Mee Siam Mamak

Lunch on Friday was Mee Siam Mamak. This Indian Muslim version of Mee Siam is not as commonly available as the Malay version. Naturally, it's usually served by the Indian hawkers, usually those selling Indian Rojak. 

I decided to cook this dish to use up the leftover chives in the fridge. It is quite similar to the Malay Mee Siam except it's richer  because of the coconut milk added. Another difference is in the way the beehoon is prepared. While the Malay version requires that the beehoon be fried with some spices, the Mamak version just needs the beehoon to be cooked in boiling water mixed with turmeric. That's so much simpler!

Mee Siam Mamak 
Recipe by Mdm Gayah Samon.
Source: EATS by Hedy Khoo,  The New Paper On Sunday (7 October 2012)

Ingredients:
400g dried beehoon ( I used brown rice beehoon.)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt (I added.)

100g raw peanuts
200ml coconut cream
3 pieces asam keping/gelugur
85g sugar
2 litres water (I used only 1.5 litres.)
salt to taste (You may not need this since the tau cheo is already quite salty.)
6 tbsp cooking oil

Spicy mix:
10 dried chilies
3 purple onions
6 garlic cloves
120g udang geragau kering (dried shrimp)
120g tau cheo (fermented soya bean), rinsed

Garnish:
5 limes, halved
5 hardboiled eggs. halved
6 stalks koo chye (garlic chives) - cut into small pieces (about 1cm long)
5 pieces tau pok (fried beancurd puffs), toasted & cut into 1-cm squares

Method:

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil & fry peanuts over low heat for 10 minutes or until cooked. Grind coarsely & set aside. (You may set aside some before grinding for garnishing.)
2. Grind the ingredients for the spice mix into a smooth paste. (I didn't grind the tau cheo. Instead, I just mashed it coarsely.)
3. Heat remaining oil & fry the spice paste until fragrant & the oil surfaces.
4. Add the ground peanuts & fry a little more.
5. Add the two litres (I used 1.5 l.) of water. Stir & bring to a boil.
6. Lower the heat & stir in the coconut cream. Allow the mixture to simmer for another five minutes.
7. Now prepare the beehoon. Fill a pot with enough water to cover the beehoon. Bring to boil & add half a tsp of turmeric powder & salt. Add in the beehoon & boil for two or three minutes until soft.  (I soaked the beehoon in cold water first. When it's already soft, I boiled a pot of water & added the turmeric & salt, then I blanched the beehoon.) Strain & set aside.
8. To serve, put some of the boiled heehoon in a bowl, add the mee siam gravy. Garnish with a halved hardboiled egg, some tau pok pieces, halved lime, garlic chives & some ground peanuts.