Birthday Mee

Serves 6–8

This dish of birthday mee is also known as longevity noodles or mee Serani (Eurasian mee). As its various names suggest, this dish is typically served on birthdays as it is believed to represent longevity, hence the strands of noodles are traditionally not cut but kept long. The Eurasians always serve this dish with sambal acar nanas (page 36).

Prawns (shrimps) 300 g (11 oz)
Squid 300 g (11 oz)
Cooking oil 6 Tbsp
Pork belly 200 g (7 oz), cut into thin strips
Salt ¼ Tbsp
Light soy sauce 1 Tbsp
Water 100 ml (3½ fl oz)
Fresh yellow noodles 1 kg (2 lb 3 oz)

Chinese flowering cabbage (chye sim)
200 g (7 oz)

Bean sprouts 300 g (11 oz)
Red chilli 1, sliced
Coriander leaves (cilantro) 5 sprigs
Cucumber ½, cut into long thin trips

Paste

Garlic 6 cloves, peeled and chopped

Preserved soy bean paste (taucheo)
6 Tbsp

1.   Peel prawns, leaving tails intact. Slit prawns along the back and remove the black
intestine. Rinse well and pat dry.

2.   To clean squid, firmly pull head and body tube apart. The head and innards should slip
out of the body. Trim off innards by cutting below the eyes. Discard. Squeeze between
the eyes to remove the beak (which is located at the base of the tentacles) and
discard. Remove cartilage from inside body and discard. Rinse squid and cut into rings
about 1-cm (½-in) thick.

3.   Mash garlic and fermented soy bean paste together.

4.   Heat oil in a wok and fry paste with pork belly, prawns and squid until oil rises.
Add salt, soy sauce and water and bring to boil.

5.   Add noodles, Chinese flowering cabbage and bean sprouts. Mix thoroughly and cook
for 3 minutes. Remove from heat.

6.   Garnish with sliced chilli, coriander and cucumber. Serve hot.

NOTE

•  Slices of plain omelette are sometimes added as a garnish. To do this, beat 2–3 eggs together
and cook into thin omelettes in a lightly oiled frying pan. Roll up the omelette and slice thinly.

152

EURASIAN HERITAGE

Cooking