Curry Mee

As they said, Curry Mee is orignally a Chinese food. I am not sure of that. A father’s owned coffee shop friend in ChaiLeng Park , Penang had told me that they use rock sugar in seasoning. While a friend from Ipoh said that it’s not a curry mee if not using a mixed blanch of yellow mee and mee hoon. In my version, I would prefer to use dried mee - sort of a crinkle maggi type mee . Curry Mee should taste hot with a tinge of sweetness from fresh seafood in a not-so-thick-soup. Like last year, I had brought this recipe once again to the table for everyone who drop in over the weekend.. realms of Raya...

Main dish:
1 kg mee / dried maggi
soak in hot water to soften, drain.

Soup:
1kg grated coconutt, make about 2 liter - 2.5 liter santan
Oil for sauté and chilly oil
Shrimp stock: use the heads and shell (see: Ingredients) Liquidise them with 500ml water. Strain the waste off, use only clean stock.
1pcs tamarind skin / asam gelugur
Soup’s Ingredients:
500g shelled cockles
500g shrimp, cleaned and shelled
3 to 4 pieces squid plus the heads
200g fried taufu (tauhu kering)
10 fishball (halves), 2 fishcake (slice)
4 long bean – cut 1 inch
Spices (finely ground to a paste):
7 shallots , 3 garlics
1 packet Rempah kari ikan kering
2 tsb chilli powder
2 lemon grass
1 tsb pepper corn
1/2 square inch belacan ; 1 tsb dried shimp

Seasoning:
4 tbsp salt ; 2 tsp sugar or to taste OR whatever feasible to yr taste
Garnishing:
3-4 parsley -shredded
3-4 stalk chives – cut 4mm
200g bean sprouts (taugeh)

Method:
Heat 1/2 cup oil to saute the spices till fragrant. ( I usually spoon off the excess oil when the spices are cooked - do it before adding in santan )
Add in santan . Put in tamarind skin. When it's about to boil add in the rest of the shrimp,cockles,squid, fishbal and fishcake.
While soup is boiling, add the stock and the seasoning in, followed by the longbeans and fried taufu. Bring to just to boiling point as fishball and fried tauhu floats . Season to taste.

For the chilly oil:
1 small packet chilly powder
5-6 cloves of garlic, pounded
Saute garlic and chilli paste in oil until the chilly well cooked and oil floats to the surface.

Serving:
Put mee in a bowl. Sprinkle garnishing items, then pour in hot soup and its ingredient. Chilly oil should go last according to your "syiok"to hot stuff !