Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Dad´s whirlwind trip part 1- Cozy dinner at home


My Dad came for a whirlwind visit from Friday to Monday evening. We had a memorable time together. Distance does make the heart grow fonder, especially when we only see each other twice a year.

It was really great to see Dad again and having him visit us meant also that we could give him our undivided attention and just spend quality time with him. Its different whenever we visit Singapore as our time and energy is often divided by the endless people we want to meet up with and the things we want to do ourselves.

Our annual trip to Singapore often feels like a mad rat race. Yup. That´s the oxymoron of staying overseas. Missing your homeland such that you can´t wait for your next return, but being so exhausted at the end of it that you can´t wait to leave again.

Our first dinner together - Hor fun with prawns and pork

Okok, I know its a weird combination. But I´m hooked on parma ham and melons after having them at Steph´s place. Oh and btw, parma ham is almost 4€ for 70grams, expensive!

Recipe for Singapore prawn and pork noodles

250 grams hor fun (flat rice noodles) - soaked in water for 10 mins until it turns soft but not still firm
400grams pork fillet
bean sprouts / kang kong
500grams big prawns (shelled with heads)
chopped garlic
500 grams pork rib bones
30 grams palm sugar
4 tsp light soya sauce
1 tsp dark soya sauce
pepper

1. Heat oil and fry the big prawns until they turn pink. Remove from heat.

2. Cut off the heads. Reserve the prawns to be grilled in an oven with salt, pepper and olive oil sprinkled on it. (Only grill prawns towards to the end, since prawns take only about 10mins to be cooked and overcooked prawns become rubbery.)

3. Bring 2.5 litres of water to boil and add in the pork bones. Cover pot and simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours. I usually simmer the bones before I leave the house and come back to complete the cooking process.

4. Add the palm sugar, light and dark soya sauce and pepper.

5. Putting the prawn heads in a sieve, dip the prawn heads in the soup stock, cover the pot and let it simmer for about 15-20minutes.

6. Start grilling the prawns around this time.

7. Taste the soup. Adjust the taste by adding more soya sauce, pepper or simply letting the soup simmer a little longer. It should have a strong prawn taste while still retaining the pork flavour.

8. Remove the prawn heads and discard.

9. Cook the pork fillet now. Fillet takes only about 5-10 mins to cook in boiling water.

10. Wash the sieve to remove any remaining prawn shells. Using the same sieve, put the flat noodles into the soup stock to cook it and make it soft. Noodles shouldn´t be too soft as they would break easily.

11. Add in the bean sprouts to cook it a little.

12. Serve the noodles in soup bowls together with the pork fillet, bean sprouts and grilled prawns from the oven.

13. Garnish with fried onions /shallots and sliced red chilli with soya sauce in a saucer.
This dish is very try-and-error as it depends on the type of soya sauce you use, or how sweet your sugar is. I´m quite a 50% recipe-follower and 50% - cooking by feeling person. Find that its always good to have a guideline but still changing it to suit your own preferences.

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