decide to take matters into my own hands.

Make no mistake, this is not a healthy dish. It has to have enough oil, enough garlic and enough heat.

Fish cake and eggs next. Fry until the eggs are a bit flaky.

In go the cooked noodles and kway teow. It’s very important to turn up your stove to full blast at this point. I would also add in my fish sauce and pepper. Do not add water or cook for too long or your kway teow will disintegrate.

Finally, bean sprouts and chye sim. Turn down the heat, then drizzle some dark sweet soy sauce over. Toss it well. Serve hot.

© Chan Joon Yee

Khukri As A Kitchen Knife

Impressive demo on the use of a knife normally used for chopping and slaughtering.

Cumi Cumi – Indonesian Cuttlefish

Indonesian dishes are never easy. Like Indian dishes, there are numerous ingredients and they often take a long time to prepare. Here is a simplified and modified version of Indonesian cumi cumi. I was just experimenting and surprisingly, it turned out well.

I’ve got 3 large cuttlefish here. Stripped, cut, washed and drained.

Next, I fry the ingredients. I have lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots. Fry till golden brown.

In goes the cuttlefish. I added 2 teaspoons of salt and almost a tablespoon of white pepper. I know I’m supposed to use unground pepper, but what the heck, I’m a busy man.

Anybody who has cooked cuttlefish will know that this creature expresses a lot of liquid as it cooks. Keep simmering to reduce the liquid, then add dark soya sauce, about 3 teaspoons of sugar and cook until the liquid thickens.

And here is the final result. I think it would look nicer with some lettuce by the side. With all its strong flavours, I guess eating it with lettuce wouldn’t do any harm either.

© Chan Joon Yee