Homecooked Mee Siam / Tomyam Noodles

I cooked mee siam / Tomyam noodles for the first time recently and I must say that it was a huge success. So yummy was the mee siam that I must claim that it is my signature dish now :D

Mee siam is everyone's favorite in our house.  This recipe is a stunning showstopper that is not too difficult to prepare if you are not in a rush.








Refer to written directions at the end of this post. Pictures come first...






































Ingredients: 
1) 1 packet of Way brand Tomyam paste
2) Taucheong - around 1 tablespoon
3) Chopped garlic
4) Chopped shallots / onions
5) Carrot - julienned / sliced thinly
6) Tofu pok - 1 packet and cut thinly
7) Sugar to taste
8) Salt to taste
9) Chicken fillet - marinated with Thai fish sauce and pepper
10)  Eggs
11) Cooking oil
12) Dried shrimps (har mai) - blitzed in blender
13) Kaffir lime leaves - cut thinly
14) Bunga kantan and lemon grass - I did not manage to get these 2 items. If you can get hold of them, the mee siam will taste even better.
15) Kaffir lime - for the juice


Directions:
1)  Fry the eggs and remove from the wok
2)  Pan fry the chicken fillet and remove from the wok
3)  Blanch the meehoon / vermicelli in another pot for about a minute. Remove from the pot of water.
4)  Brown the garlic, shallots and ground dried shrimps (har mai)
5)  Add in the entire packet of Way Tomyam paste and mix with the garlic and shallots
6)  Add water, sugar and salt and let simmer for about 15 minutes
7)  Add in the tofu pok and let the tofu pok soak in the sauce. That will take 10-15 minutes.
8)  Add in the meehoon into the sauce and using a spatula and pair of chopsticks, mix the meehoon well with the sauce.
9)  Add in the julienned carrots and kafir lime leaves and cover with the meehoon for about 1 minute.
10) Add in the cooked chicken fillet and fried eggs and mix everything well.
11) Add in the kafir lime juice and mix well.
12) Plate up, decorate and serve immediately.


You can go to You Tube and watch how mee siam is cooked. Visual helps a lot for me.

My mee siam recipe is tweaked from a few recipes that I googled.  It tastes like a million dollars and yet is pretty simple to make and made with ingredients that are inexpensive and easily available. I can't wait to cook this again. Now you really got to try cooking this too!

Sunday, 16 October 2022 ~ Pavillion Bukit Jalil

Cass' figure-skating coach wasn't able to teach for two weeks since last Sunday.  What perfect timing!! This is because Cass has to prepare for her finals these two weeks.  

Before we received a text message from the coach about the class cancellation, Cass promised me that she would study after coming back from the skating rink. But I felt that Cass should not go anywhere but stay home to study on the eve of her finals.

I'm so glad that I don't have to spend my day at Pavillion Bukit Jalil (PBJ) for the next two Sundays 😜

Besides the vast options in eateries, cafes, and restaurants, there isn't much to do at PBJ. I'd rather be idling and paying my sleep debt with forty winks at home.

Anyway, Cass still wants to get her new figure skates before her next class and has been badgering me to bring her to the skating rink at Sunway Pyramid to buy the skates. We may go there this Saturday.

This time hubs and I had our lunch at the Ei8ht Avenue Foodcourt instead of his favorite Grand Harbour Chinese restaurant as I wanted to try other eateries.  

Ei8ht Avenue is a non-halal food hall that offers Chinese local delicacies that are loved by Malaysians. There are famous local food brands from all around the Klang Valley. These brands have one thing in common - a long legacy of incredibly delicious food. What separates Ei8th Avenue from other food halls is that, unlike typical food halls, customers can order their meals from their seats and be served when their food is ready.   Not to be missed are famous brands such as Prawn Noodle King, Chan Meng Kee, Samy & Min Bak Kut Teh,  Ah Fatt Gor Curry Mee,  Kim Lian Kee,  Restoran 38 Fishball Noodles, Little Eat Shop, Sin Hoy How, among others.

We tried the char koay teow, curry noodles and pork noodles.  

Nothing to shout about really as we've tried much better ones. So I don't think hubs will be ordering these again if we come here again.

We finally got our hands on the overly-rated thick egg tarts from Oriental Kopi.  Well-known for the insanely long queues at their Mid Valley Megamall outlet and now at Pavillion Bukit Jalil, we managed to take away their popular thick egg tarts, polo bun, and Mee Siam after queuing for about 15 minutes.

