The Chinese has always found a way of adapting wherever they go and this applies to the dishes they cooked. In Malaysia and Singapore, the Fujian people are credited with inventing this dish which of course is putting it lightly.
Yellow egg noodles is the preferred pasta for this dish. Yes, noodles are pasta and don't let the Italians tell you otherwise. The broth is flavored with spices and made with heap loads of prawn or shrimp shells that has been fried and reduced down with generous amounts of pork ribs. There are many ways of cooking this so I won't go into the details. What is know is that the dish would not have been possible with the help of the Portuguese who brought hot chilli peppers to South East Asia.
It is the chilli paste or Sambal that holds this dish together. Never mind the fact that the broth on its own is already good but something will always be missing from it without a dollop of sambal paste. This sambal paste is the best kept secret and is different from the variety found in Nasi Lemak. For added kick, chilli powder is sometimes given to you as an option to take your taste buds to a new high but fortunately for me, I never had to resort to that.
As some of you may have heard, Singapore has a slightly different version of it that is fried with a combination of seafood. Again, the sambal is given to you on the side to complete the dish but I must warn you that the dry version is often prepared with lard, which is a natural ingredient for the Chinese.
The soup version seen here is more common in Malaysia.
Even the though the Chinese may lay claim on inventing this dish, I do suspect however they may be overstating the facts. Without the tasty Sambal, the dish would not have been possible. This spicy addition has a bad habit of poking you in the throat and burning up your air passageway if you slurped it too fast. It is a deadly combination for those not accustomed to hot and spicy condiments.
Again, as with all cuisines, this is a fusion dish found in South East Asia and exported to the world. If you have the chance to try this, don't ever pass it up.
It is the chilli paste or Sambal that holds this dish together. Never mind the fact that the broth on its own is already good but something will always be missing from it without a dollop of sambal paste. This sambal paste is the best kept secret and is different from the variety found in Nasi Lemak. For added kick, chilli powder is sometimes given to you as an option to take your taste buds to a new high but fortunately for me, I never had to resort to that.
As some of you may have heard, Singapore has a slightly different version of it that is fried with a combination of seafood. Again, the sambal is given to you on the side to complete the dish but I must warn you that the dry version is often prepared with lard, which is a natural ingredient for the Chinese.
The soup version seen here is more common in Malaysia.
Even the though the Chinese may lay claim on inventing this dish, I do suspect however they may be overstating the facts. Without the tasty Sambal, the dish would not have been possible. This spicy addition has a bad habit of poking you in the throat and burning up your air passageway if you slurped it too fast. It is a deadly combination for those not accustomed to hot and spicy condiments.
Again, as with all cuisines, this is a fusion dish found in South East Asia and exported to the world. If you have the chance to try this, don't ever pass it up.
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