Mee Siam

I'm starting to noticed that I've been cooking quite a bit of those spicy dishes. Here's another one - Mee Siam or Siamese-style noodles. Only when I started to dig in, I realized that I have overdid the gravy by adding 2 more tbsp of chili paste than what was called for... I was sweating when it was all over! On the bright side, it is summer now. The spiceness certainly helps with taking off the heat. And nothing could have make it any much better to top it off than a bowl of pulut hitam for dessert :)

Mee Siam
2 lbs of lo mein
2 lbs of fresh whole shrimp, reserve heads and shells for stock
3 1/2 cups of water
salt to taste
1 cup of cooking oil
10 cloves of garlic, chopped
6 soy bean cakes, diced
2 tbsp of salted soy beans, mashed to paste, or Miso paste
4 tbsp of light soy sauce
1 lb of fresh bean sprouts
6 - 8 stalks of scallions, cut into 1 inch lengths
20 shallots, thinly sliced, fried golden brown
4 eggs, hardboiled, quartered
6 red Serrano chillies, seeded, thinly sliced diagonally (optional)
10 limau kasturi/calamansi limes, cut into halves (subs. key limes cut into small wedges)

Sauce:
2 tbsp of cooking oil
12 cloves of garlic, pounded
3 tbsp or to taste, sambal olek/chili paste
3 tbsp of salted soy beans, mashed to paste, or Miso paste
3 tsp of sugar
3 1/2 cups of coconut milk
1/2 cup of tamarind paste, made from 3 - 3 1/2 oz of tamarind pulp mixed well with 1/2 cup of hot water, strained to remove seeds

To prepare sauce:
Heat oil on high, add garlic, sambal olek, salted soy bean paste or Miso paste, stir fry for about a minute.
Add sugar, tamarind paste, and coconut milk, reduce heat to med-low.
Simmer till oil starts to float on top, add salt to taste.
Keep gravy hot on low-med heat, for serving.
Dish out into gravy bowl when serving.

To prepare noodles:
Soak dried lo mein in hot water till al dente, drain, run under cold running water, drain well and set aside.
Remove shells from shrimp. Reserve shells and heads, roughly pound.
Bring 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add shrimp shells and heads, simmer. Reduce to 1 cup of stock, strain and discard shells and heads. Add salt to taste.
In a wok, heat 1 cup of oil, fry shallots till golden brown. Drain on paper towels and set aside for garnish.
Remove all but 2 tbsp of oil from wok. Add garlic, stir fry till golden brown and crisp.
Add shrimps, soy bean cakes, 2 tbsp of salted soy bean paste or Miso paste. Stir fry 1 - 2 minutes.
Add shrimp stock, soy sauce, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Add noodles and stir fry for 3 - 5 minutes.
Add bean sprouts, scallions, and salt to taste. Stir fry for 1 - 2 minutes. Turn off heat.
Dish noodles into individual serving bowls.
Garnish with hardboiled eggs, fried shallots, and freshly sliced red chillies (optional).
Serve with gravy bowl on the side, for pouring a little over noodles while eating.