Hubs bought the buy-6-free-1 promo @ RM28.80

My verdict - the filling is very custardy and very filling.  Chomping down the entire egg tart was enough to fill up my small tummy, leaving very little space left to eat my main meal at the Eight Avenue food hall.
Nothing to shout about, despite rave reviews on the tarts.  I prefer the traditional egg tarts from Tong Kee and my favorite-est Portuguese egg tarts from Red Kettle.  This is my personal opinion. 
Sherilyn was the lucky beneficiary of these egg tarts as she got to bring them to school for 3 days in a row.  The tarts taste better after a few minutes in the air-fryer.

The Polo buns from Oriental Kopi were pretty good.  As I was too stuffed to try it on the same day, I  briefly air-fried it the next day. It was crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, stashed with a wedge of butter. I omitted the condensed milk.

The Mee Siam was also nothing to rave about, in fact, I think it's rather vapid. I think the Mee Siam that comes out from hubby's central kitchen knocks this one hands down as it has much more ingredients 😁.  Again, this is just my personal opinion.

Cass requested for Rollney Kürtőskalács ice-cream and her ever-indulgent dad got it for her.  It's a unique ice cream atop a chimney cake or Hungarian sweet bread. The cylinder-shaped hollow bread is filled with a little cereal at the bottom. I find it too sweet for my liking.  

Simple Tomyam Noodles

The last dish that I cooked before the mil's return from her 1-month stay in Hawaii was Tomyam noodles.  It's a simplified version of my Mee Siam.  My homecooked Mee Siam which everyone loves involves a lot of prep like blending dried shrimps and chopping lots of onions and garlic.  As I was rushing off  to  cook dinner to chauffeur Alycia and Drama Queen to their tuition centres at different times that day, I could only whip up something that's very quick.

I came up with this noodles as I wanted to clear the fridge before the mil's homecoming. I still had a little Tomyam paste left, a quarter packet of organic spinach yee mee, a little vermicelli and frozen kafir lime leaves in the fridge. That's how this dish was created.  I used vermicelli as it's the only noodles that I like and yee mee for the girls who love yee mee.




Tomyam meehoon






Ingredients:
Instant tomyam paste - I used about 4 tablespoons of Mak Nyonya tomyam paste. You can add more tomyam paste if you prefer it to be spicier. One packet of tomyam paste is enough for me to cook 3 different dishes as the girls cannot tolerate food that's too spicy.
Vermicelli (mee hoon) and yee mee (I used organic spinach yee mee)
Chopped garlic (about 1 bulb)
Chopped onions (about a handful of small rose onions)
Chicken breast meat, sliced and marinated with soy sauce, fish sauce (optional), pepper, a little corn flour for at least 1-2 hours
Vegetables - I used yau mak.  
Eggs
Salt and sugar to taste
Kafir lime juice
Handful of kafir lime leaves, cut into very thin strips

Method:
Pan fry the chicken breast meat.
Meanwhile, blanch the vermicelli and yee mee for about 1 minute in a pot of water.  I use A1 vermicelli which softens very quickly and does not need soaking.  Drain the noodles and leave aside.
Brown chopped garlic and onions.
Add in tomyam paste and saute until fragrant (about 5-10 minutes)
Add water and let simmer for about 5-10 minutes together with the green vegetables
Add salt and sugar to taste.
Add in kafir lime juice
Add in strips of kafir lime leaves
Add in the cooked noodles and mix them well with the sauce.
In another non-stick pan, prep the scrambled eggs.  I cooked scrambled eggs as that's the fastest to cook. If you have enough time on hand, beat up the eggs and pan fry them. Then chop / cut the fried eggs into thin strips.
Plate up the noodles.
Scatter the fried eggs and raw kafir lime leaves strips on the noodles.
Bon appetit!




Tomyam yee mee

Super easy to cook, this one is sure to become a favourite you’ll make over and over again!

Wednesday, 16 May 2018 ~ Teacher's Day

I had a quick breakfast this morning before I popped by at the stall to collect my pre-order Mee Siam to send it to Cass in school for a Teacher's Day party at 10:15 a.m.  The hubs would usually get his chef to cook fried rice or spaghetti for Cass' school parties but his chef is on compassionate leave this week.

Breakfast was a hard boiled free-range chicken egg with raw organic cabbage, drizzled with my favorite Creamy Parmesan Caesar Dressing Fit For A King Like Uncle Jeff from Beerenberg Farm Australia. Such a long name for a salad dressing eh? But the ingredients ain't long, else I wouldn't have bought it.

Also gulped down a packet of Ningxia Red from Young Living for my immunity boosting and eye power.



