Merdeka Open House 2008: Mee and My Malaysia Round Up

UPDATED 2 Sept 2008 12:08PM for another entry. If I've missed out your entry please let me know ASAP as I may not have received your submission email.

UPDATED 1 Sept 2008 11:05am for missing out Tummythoz's entry. Thousands of apologies.

UPDATED 3:44pm for late entries (below my noodle)

Before we start, shall we pay respect to our country by singing the National anthem - Negaraku first?

NEGARAKU

Negaraku
Tanah tumpahnya darahku
Raykat hidup
Bersatu dan maju
Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta

Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta

Time really flies! I felt it was like only yesterday that I had hosted the golden jubilee open house where the theme was Muhibbah. The first was three years ago with Recipe Long Forgotten. This year I had about a month to publicise this event with the theme Mee and My Malaysia and I'm so so glad with the responses this time.

Living in Malaysia, we are never short of noodles, be it at hawker centres, restaurants, fine dining or even home. Noodles are popular here and we can find them ranging from bee hoon (rice vermicelli), koay teow (flat rice noodles), mee also known as yellow noodles, mee suah (wheat vermicelli), yee meen (deep fried noodles), fun si or also known as tang hoon (mung bean noodles), fresh egg noodles that are used in wantan mee, and others. Noodles provides us another source of carbs besides rice that accompanies our meal no matter which ethnic we are from. Noodles can be served in broth, creamy laksa, fried, in a claypot, with all sorts of ingredients and condiments - very versatile indeed.

This year, no difference but a lot simpler than the previous two as I did not imposed a story behind the dish, plus there are a lot of gives and takes haha... so let's roll out the dishes ok in no particular order.

I still clearly remember what Kong Kay served last year which errmm generated lots of curiosity. This year, the serving seems to be a lot milder coming from Kuching. Kong Kay made a killer Fried Beehoon with Kou Rou and Cabbage. The combination is great with the bee hoon soaking up the fatty oil of the kou rou (canned braised pork), a sure favourite for pork lovers.

Little Chef of Yau Tuck Sek submitted a Seremban favourite of Ah Yi Loh Shi Fun. This looks quite similar to one of mine but I can bet that this is a whole lot tastier with dried shrimps and a lot of aromatics in the sauce.

Pink Parisian of haveyoueaten.net made a hearty Chinese Rice Wine Chicken with Vermicelli (Ang Chiew Kuay Mee Suah). This rice wine enhanced soup will certainly warm up the tum nicely. I usually emptied my bowl except for the chicken bones heh.

Hailing from Sitiawan, Jessie, the Hijack Queen, made a similar dish to Pink Parisian's but Jessie uses red rice wine instead. This red rice wine is unique to the Foo Chow's community and usually only the Foo Chows would appreciate tucking into red coloured soup like this. I like this a lot cos I'm of Foo Chow origin but the sesat (lost) type *blushing*... heritage all lost when granpa married my Cantonese granma! Go on and check how to cook up Red Wine Mee Suah.

Cooking Momster, SueSue, ate this yummy Mee Bandung Muar at her Malay colleague's Raya Open House and managed to wrestle the recipe from her. However, a healthier spaghetti was used instead of yellow noodles which I allowed for this entry. I have always enjoy a bowl of hearty Mee Bandung but never knew it's quite easy to concoct.

This year, I've gotten PureGlutton to take part, showing us how to make Assam Laksa. Head on to PureGlutton to view the pictorial ingredients. Somehow, this laksa predominantly known as Penang Laksa is well received all over Malaysia. Could it be due to the sourish tang of the broth that made us hungry for more???

Fancy some Claypot Yee Min? Fantabulous option on a cold rainy day to warm up the body. Jin Hooi submitted this all the way from Melbourne, Australia via Smell & Taste Are My Memory.

My blog buddy from Netherlands, Valisa of Lekker Lekker Lekkerste contributed a lovely Laksa Lemak. With a small baby in tow on top of 2 bigger babies, she spread out 3 days to make this dish! Fret not, you can actually do so within a couple of hours without any interruptions. Thanks Lisa for taking all these pain just so to participate this year. Are you going to cook this for me when you're back?

Bride-to-be, Daphne of More Than Words managed to cook up this Mee Mamak as suggested by the groom-to-be. Mee Mamak seems like a very easy to dish out but trust me, it's not as easy as it looks. Somehow the groom-to-be is very lucky indeed to find his beloved, researching and cooking out this dish that turned out so well even though they're residing in Perth, Australia! Lack of ingredients is NOT an excuse anymore haha...

My fave Ipoh Mali Talak Sombong boy, Jason-da-luscious-lips, balik kampung (went back hometown) just to make his mom to cook something up for this party. She had cooked a Tom Yam Ipoh Hor Fun which I can imagined the broth to be hot and tangy filled with the fragrance of kaffir lime, bunga kantan and lemongrass. Served with smooth and slippery famous Ipoh hor fun (flat rice noodles)... can you feel the slurpiliciousness???

We have another version of Laksa Lemak which is different from Valisa's. Durianberry of The Gastronomic Diary version is also known as Siamese Laksa in Penang. I remember this laksa is totally different from curry laksa in terms of taste. It's slightly tangy and it's rich in santan plus flaked mackerel. The condiments are simpler too. Simple noodle dish but rich in flavour!

