Hokkien prawn mee

The all-time favorite local dish is fried Hokkien Prawn Mee or Noodles. The noodles' smooth, silky texture, infused with umami-filled prawn-y sweetness, is just enticing. Hokkien noodles stir-fried with prawns, chicken or pig pieces, squid, and fish cake, seasoned with soy sauce, vinegar, and chillies. To balance off the greasy flavor, each plate comes with sambal sauce and a lime slice. In Singapore, thick, flat egg noodles are used.

Ingredients

• STOCK:
• 1 bag shrimp heads and shells, (Ziploc Easy Zipper Bag)
• 15 cups water, reduced to about 12-13 cups of water after hours of boiling and simmering
• 2-3 pieces rock sugar, about the size of a small ping pong ball each, or to taste
• 1.5 lbs. (0.6 kg) pork ribs, cut into pieces
• salt to taste
• CHILI PASTE:
• 30 dried chilies, seeded and soaked to soften
• 10 shallots, peeled
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tablespoons water
• 6 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 pound (0.4 kg) yellow noodles, scalded
• 1 pack rice vermicelli, scalded
• kangkong or water convolvulus, scalded
• bean sprouts, scalded
• TOPPINGS:
• 1/2 pound (0.2 kg) lean pork meat, boiled and sliced thinly
• 1/2 pound (0.2 kg) shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and quartered
• fried shallot crisps, store-bought

Preparation

• Using a tiny food processor, puree the chili paste components until finely ground and fully combined. Cooking oil is added to a hot wok. For 5 minutes, stir fry the chili paste. Prepare the dish and leave it aside. Add a little oil to the same unwashed wok and fry the shrimp topping. Add a pinch of chili paste, sugar, and salt to taste. The shrimp were pan-fried until they were slightly burnt. Dish them out, let them cool, and then cut them in half.
• Fill a saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil. Add in all of the shrimp heads and shells, and cook on low heat for 2 hours or longer, until the stock is murky and prawny.
• Transfer the stock to a new pot after straining it through a sieve. Remove the shrimp heads and shells and toss them out. Scoop up and discard the orange "foam" that has formed on the stock's top.
• Bring the liquid back up to a boil, then add half of the chili paste. If you want it to be hotter, add additional chili paste.
• Add the pork ribs and simmer for another 1-1.5 hours on low heat, or until the pork ribs are fully cooked.
• To taste, add rock sugar and salt.
• Fill a dish halfway with yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, water convolvulus, and bean sprouts to serve. Ladle hot stock over. Add a couple chunks of pork ribs if desired. Cut pig meat, sliced shrimp, egg quarters, and shallot crisps are sprinkled on top.
• Serve right away with more chili paste to taste.