Hae Mee, Prawn Noodle, or Penang Hokkien Noodle

Hae Mee, Prawn Noodle, or Penang Hokkien Noodle is a popular street food in Malaysia. The slightly spicy, sweet, and savory soup for this delicious noodle is made with sambal paste, whole prawns, prawns' heads & shells, and chunks of pork ribs, or chicken bones. This noodle recipe will take about a couple of hours to prepare; but, if you like prawns like I do, then chances are you will enjoy this tasty noodle soup.



*This is an updated post with a new video cooking guide. (Previously posted on 02/06/13)

Hae Mee, Prawn Noodle, or Penang Hokkien Noodle

Ingredients

Soup Base 1 (Chicken Stock)
6 Pcs (1.5 Kg) Chicken Carcass
80 grams Dried Anchovies/Ikan Bilis, rinsed
15 to 16 Cups of Water

Soup Base 2
800 grams Prawn Shells & Head
80 grams Dried Shrimps
4 Cups of Water
50 to 60 grams Rock Sugar
4 to 5 Tbsp Peanut Oil
Sea Salt, to taste

Sambal Paste
60 grams Dried Chilies, cut into smaller pieces, soaked with boiling water, and drained well
4 Fresh Red Chilies, chopped
10 (200 grams) Shallots, peeled and chopped
5 Cloves Garlic
2 tsp Roasted Belachan
1/2 Cup of Peanut Oil
¼ tsp Sea Salt
1 to 2 Tbsp Palm Sugar

Topping
500g Peeled Prawns
2 tsp Chili Powder
300 grams Blanched Water Spinach
250 grams Blanched Bean Sprouts
6 to 8 Hard-Boiled Eggs
1/2 Cup Fried Shallots
200 to 300 grams Cooked Rice Vermicelli (Bee Hoon)
150 to 200 grams Yellow Noodles, blanched

Method

For the Soup Base 1 (Chicken Stock): Combine chicken carcass, dried anchovies (place in a herb bag), and water. Bring it to a boil, and lower the heat. Simmer for about an hour. Strain into a clean soup pot.

Soup Base 2: Heat a stockpot, with about 4 to 5 Tbsp of the oil. When the oil is hot, add dried shrimps, and cook until crispy. Then add the prawn head and shells. Stir-fry until the shells are crispy and fragrant. Add about 4 to 5 cups of Soup Base 1 (Chicken Stock),and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes

While, the prawn soup base is simmering, blend together the soak dried chilies, shallots, garlic, and belachan. Then heat up a wok or pot, add the peanut oil and cook the sambal until fragrant, season with sea salt and palm sugar. Remove half of the cooked samba paste (for the soup base 2).

In the same wok or pan with the remainder sambal paste, add the prawns and cook over moderate to high heat, Stir-fry briefly until the prawns are cooked.

When the soup base 2 is ready, switch off the heat. Blend the prawn shells, head, and dried shrimps until finely. Then strain the mixture with a fine sieve into the soup base1. Add the reserved sambal paste, rock sugar and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Season the soup with sea salt, and adjust the seasoning with extra sugar, if necessary.

Then prepare the rest of the ingredients. Cook the rice vermicelli according to the package instructions. Blanch the yellow noodles, water spinach (KangKung), and Bean Sprouts (Taugeh).

To serve the Hae Mee: Place a portion of rice vermicelli, yellow noodles, water spinach, bean sprouts, sambal prawns and egg in a bowl. Ladle the hot stock and sprinkle with deep fried shallots and served immediately.