Penang Prawn Noodle Soup (Penang Hae Mee)

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The best Hae Mee I have ever tasted is undoubtedly from Penang. Its rich, smoky flavour is really hard to beat.  Ever since then I have been very disappointed with the local Singaporean version.

I had a tremendous craving for Penang Hae Mee this pregnancy.  Unfortunately, this type of craving cannot be easily satisfied by sending the hubby to the nearest hawker centre.  I did torture myself with fantasies of taking a short weekend trip to Penang, but with 2 young kids, the days of impulse travelling are far behind me.  I had no choice but to cook my own Hae Mee.

I have cooked normal Singaporean version prawn noodle soup before, but never tried the Penang style. The difference between the 2 versions?

1) Singapore prawn mee is served with cut chillies in a dish of soy sauce. Penang prawn mee is served with chilli paste which is stirred into the soup
2) The Penang version is served with a hard-boiled egg.
3) Singapore prawn mee stock is often just dark brown (from the good stalls) but Penang prawn mee stock is so rich that you can see a distinct layer of orange oil on it even before you add the chilli paste.
4) The Penang version is smoky flavoured, as I mentioned before. I can't really describe it any better than this, but to me this is the main difference in the stock. Later on I will let you in on my secret for achieving this smokiness to the stock.

The skill behind a good bowl of Hae Mee is first and foremost, the stock. I am glad that after some research (which includes pestering a certain Penang grandmother known for her culinary skill), my first attempt at Penang Hae Mee was a success.

And because I believe that if the joy of good Hae Mee should be shared with everyone, here are my Six Secrets of a Kick-Ass Hae Mee Stock:

1) Lots of shells and prawn heads. If you can get those big prawns with oversized heads and lots of creamy "har gou" (roe) inside the heads, all the better.  I know it is extremely unhealthy and high in cholesterol, but if you are watching your cholesterol level, you shouldn't be having this dish anyway ;)

2) Fry, fry and fry! All I can say is, fry those prawn shells and heads well. Don't stop until they are crisp, orange-hued, and you can see orange oil forming in your wok.


3) Hae Bee. The additon of Hae Bee, or dried shrimps, help to improve the flavour of the stock. It's not just about having more 'prawniness' in the taste, dried shrimp has its own distinct umami flavour.

4) The right kind of sugar. I tested my stock with 4 types of sugar: white, brown, rock sugar, and gula melaka (palm sugar) and I have to say the rock sugar version is the best, followed by the palm sugar. Palm sugar adds some complexity to the broth but unfortunately (this confirmed by various taste-testers), for some reason it also muted the 'sharpness'of the stock, especially when chilli is added. I am sure there is some chemistry behind this, but for now, just know that rock sugar is the best.  White sugar is so disappointing that you should not even try it.
 
5) Blend the shells!! And here is a 'secret' I stumbled on. After frying the shells/heads and boiling them in the pork rib stock, I noticed that I still wasn't getting that nice hue that I remembered from the Penang version I tried. I wasn't going to be happy until I saw a layer of bright orange oil. So I scooped out all the shells and heads, and ran them through my blender until they became almost like a paste of minced up prawn shells.  And then I put this in a 'soup bag' and reboiled the stock.  It didn't take long before the stock turned a rich, opaque dark brown, and the layer of much-awaited bright orange oil developed on top. There are recipes that call for you to pound the shells well to extract their flavour, which I have always done, but let me tell you there is no substitute for blending them.  Hand-pounding (unless you are possessed of Arnie-type arm muscles) can't really break down the shells to such a degree.  These are, after all, shells, not onions or garlic that you are pounding.

6) Belacan. Penang arguably makes the best belacan in the world, and my theory is that much of Penang fare owes its unbeatable quality and flavour to their local belacan.  In every Penang dish I have tasted which consisted of chilli or prawn, I have found that beautiful elusive smoky flavour which is characteristic of good belacan.  This should come as no surprise. Often the general excellence of cuisine from a particular region is the product not so much of 'secret recipes' or techniques, but local produce or naturally occurring environmental conditions.  For example, Ipoh hor fun owes its silky quality to the many limestone caves in the region and its resultant hard water. Knowing this, I had to add some well-toasted belacan to the stock. The result? Mmmmm  ...  really smokin'!

Look at the stock. Nice or not? Sorry I ate so fast, didn't think to take a photo until I was almost done. See how the orange oil sticks to the sides of my bowl? 

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Enough talk, I bet you want to try making your own now. Here's the recipe!

Recipe for Penang Hae Mee
(Serves 6 to 8)

Ingredients

Step 1: Toppings
20 shallots, sliced thinly
500g bean sprouts
500g kang kong
200g pork fat, cubed
6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled and halved


Method: Fry shallots in oil until crispy. Alternatively, you can use the microwave: Spread the shallots in a pyrex dish, cover with oil and microwave on high at 1-2 minute intervals, stirring each time to ensure even cooking, until brown and crisp. Drain on paper and reserve shallot oil.

Dry fry the pork fat in wok until brown and crispy, remove and drain. Reserve for topping.

Blanch bean sprouts and kang kong and set aside.


Step 2: Stock
600 grams pork ribs, blanched
1 kg large prawns
3 litres water
6 dried red chillies
300 grams dried shrimp (hae bee)
2 teaspoons Penang belacan (dry fried in a wok under low heat until fragrant and powdery)
1 tsp black peppercorns
3 cloves
1/2 a cinnamon stick
3 star anise sections
2 tbsp light sauce
1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce
Rock sugar (to taste)
Salt (to taste)

Method: Remove shells and heads from prawns. Devein the prawns and halve them.  Season lightly with some salt, and then boil in some of the water (to be used for the stock) until just cooked (do not overcook). Set aside for topping. Reserve the water for boiling together with stock.

Using reserved shallot oil and pork fat oil, fry hae bee until fragrant, set aside. Heat up wok again and fry dried chillies and pork ribs until browned, remove and place into pot. Reheat oil and fry prawn heads and shells until fragrant, crispy and caramelised.  Place blended prawn shells/heads in a large 'soup bag', and place in pot, together with pork ribs, spices, dried chillies, dried shrimps, belacan and water, simmer for 30 minutes. (BTW I like to 'deglaze' the wok with the water to be used for boiling stock, to make sure I remove all the caramelised prawn essence, and return this water to the pot for boiling stock.) Remove prawn shells/heads and run it through a blender or food processor until shells/heads are finely ground. Replace soup bag with blended prawn shells/heads, and simmer with stock until all the taste is extracted from the ingredients. In the meantime, when pork ribs are cooked, remove and cut meat into slices to reserve as topping.  Throw bones back into pot to continue boiling. The stock should, after sieving, be dark brown, cloudy and with a layer of orange oil. The stock needs to be simmered at least 2 hours. Once correct colour is achieved, sieve it and add light and dark soya sauce, and rock sugar and salt to taste.


Step 3: Chilli paste

2 big chillies (or 4 chilli padis if you prefer more spicy, like me)
30 dried chillies
10 shallots
4 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons of chilli oil

Method: Pound or blend chillies, shallots and garlic into a paste.  Heat up the wok and add some chilli oil. (You can make chilli oil by frying some dried chillies in oil, until oil turns red, and then removing the chillies). Alternatively, just use cooking oil. Fry chilli paste in oil until fragrant.   

Step 4: Serve

1kg Hokkien Mee (scalded)
600g bee hoon (scalded)

Place a little hokkien mee and bee hoon into each individual serving bowl. Ladle hot stock over noodles, then top with kang kong, bean sprouts, prawns, egg and fried shallots. Serve with chilli paste on the side.