Today I was feeling hungrier than usual, thanks to my Aunt Flow.  After the cabbage salad and egg, I still felt hungry, so walloped half a bowl of  corn flakes with granola and pistachios drizzled with extra virgin coconut oil and gula Melaka syrup. I don't like milk in my cereals.  I like eating my cereals crunchy.





After sending the Mee Siam to Cass in school, Drama Queen and I had an early lunch of economy rice. My pick today was a piece of fried fish with ginger slices, blanched lady's fingers with garlic and brinjal. Zero rice.  My carbs came from a bowl of red bean and mung bean sweet soup (reduced sugar).

I raised my eyebrow when Drama Queen showed me her plate of rice. I asked her why didn't she choose a green vegetable and her reply was "brinjal is a vegetable!"

NO, brinjal is NOT a vegetable! It's a fruit!

Bet many of you don't know this eh?


After lunch, I walked to a nearby stall to buy fruits. Then Drama Queen had a brainwave. She asked me if she could give fruits to her class teacher for Teacher's Day instead of chocolates and I said "why not?" It's an excellent choice and I am pretty sure that her teacher would prefer to receive fruits vs chocolates.


Drama Queen's pick was maroon dragon fruit and mango. Back home, she ransacked grandma's cake-making drawer and fished out a pretty cake box that grandma bought from Taiwan to put the fruits.






Hopefully Drama Queen's teacher likes the gift, as much as we do.

Life At Home & At Work During CMCO

Everyone has been whispering in the house for the past 1 week - from 8 a.m. through 3 p.m.. And I'm also not allowed to turn on the radio because Alycia is having a trial online exam before the actual SPM trials.  Her high school has never conducted a major exam via online mode before, thus the teachers are testing the effectiveness before Form 5 students sit for their SPM trials via online mode. The silence and whispering has to go on for another week until this Saturday! It's a torture and really inconvenient as I can't live without music while I'm at work. And I can't even dress up shabbily as the camera is turned on!   Alycia usually attends online lessons in her room but the internet has been extremely laggy for the past one week, thus she has to sit at the dining table to receive a better internet connection.  Being seated right smack in the middle of the house, everyone has no privacy to talk, play the piano, guitar or be around her. We can't even have our breakfast or lunch in peace.  I can't even chide off someone; once I did very loudly and Alycia's friends asked  her what happened😅  

 

I'm usually busy with work from home from Tuesdays to Thursdays. Sometimes there's work from Monday to Sunday. Whenever I have the time, I will drive to hubby's shop to help him with photography as I am managing his shop's Facebook page and orders for online delivery.

Here are some behind the scenes photos taken while everyone was busy at work at the shop. Peak hours are from 10 a.m. - 12 noon.  I don't fancy going to his shop a time when he's busy as he'll be a grumpy old man hollering at everyone 😡.  Can't really fault him because if he loses concentration and  switches customers' orders or leaves out something, it's going to be very costly.  Most times, he has to test taste the food before they go into the boxes.   Once, the Mee Siam turned out starchy as his staff bought the wrong type of vermicelli. And guess what? All the Mee Siam was discarded and a new batch cooked again with the right type of vermicelli (100% rice with no added starch).  This happened again last week and the entire big packet of uncooked vermicelli had to be given away to his part-time staff.  It's really not easy to be in the F&B business and you can't rely on your staff 100%. 

 

Food porn overload - these petite and delicate santan jellies in flower and fish shape are too pretty to be eaten. The girls and I love  them to bits!

 

I usually get food from the shop for our lunch or dinner.  We love his Indonesian chef's Nasi Lemak  with Ayam Goreng Berempah, otak-otak and crispy anchovies and peanuts.

Friday, 26 May 2023 - The Quest For Breakfast

Today started like any other weekend morning, with the hubs and I excitedly planning to have breakfast at our favorite beef noodle stall in Petaling Street. As we arrived at our beloved beef noodle stall, the sight of a closed shutter greeted us once again. It was closed for the second time this week.  

Dismayed but not discouraged, we decided to explore other nearby eateries in hopes of finding a suitable alternative. Our first attempt ended in disappointment when we discovered that the other eatery was also yet to open. Nevertheless, we remained undeterred and set our sights on the vibrant streets of Bangsar.

With empty stomachs and a desire to try something different, we stumbled upon Baba Low's, an inviting restaurant known for its Nyonya cuisine. Curiosity piqued, we eagerly entered and prepared ourselves for a gastronomic journey. We ordered a variety of items from the menu, such as curry noodles, Mee Siam, Nasi Lemak with fried chicken, and Peranakan popiah, each representing the rich flavors of Nyonya cuisine.