We should count our blessings for having access to all sorts of Asian ingredients here. Can you imagine making loh shue fun (rat tail noodles literally) on your own by rolling each and every strand with your palms and fingers??? Well LCOM of Little Corner of Mine did just that! She did enlist her little helper but heh she gave up after a while. Check out the Stir-fry Silver Needle Noodle that she had dished out. They looked exactly like those done up in a restaurant... full of wok hei!

Ken of Food Point of Interest contributed Penang Chicken Soup Lam Mee which is totally different from the lam mee found in Kuala Lumpur. This Penang version has clear broth instead of being dark and starchy. It is served with yellow noodles instead of the thick ones.

I would think this Fried Mee Hoon done up by Lianne of Imbi&Itchy's who has since moved to Germany, a firm favourite amongst Malaysian. We usually see this mee hoon dish appearing virtually at every party held! This mee hoon goes hand-in-hand with curry chicken.

Ooooo we have a submission from Manchester, UK!!! It's from no other than Hazza of A Malaysian Kitchen in Manchester. His Assorted Meat Ho Fun reminds me of wart tarn hor or commonly known as kung fu koay teow (Cantonese fried). Check out his hor fun... looked charred and smoky, just like straight out of a charcoal fire stove.

Gee, I'm so happy that passionfordecor of My Gastronomic Adventure made it this year since her updates has been sparse. I really missed her beautiful stories. This year, she made another Malaysian favourite, Siamese Noodles or more well known as Mee Siam. Well, no doubt the name is Mee Siam, rest assured this dish has been localised. Even the Singaporeans have their version of Mee Siam. I'm not sure about you but I loved my Mee Siam soaked in the piquant sauce.

Coming from North Carolina, United State, we have Kio Chap Kueh Tiaw made by the Kuishinbo~Meow~ - Fish Fish. I've never eaten this and would love to try it one day IF I get to step into Kuching. From the description, I'm already liking it as the gravy is tomato based. It will be very appetising indeed! Any Kuchingite willing to bring me makan (eating) around the meow town?

Originally from Sandakan but now residing in Kuala Lumpur, Jo of Saucing Around, Jo's Deli is serving us my favourite Pan Mee. Her version came with all the proper ingredients for Pan Mee which includes minced meat, black fungus and sayur manis! BTW, it was Jo who came up with this brilliant theme.

Fancy some homemade Chee Cheung Fun (rice rolls)??? HOMEMADE!!! WOW... I really salute Suum Cuique's Kat for painstakingly steaming and rolling her own chee cheung fun roll-by-roll. I guess one would have no choice but have to do this in Abu Dhabi. Check out her blog for the step-by-step pictorial guide.

Next we have Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippet who is now living in Pennsylvania, USA, serving us Minced Meat Noodles. I'm so ashamed of myself haha cos my version of minced meat noodles looked so barren as compared to hers. Her noodles are garnished with omelette, carrots, cucumber, lettuce and spring onions!

Another Malaysian in USA!!! Annie of House of Annie who is married to Nate (pssst he's from Honolulu, Hawaii!!!). Both of them are based in San Jose, California at the moment. Pumpkin Mee with Prawns is Annie's mum recipe. A first for me seeing pumpkin in a noodle dish, must be delish but I can be biased since I love pumpkin.

PureGlutton also submitted another favourite laksa that need no introduction... Curry Laksa that is! This homecooked version has no less ingredients okay including the must have blood cockles. Excuse me please, I need to rush off to Chinatown's Madras Lane for a bowl of Curry Laksa.

And finally my own entry... I'm serving Nyonya Lam Mee which is also known as Nyonya Birthday Noodles which is very apt for this occassion since we're celebrating Malaysia's 51st Independence. I balked at the long list of ingredients but hey... I must conquer my fear of long listed recipes! Anyway, after cooking this, I have to say it is very easy to prepare indeed.

There are a couple of late entries here, well its better late than never. First up, Cokeworld Citizen hauled back fresh kolo mee from Miri and made a Kolo Mee Cantonese style. I loved the bouncy texture of kolo mee and I can never get enough of them. Yums!

Gosh, you guys should check out Mark's family noodle!!! Mark's Makan tai kor :p made a simple delish noodles outta dried instant noodles, canned sambal ikan bilis and sauces and aptly named it Tham Mee. Simple yet so delicious with the topping of the half-boiled egg.

I like what Tummythoz of Tummy Thoughts is serving... Non-Fried Bee Hoon, easy peasy. Just cook the liquid and stir in the bee hoon and ingredients. Sounds like kerabu bee hoon huh? Must have tasted great with the sambal udang kering yumyum!

I loved small packets of mee siam wrapped in banana leaf as the leaf somehow impart a nice fragrant to the mee hoon. I'm glad to see Family First served Mee Siam on a banana leaf which I'm sure worked as well. Check out this version of mee siam which is so simple that I will try some day. Family First served this mee siam with a side of mutton curry.

I would like to thank you to all the participants for making this year's open house possible. Also to Jo of Saucing Around for the fantastic theme. So enjoy drooling over these noodles and pray we shall have another virtual party next year!

Till then... Selamat Hari Merdeka to all.

p.s.: Sorry if the alignment is all jumbled up, html codes are very Greek to me :p

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