There's no fun like ho fun...noodles that is

One of my favourite foods is the humble noodle. They come in so many delicious forms - ho fun (rice noodle), mee hoon (vermicelli), chow mein (egg noodle), udon, ramen, soba - everyone is sure to find a noodle to please. My favourite is probably the ho fun noodle, that is, the white tape-like noodle made of rice. It's simply glorious either fried kway teow style or with an eggy sort of gravy. Of course, it can also be fried Pad Thai styleeeee, which is also scrumptious.

Stopit, now I'm drooling. I'm posting here, now, to put the recipes for Kway Teow and the gravy Ho fun (I've heard this alternatively called Wa Dan Ho Fun or Chub Bwee Chow Hor at restaurants I've been to - that spelling being my attempts at recreating the phonetics). I promised my friend Mellama that I would give her my recipes..so here we go. I've not found a recipe for the latter (which has been my ultimate noodle heaven for many years) on the web, but have experimented until I have developed something that ..well, that I like.

For future note, unless I state otherwise, all recipes posted here are either heavily adapted from other recipes or completely made up by me.



Chub Bwee Chow Hor
1/3 - 1/2 a packet of Rice Noodles (Ho Fun)
1/2 a stock cube (chicken or veggie are best - I use knorr)
some boiling water, about 250mL
soya sauce
1-2 tsp cornflour
oil for frying - something bland like sunflower is best
1 egg (optional - if you don't like 'em, don't add them)
some veggies (pak choi or bok choi would be ideal, otherwise I go for cabbage and carrots)
optional meat/s* (prawns are good)

1. If you've bought dried ho fun, you will need to soak these in boiling water for about 5 mins. Drain. If you're lucky enough to have fresh, you'll just need to rinse them in boiling water.

2. Heat the oil. Set your heat to max.

3. Once the oil is hot, plop your noodles in the pan. Splash some soya sauce all over them (not huge amounts, they should just go a faint brown). Fry them for 2-5 mins.

4. Put the noodles on a plate, then put the pan back on the heat. Put the ingredients which will take longest to cook (e.g. carrots or cabbage) in first, then add the chicken stock cube plus water (you could just mix up half a stock cube's worth beforehand, but I just throw things in and mix it about). Turn down the heat to medium. Cover if you have a lid, and leave it for 5 mins to soften. Add any other ingredients (other veg, quick cooking ingredients if you're adding them).

5. Mix up the cornflour with a little cool water. Stir.

6. Beat your egg (if you're adding it), then turn off the heat. Add the egg and stir your mixture and let the egg cook in the existing heat. Add a little splash of soya sauce.

7. Once the egg has just cooked through, pour your sauce mix over your noodles. Serve immediately.

Note, ho fun doesn't really reheat well, so eat up! The quantities here are for one greedy Sonata-sized portion (so maybe 1.5-2 normal people). People who know me will understand this.