Minced Meat "Loh See Fun" 老鼠粉

For those who have no idea what is "Loh See Fun" I can bet you won't like the literal translation either. "Rat's tail noodle" - how can anyone name food after a rat? But hey, if we can have a much loved rat/mouse cooking Ratatouille, I guess we should be able to take a noodle named after rat's tail :).

I can only guess the origins or how the name came about. Generally a long time ago, many Chinese would name items based on what it resembles and usually it takes the forms of animals, nature etc. So I guess, "Loh See Fun" which is a form of rice noodles, had the look of a rat's tail. I have so far seen 2 types of "Loh See Fun" - the one in my pic above are short and stubby but there is also another which look like longer strands of noodles only white in colour.

I am from Seremban, a state in Malaysia and I grew up eating Loh See Fun, a very popular dish. The ones found in Seremban are the longer strands but when I moved to KL, I discovered that they served the short and stubby ones but both are as delicious. This is my first attempt in cooking it at home.

The ingredients required are simple.

1. One pack of loh See fun - this is usually readily available in all wet markets in Malaysia.
2. Minced Meat (Pork) - marinade with salt, light soya sauce & a dash of pepper
3. Vegetable - Taugeh (Bean Sprouts)- Usually not required but I decided to add some taugeh since I have some at home.
4. Minced Garlic - about 3-4 cloves.

Simple Steps :

1) Firstly, 2 tablespoon of oil in wok to stir fry the minced garlic till fragrant.

3) Add minced meat and stir fry till cooked. Add one tablespoon of dark soy sauce. This will add colour and taste to meat. Add some water to make sauce base.

4) When ready, add in the loh see fun. Actually, beforehand there is no real need to wash the noodles but I usually put the noodles in a strainer and just let tap water run through the noodles. Please do this right before you wanna cook the noodles, if not it may get soggy. Mix well to bend with the minced meat sauce. If you feel the noodles are not dark enough, just add a bit more of the dark soy sauce.



5) Last step, just add the Taugeh (Bean Sprouts) and stir fry for another 2-3 minutes. Voila, it is ready to be served.



6) There you go, a simple and easy dish of Loh See Fun or not so famously translated as "Rat's tail noodles". Let me assure you..Yummy!