Mee Suah for my birthday

Sometimes my mom does surprise me and I thought there are nothing that would surprise me anymore. My mom is a very tough lady and brought me up with an iron fist. She loves in a scolding and nagging way, little warmth, the typical "I am your mother, listen to me" way!!.

Infact, all my life, my birthdays are hardly ever celebrated at home but a red packet from my mom would be customary. Oh yeah...2 hard boiled eggs too.

So this year on my birthday, I woke up in the morning and got ready for work, When I came to the kitchen, my mom cooked a bowl of meesuah with 2 hard boiled eggs for my birthday. I was touched.

Mee Suah is a fine dried wheat/rice noodle with a smooth texture which is usually sold in dried form. It is very brittle in uncooked form as the strands are really thin and fine. Apparently it is a specialty of Xiamen, Fujian and essentially a Hokkien dish. It is a tradition for Hokkiens to eat mee suah at all important celebrative occasions such as birthdays, weddings & Lunar New Year.

Also, it is often referred to as food for the sick! Due to it's soft texture and usually cooked in soup, it is easy to be eaten by someone who is not feeling well.

A quick and simple recipe for Mee Suah Soup

Simple Ingredients
100 grammes of mee suah (or 2 pieces)
50 grammes of pork (sliced thinly or minced)
2 large eggs
handful of ikan bilis (anchovies)
fried sliced shallots (for garnishing)
3-4 tablespoons of cooking oil
4 soup bowls of hot water

Simple Steps

1. Heat oil in wok and fry shallots till golden brown. Remove fried shallots and set aside.
2. Leaving about 2 TBSP of oil in wok, add minced pork and saute for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Put aside
3. Add 1 TBSP of oil and fry the anchovies for 1 min.
4. Add water into wok with anchovies and bring to boil. This will act as soup base. Add mee suah and stir well. Mee suah cooks fairly, so make sure you do not over cook.
5. Add the cooked minced pork, a bit of salt to taste, once soup is boiling, scoop it up. It is ready!
6. Garnish with fried shallots prior to serving. Serves approximately 2 persons.

Please note that Mee Suah absorbs water pretty quickly so you should serve and eat immediately. If not, you will end up with soggy noodles.