Curry noodles, Peranakan popiah, Nasi Lemak with fried chicken and Mee Siam.

Expecting a taste reminiscent of the delightful dishes from hubs’ central kitchen, we found ourselves slightly disappointed. The food at Baba Low was passable but did not live up to our high expectations. While the flavors were there, they lacked the finesse and authenticity we were accustomed to. Nevertheless, we appreciated the opportunity to try something new and immerse ourselves in the cultural tapestry of Nyonya cuisine.

We decided to prolong our breakfast experience and sought refuge in a nearby café. A few doors away, we found a cozy establishment, offering an enticing array of coffees, cakes, and sandwiches. Intrigued, we ventured in, eager to satisfy our lingering cravings.

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the air as we ordered our preferred choices—a piccolo and flat white coffee, accompanied by a delectable carrot cake. The moment we took our first sips and bites, we were met with satisfaction. The coffee was rich and invigorating, while the carrot cake was a delightful blend of moistness, textures, and sweetness.

Piccolo and flat white. I took several sips of Piccolo and loved the robustness and richness of the espresso, complemented by the subtle sweetness and creaminess of the steamed milk. But dang it, I think I'm going to be an insomniac tonight as I am still wide awake now (10.30pm)!

By the time we finished our coffee and cake, we found ourselves content and comfortably full. Regrettably, we had to bid adieu to the remaining item on our table: a toasted sandwich we had ordered but were too satiated to consume. Thankfully, the café kindly packed it up for us to take home. We saw it as a serendipitous treat for Cass to relish for her lunch when she comes home from school. 

 

Sandwich doggy-bagged home for Cass' lunch.

Tomorrow is the start of Cass’ week-long school holidays.  A week is too short for any trip and her mid-year exam will start shortly after the school holidays. So it's going to be crunch time for her with additional classes (online), homework, and revision.

23 February 2021 Homecooked Chinese Dinner

 Since it's still CNY, Sherilyn whipped up a few Chinese dishes for dinner yesterday and today: 

1.  Mock crab meat soup with mushrooms, dried shredded scallops, black fungus and shredded chicken meat.

2. Koong Po chicken with cashews. She toasted the fresh chilies for over 10 hours to produce dried chilies for this dish.

3.  Yam basket (Fatt Put)

Lunch today was Mee Siam with chicken rendang and deep fried quails (burung puyuh goreng berempah) from hubby's shop, Catermate  😋

It's amazing that this girl can even whip up yam ring. The process is very tedious and a lot of oil is used to deep fry the yam ring and vermicelli. Discarding the used oil is also a hassle as I had to pour the oil into a container and then wrap the container with plastic bags before leaving it in the refuse chamber.  That's the reason why I never ever deep fry anything!  But this girl is a sucker for challenges and if the dish is too simple, she wouldn't cook it 😐

Burung puyuh goreng berempah (fried quail with spices) and Mee Siam with chicken rendang from Catermate.

Health Freak Cass

On days when I am too busy or lazy to prepare lunch for Cass, I'll pack lunch for her from the nearby coffee shops. Her favorite is mee siam (this fiery girl loves spicy food!) - as shown here...





As the mee siam is pretty simple without much ingredients, I normally prepare some raw veggies like Japanese cucumbers, organic cherry tomatoes and organic alfalfa sprouts. Oh yes, she eats an egg a day too.





Thankfully Cass has no issues chowing alfalfa sprouts now. She used to frown at them but with continuous training from a health freak mom, she's finally acquired the taste of raw sprouts now :)

Throwback Food Snaps

Throwback food snaps of breakkie with the hubs and mil recently:

At Bai Wei Kopitiam:

Chicken soup flat noodles, Polo bun with spam and cheese, Mee Siam with spiced fried chicken, and milk tea topped with a cube of gigantic ice in the shape of a cute bear (cafe's signature beverage).

Breakfast at a coffee shop in our hood:

Dry hor fun noodles with chicken, fishballs, fried fish and fish paste soup and fried char mee hoon topped with fried wallet egg.

Jumbo local avocado, grown in Johor.  A seller from our neighborhood Facebook group advertised these avos and I bought two to try.  I didn't order more as I was apprehensive of locally-grown avocados. But these babies proved me wrong.  These Malaysia-grown avos are super creamy and even sweet.  The flesh is in a pretty greenish-yellowish hue and perfect inside!

Don't judge the fruit by its skin. Blemished on the outside but beautiful on the inside.