I couldn’t help myself when I saw STP’s post on mee jawa the other day, and it sent me down the memory lane, to the time where my late grandma was still alive. Being a nyonya, she was very particular when it comes to food.
She spent most of her time in the kitchen to feed the family. Her day began as early as 6am and ended usually after 10pm. Typical meals in her house would be breakfast, lunch, hi-tea and supper.
On Saturday or Sunday, when her children and grandchildren visit, she would often prepare Mee Jawa for lunch. It’s one of her specialty, and the recipe was passed down to my mum, and later on, to me and all her granddaughters whom she considered old enough to cook;usually, at the age of 7. There were no written recipes though. All of us had to memorize the recipe and the steps by heart.
I was craving Mee Jawa the other day, and so I decided to cook some for my family, but I don’t think it did justice to my grandmother’s recipe, cuz I… *ahem* simplified it.
Ingredients:
1 packet of yellow noodles/spaghetti
200gm shrimps cleaned, de-shelled and grinded
500gm chicken bones
5 shallots, sliced thinly
3 garlic, sliced thinly
5 tablespoon of tomato sauce
3 tablespoon of chilli paste
Some bean-sprout (optional)
Fried beancurd
Vegetable fritters ( you can fry em yourself or get them from your nearest mamak stall)
1 Boiled egg
1 potato boiled/fried
So here’s how I modified my late grandma’s recipe.
Make the soup stock by boiling together the chicken bone and the shrimp. And heat up the oil in the wok. Sauté the shallots and garlic til fragrant. Add in the chilli paste and tomato sauce and let it sizzle for a while before adding the soup stock. Stir, and add in the yellow noodles/spaghetti. Simmer for 5 minutes and garnish with the sliced fried beancurd and sliced boiled potatoes. Add in some bean sprout if you wish, but that is optional. I just used a bit of it in my recipe cuz I can’t take beansprouts.
Note: Add in some vegetable fritters/fried keropok if you happen to have them.
Yield: 3 servings
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cleffairy: Having a trip down the memory lane makes me hungry!