FRIED BEEF HOR FUN IN BLACK BEAN SAUCE

Fried beef hor fun is such a common dish among the Cantonese. It is served either ‘dry’ or bathed in thick savory sauce. To be considered a notch above the others, a hor fun needs to be perfumed with wok hei. Yes, the Cantonese, of all dialect groups, hold wok hei in highest esteem. A good chef must have mastered the advanced stir-fry techniques that allow him to deliver power-packed wok hei to certain dishes. And fried hor fun is definitely one of these.

Wok hei is most effectively achieved when the iron wok is heated to smoking point. Oil is then added to increase the heat as well as to lubricate the food that is to be fried. The contents of the wok are tossed and swirled, the addition of more oil coupling with the intense heat to flambé the ingredients. The fumes and aroma thus created is captured in, and perfumes the dish, producing the prized wok hei.

In the past, Cantonese cze cha stalls would use black bean paste in many of their dishes including braised fish bee hoon, braised pork ribs with bitter gourd, and claypot braised fish head. These dishes were very popular then, but the availability of new sauces such as Kam Heong and Tom Yam have seen them decline somewhat.

 Fried Beef Hor Fun in Black Bean Sauce

Beef                             200 g, sliced about 2 mm thick, across the grain

Oil                                1/3 cup

Chye sim                     2 stalks, julienned

Hor fun                        450 g

Garlic                            2, minced

Bean sprout                 50 g

Salt                                ½ tsp

Dark soy sauce            ½ tbsp

Onion                           ½, sliced thickly

Red chilli                      1, julienned

Chinese wine               2 tbsp

Meat stock                   2 cup

Sesame oil                   ½ tsp

Potato flour                 1 tbsp, mixed with 1 tbsp of water 

Egg                               2, beaten lightly

White pepper             ½ tsp

Fried shallots               2 tbsp

Spring onion               1 sprig, julienned

Marinade:

Apple juice                   2 tbsp, used as natural tenderizer, optional

Light soy sauce            1 tbsp

Ginger juice                  1/3 tsp

Chinese wine                1 tbsp

White pepper              1/3 tsp

Sesame oil                    1 tbsp

Potato flour                  1 tsp

Sauce paste– mixed well and reduced to a paste under low heat

Peanut oil                     2 tbsp

Black bean                    2 tbsp, minced coarsely

Yellow bean paste      1 tbsp, mashed

Sugar                            ½ tbsp

Garlic                            2, minced finely

Red chilli                       1, minced finely

Water                            4 tbsp

Method:

1. Marinate beef and chill for at least one hour.
2. Heat wok or stainless steel pan until hot. Pour 1 tbsp of oil. Swirl. Add another tbsp of oil. Fry chye sim for 30 seconds. Add hor fun. Swirl hor fun with a spatula in a circular movement. Do not lift hor fun high with the spatula or you risk breaking it into small strands. When hor fun turns slightly golden, push it to one side of the wok. Add ½ tbsp of oil and garlic, give it a good toss and stir in hor fun. Add bean sprout, dark soy sauce and salt, and give it a final toss. Divide hor fun into individual plates. The whole process shouldn’t take more than 4 minutes.
3. Using the same wok, add remaining oil. Saute onion and chilli in medium heat until onion turns transparent.
4. Add sauce paste, sugar and mix thoroughly.
5. Increase heat to high. Add marinated beef and toss the pan continuously. Pour Chinese wine along the sides of the wok, allowing them to dribble to the center.
6. Pour in meat stock and let it boil for 15 seconds.
7. Lower heat to medium. Thicken the sauce with potato starch. The sauce should be slightly watery (not too gluey). Turn off the heat and pour egg mixture into the sauce, at the same time using the spatula to stir slowly in one direction.
8. Scoop gravy onto the fried hor fun in their individual servings.
9. Garnish it with white pepper, fried shallots and spring onion.

Note: Instead of boiling the sauce paste, it could be fried until all its ingredients (except water) have caramelized, and then simmer it into paste.

