KL Black Hokkien Mee

Ah Po has been awesome in feeding us, but every now and then she takes a break too. During these occassions, we would either eat out or ta pau (order take-out) something. One of the dishes that we frequently get is the KL black hokkien mee. Do not let the name deceives you. I believe you can actually get the KL black hokkien mee pretty much anywhere now.

I was really excited as I haven't tasted this noodles for a while now. When I smelled the fragrance imparted while rendering the pork fat, I actually thought to myself: "Gosh, this smells really good!" It was somewhat comforting, in the comfort food sort of way. I couldn't find any thick yellow noodles here. So, I used udon noodles instead. The noodles taste good, though I find that the resulting texture of the udon noodles doesn't quite do the justice in replacing the thick yellow noodles. I also think that the color of the sauce is not dark enough. Is my dark soy sauce different that the ones the hawkers have...?




KL Black Hokkien Mee
makes ~4 servings
500 gm of thick yellow hokkien noodles, soak in cold water for 15 minutes (subs. udon noodles)
100 gm of pork meat, cut into thin slices
150 gm of prawns, deshelled and deveined, leave tails on
100 gm of squid, cut into bite sizes
100 gm of choy sum, cut into 1 inch pieces
100 gm of pork fat, cut into cubes
1 cup of chicken stock (subs. water)
1 tsp of light soy sauce
2 tsp of dark soy sauce (add more if not dark enough)
1/4 tsp of white pepper
Salt to taste

Season prawns and squid with a dash of salt, sugar, and pepper.
Render the cubes of pork fat over very low heat in a small frying pan. This takes about an hour. Remove the cubes of pork fat and keep the lard.
Heat the lard in a wok and saute the prawns and squid.
Add and brown the pork.
Add in the chicken stock and bring to boil. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Add in the choy sum and toss for about 30 seconds.
Then, add in the noodles and the soy sauces, white pepper, and salt. Mix well.
Cover wok with lid and simmer until noodles are tender. Add more dark soy sauce if the color is not dark enough and simmer until gravy is thick.
Add the crispy lard cubes before dishing up the noodles.
Serve with sambal belacan.