Curry Flavored Beehoon/Rice Vermicelli Stir-Fry 咖哩炒米粉

Mister approved. In fact, he was asking for more even weeks after.

Curry flavored beehoon/rice vermicelli stir-fry 咖哩炒米粉 - 

Ingredients (about 3 to 4 portions)?

• 200 grams beehoon/rice vermicelli
• 500 grams thick-cut fatty pork slices
• 300 grams shrimps 
• 2 eggs
• 1 small green bell pepper
• 1 small yellow bell pepper
• 1 small red bell pepper
• 1 small purple onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice cooking wine
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• Some salt
• Some preferred light-tasting cooking oil (olive oil is fine too)

How?

Usually you'll get the beehoon/rice vermicelli in dried form. I'm using 100% rice-made beehoon so it's quite fragile. Be sure to only use the room temperature/chill water to soak the beehoon, not hot water. 100% rice beehoon will break easily if you soak it in hot water.

Soak the beehoon till it spreads apart. It shouldn't take long. On top of that, we're going to stir-fry it soon after so the beehoon doesn't need to be in the water for long. Just wait till beehoon spreads out, doesn't need to be fully softened. Once ready, drain and set aside.

Cut the pork to bite size pieces. Peel and devein the shrimps. Remove the pits and stems for all the bell peppers then slice to strips. Peel and chop the garlic cloves. Peel and slice the onion.

Marinate the pork with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Give it a quick massage then set aside.

Marinate the shrimps with 1 tablespoon of Chinese rice cooking wine. Also give it a quick massage and set aside. 

Beat the eggs with 1/8 teaspoon of salt and set aside.

Prepare a wok, drizzle just 1 tablespoon of oil and switch to medium heat. Pour in beaten egg and make scrambled eggs. Break the eggs to smaller pieces during the process. Scoop out for later use.

Wipe the wok clean then drizzle 1 more tablespoon of oil, medium heat also. Once the oil warms up, add in the pork and cook till almost slightly browned. Add in the shrimp and stir-fry till almost cooked-through. Scoop them out for later use.

Wipe the wok clean again and drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil. Use medium heat and transfer the onion slices over. Cook till the onion turns slightly golden brown on the edges. Add in all the bell pepper strips together with 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Stir-fry for about a minute then scoop out for later use.

Wipe the wok clean. This time, drizzle enough oil to evenly coat the bottom of the wok. Use medium heat and add in the garlics. Cook till aromatic but not burnt. Add 1 tablespoon of curry powder and 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder. Give it a quick stir-fry.

Add in drained beehoon and try to mix together with the spices. It might be hard to even the spices out but it'll get better once we add back other ingredients.

Add the cooked veggies, pork, shrimps, and eggs to the wok and give it a few mixes.

Season with 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, and 2 teaspoons of fish sauce. Cook till evenly mixed with the beehoon. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.

Plate and serve. I'd like to enjoy mine with additional Sriracha sauce. Mister likes to eat it straight since the curry powder can be a bit of spicy for him already.

He really love this dish, I can totally tell by the speed Mister munched down the entire bowl of beehoon. I guess there will be more beehoon recipes in the future solely for him. Food makes him happy too.

Extended reading:

• Simple but indulgent - chili garlic noodles for one 
• Taiwanese curry and beef stir-fry noodles 咖哩牛肉炒麵
• Pidan/century egg noodles for one 皮蛋拌麵

Manuka Honey Cookies

This recipe was derived from Sugar Spun Run but with a few modifications of my own. I changed the ingredients and the amount used. Mostly lowered the sugar but still ended up with pretty sweet cookies. So if you don't consider yourself a sweet-tooth person, here's my version of honey cookies using super high quality Manuka honey.

Manuka honey cookies -

Ingredients (about 36 pieces)?

Wet ingredients - 

• 1 cup/226 grams unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup high quality honey
• 180 grams granulated sugar
• 40 grams brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg

Dry ingredients - 

• 3 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Other - 

• Some granulated sugar for rolling

How?

Leave the butter out under room temperature till softened but not melted. Once ready, add that to a big mixing bowl. I simply use the stand mixer bowl.

Also add 180 grams of granulated sugar, 40 grams of brown sugar, 1/3 cup of Manuka honey, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract to the bowl.

Mix till almost blended. Add in one egg and mix till incorporated.

Take another big bowl and add in all the ingredients listed under the "dry ingredients" section.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches. Once adding the dry ingredients, blend a bit then continue to add more dry ingredients. Scrape down the ingredients sticking onto the sides if needed during the process. Repeat till both the dry and wet ingredients are evenly blended together. 

Form the dough into a big round ball with hands. I actually transfer the dough to another bowl instead so it can fit in my fridge. Cover the bowl with cling foil and let it chill in the fridge for 60 minutes.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit/190 degrees Celsius. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Prepare a small bowl or plate on the side filled with some granulated sugar.

Take the dough out from the fridge. It'll seem too hard to work with but as soon as the dough is in contact with body temperature, the texture will be like a Play-Doh and easy to work with.

Use a scoop or simply measure by hand, pick out a smaller amount of the dough and roll into ball-shape. Roll the dough with granulated sugar then place onto the parchment paper. Leaving some space in between each dough.

Into the oven for 10 minutes or till the cookies turn golden brown color. The cookies can be on the softer side when just taking out from the oven, let them cool on rack for 10 minutes, also allow some time for the cookies to harden.

I had to bake the cookies in two separate batches. So for my first batch, I shaped the cookies like individual balls. For the second batch, I gently pressed down and flattened the doughs instead then dip in granulated sugar.

Either shape works fine but if I had to pick, I prefer the fluffier-looking semi-sphere shaped cookies. It's slightly airier in the center. 

Doesn't matter the shape, both cookies turn out smelling so fine. 

High quality Manuka honey really played a role here acting as the main flavor agent. I stored these cookies in an air-tight container. Every time I opened it up that honey aroma just literally "pouring" right out. It's like I'm enjoying these cookies first with my nose, then soon followed with my cravings. 

Other cookie recipes:

• Foolproof rustic lemon cookies
• Super addicting M&M's chocolate chip cookies