Sempoi Mee Udang (Prawn Soup Noodle)

Was wondering what to cook for iftar on Sunday. Suddenly remembered there are prawns in the fridge & there's mee (noodles). The taste of mee udang that I love to eat in Ipoh @ my fav hawker stall in Canning Garden's Hollywood was immediately on my tongue...ah! Not knowing hwo to do it actually, the internet (obviously) was my savior! Found a number of recipes and pictorial evidences i finally went with the recipe from http://ummizaihadi-homesweethome.blogspot.com/2010/02/mee-udang-che-iza.html. But I adjusted mine slightly:

(Estimated for 5 people)

2 table spoon chilli paste (I used a curry laksa paste Chilliz brand :))
2 shallots
3 cloves garlic
1-inch sized ginger
1 tablespoon dried shrimp
1/2 tablespoon shrimp paste

- process all above ingredients together till well blended like paste

20 medium size prawns 
1 liter water
3 tablespoon tomato sauce
2 tablespoon chilli sauce

- boil water
- add prawn till almost cooked
- remove prawns and let broth simmer over low heat
- remove prawns' heads & shells, process the heads & shells in a blender till fine
- pour into the simmering broth through a strainer, press to get all liquid out & stir the broth to get all well mixed pour broth into a large bowl
- using the same pot, heat some oil
- saute the blended paste above till fragrant and re-add the broth, stir to mix well
- add tomato & chilli sauce and let to simmer over medium heat for about 40 minutes
- meanwhile clean prawn by removing the intestinal tract & set aside

all you need to eat with the soup:

Noodles or even spaghetti or pasta
Hard boiled eggs
Tomato, sliced
Green veggie - water spinach (kangkong) / spinach / choy sum / pak choy/ buk choy .. any of ur choice
Bean sprout (taugeh) (I didn't have this hehe..so its not in the pic)
Fried shallots (ready made available / make your own definitely taste better)
Spring onions
and, of course the cleaned prawns (instead of this I deep fried some prawns with everything still intact)

* the aunty who sells the mee udang I love, has this cooked chilli paste to accompany this dish...dont know how its made but it give the bang to this dish .. anyone know, share please

Happy trying .. :)

Sempoi Chicken Rice - Cik Mat & K Tina's recipe

Chicken rice is a great favorite of my family. This recipe is the simplest to make and wonderfully delicious! Thank you to wonderful friends - Cik Mat & Kak Tina for this really great recipe.

2-3 garlics, crushed
2 inch ginger, crushed
2-3 stalks of spring onion or celery (I've tried both seperately, both gives good flavor to the soup)
2.5-3 liter water (depends on the size of chicken)
1 whole chicken (cleaned & cleared inside & all)
sesame oil
1-2 cubes of chicken stock
salt & pepper

- boil water with garlics, ginger & spring onion till simerring
- put in whole chicken & boil till chicken cooked
- remove chicken from pot, set aside & brush with sesame oil
- add chicken stock cubes to soup, season with salt & pepper to taste
- once all well tasted, switch off heat.

for Rice:
2-3 cups of basmati / any long grain rice, washed & drained
2 garlics, crushed or sliced
1 inch ginger, crushed or sliced
3 stalks of spring onions
1 tablespoon oil

- heat oil, saute garlics, ginger & spring onions
- pour in rice, stir over low heat for a while (about 1-2 minutes)
- add soup above to cook rice, amount of soup follow the instruction to cook rice, basmathi cooks well with teh ratio 1 cup rice: 1.5 cups fluid

serves with sliced tomatoes, cucumber & lettuce with garlic & chilli sauce & soy sauce

* I've tried roasting the chicken & it tasted great after brushing it with sesame oil. It was soft & moist inside with crispy skin.

Happy trying ... :)

Sempoi All-In-At-Once Chicken Soup with Angel's hair pasta

10-12 medium cut chicken pieces
1 inch (about a thumb's size) ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium size onion (yellow / red can do), cut into 8 pieces
2 potatoes, cut into 8 pieces
1 large (or 2, 3 depends on your taste) tomato
1/2 stalk celery, cut into medium size pieces
3 button mushrooms, sliced or cut into small pieces
water - depends on how much soup you want
salt
ground black pepper (i like coarse, depends on your taste)
Angel's hair pasta (or any pasta you like)

- defrost the chicken in microwave (I did in hot water just to seperate them)
- boil water
- once simmering, put in chicken, once starts to boil put in all ingredients except salt & pepper
- once chicken is tender, put in salt & pepper
- once cooked, serve with pasta (cook pasta according to instructions on packet)

* this is one of the quickest dish that I find very helpful when in a rush, all in it took about 40 minutes - preparation & cooking, I didn't wait for the chicken to full defrost ;). It'll be good to try when you reach home from work, get in all into the pot & u can go to freshen up, pray .. etc

Happy trying .. :)