Making it on my own (2)

Since being back home, my goal is to try and eat as many of my favourite dishes as pos sible before going back to Sg. Petani. I have been especially interested in eating a soupy dish in Hokkien called Chau Chai Hu Ngang. When translated directly, the name of the dish is called salted vegetables with fish and big rice vermicelli noodles soup. A mouthful to say…hehe I was up to cooking today, so my mum and I decided to go to the supermarket to buy ingredients for this dish.

According to mum, preparation for this dish is simple and the amount cooked is enough to feed three to four people. The whole process lasts for about thirty minutes. Here is a step-by-step guide to cooking it…

Firstly, you need:

1. One ginger
2. Half garlic clove
3. Two small onions
4. One big chili

Cut all of them into slices.

I am improvising the dish a little. Those in kopitiams always use ikan patin which I do not really like because it may have lots of bones and fat stuck to the skin. So, I use chicken instead. My mum bought three pieces of drumsticks and thighs. Chop them up into big pieces also.

Next, take the preserved vegetables and rinse them through for a while to drain the excess preservatives. Again, the same thing with the veggies…cut them up.

Heat up the wok, add cooking oil and sesame oil into it. Put in the sliced ginger, shallots, garlic, and chili when it is hot. Stir-fry them until fragrant. After that, add in the chicken and mix them around. Add a dash of Chinese red wine and cover the wok, leave to simmer.

While waiting for the chicken to cook and soften, soak the big rice vermicelli in a pot of boiling water

Getting back to the wok…add water to make it soupy. Add a tablespoon of Maggi’s Oyster Sauce into the soup and leave it to simmer again. Meanwhile, drain the rice vermicelli from the pot and rinse it through a few times to get rid of the starchy taste. After that, add them into the soup and leave them another few times. Finally, turn off the stove fire.

Here is the result…chau chai hu ngang

I am very happy with the result…and I will eat to my heart’s content

~ by arwenfaustina on December 7, 2008.