Sambal Udang Kering – Simple but Back Breaking!

I loved this dish as a kid but I didn’t get to eat it often. In fact, I don’t even eat it often nowadays. What put me off from eating and cooking it? I don’t really have an answer.

Photo by Mark Ong

Suffice to say, Sambal Udang Kering or Hae Bee Hiam has always been one of those dishes in my “out of sight, out of mind” list. Still, it is a well-loved dish that appears, in some form, in the cuisine of the Malays, Peranakans, and Chinese. Each ethnicity -- even each household -- had its own version.

The ingredients are simple; what is needed in buckets is patience and tolerance of heat, because you need to stir-fry the rempah for at least an hour! For those in the mood to indulge, you can even drop in a few lard crisps before eating. Best of all, Sambal Udang Kering tastes delicious even when it is eaten simply, like sprinkled over a bowl of rice or on buttered bread.

This is how I cook my version of it …

Hae Bee Hiam or Sambal Udang Kering

Peanut oil                    ½ cup

Sugar                           3 tbsp

Shallots                       300 g, chopped

Red chillies                  300 g, chopped

Dried shrimps             200 g, minced

Garlic                           500 g, finely chopped

Salted fish                    25 g, deep-fried and crushed (optional)

Pork crisps                  25 g (optional)

Salt                              1 tsp

Rempah (ground into paste)

Dried chillies               25 g, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes and drained

Belachan                      25 g, toasted

Lemongrass                2 stalks, white part only and bashed

Candlenut                    50 g

Hae bee hiam is so versatile that it makes a
great condiment for pan-fried radish cake.

Method:

1.    Heat oil in medium heat. Sweat sugar, shallots, chillies and rempah for 20 minutes.

2.    Add dried shrimps and garlic. Continue to sauté the mixture for another 8 minutes.

3.    Add salted fish and pork crisps (optional). Season with salt.

4.    Continue to fry until mixture is dried out.

5.    Let it cool and store in a bottle.

There’s Nothing Like Oxtail

I have a soft spot for any dish that contains oxtail. Although this animal part seldom sat on my family’s dinner table, I’ve always loved its rich robust flavor. And I’m always on the lookout for it whatever the cuisine. I haven’t had much luck, though, searching for oxtail in Chinese cuisine; I’ve done much better with Malay and western food.

I remember that when I served oxtail at the restaurant I used to own in Hong Kong, it would draw ooohs and aahhs whenever the lid was lifted off the pot, because the space would immediately fill with its luscious aroma.

The following recipe is the one I used in Hong Kong.

Oxtail Stew with Guinness

Oxtail                          750 g

Plain flour                   4 tbsp

Oil                               4 tbsp

Onion                         2, chopped coarsely

Carrot                          2, diced 

Celery                         4 stalks, diced

Potato                         2, diced

Button mushroom     150 g, halved

Salt                              1 tsp

Butter                          2 tbsp

Bacon                          100 g, diced

Garlic                           5 cloves

Shallot                         5

Red wine                     ¼ cup

Tomato paste              3 tbsp

Guinness stout            1 can

Coconut juice              1 cup

5-spice powder           1 tbsp

Lemongrass                 2, bashed

Salt                               1 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat oven at  180 degree C.
2. Dust oxtail with flour. Brown oxtail with oil. Set aside.
3. Saute the vegetables and salt with the remaining oil in the French oven for 5 mins. Lower the heat, cover the pan, and sweat the vegetable for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside.
4. Saute bacon, garlic and shallots with 1 tbsp of butter. Return oxtail to the pot and deglaze it with red wine. Add tomato paste and stir well.
5. Pour Guinness stout and coconut juice into the pot. Add 5-spice powder and lemon grass.
6. Put parchment paper directly onto surface of the stew. Make sure parchment paper covers the surface completely.
7. Cover the lid and bake for 1½ hours.  Add the sauted vegetable and continue to bake for another 30 minutes.
8. Season with salt and serve.