Fried Henghua Beehoon

As the name tells, this Henghua Beehoon is a dish of the Henghuas.  During the days of my parents-in-law this dish is often cooked in their kitchen, but today, how many younger generation Henghuas know how to prepare and cook them.  I am glad that I have the opportunity to learn to cook this dish from my late mum-in-law and continue to enjoy this special and unique dish.  Why is it unique?? Well, the beehoon used is not the normal type, instead its the 'fine' type.  Have you ever seen or cook it before??

I bought this beehoon from a friend's grocery shop at 3rd mile and she told me that she have made several attempts to cook this fine noodles but failed, as the beehoon will lump and stick together.  Extra care have to be taken when cooking because of its fine texture. Most home-cooked will assume that to loosen the noodles you need to soak them in water like the normal beehoon, but it's not the case.  What is required is just wash them in running tap water with a colander underneath, at the same time use our fingers to loosen out the beehoon and drain. Soaking it will makes it lump and stick together during cooking.

So, that's it, let me get on with the cooking....

Ingredients needed:

• a packet of Hsinhua Fine Beehoon (picture above) - washed and drained
• chye sim (washed and cut into 1" pieces (separate the stems from the leaves)

• 4 pieces dried mushrooms (soaked and cut into pieces)
• 3 onions (peeled and sliced)
• 3 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)

• 2 eggs 

• Stewed pork (cut into chunks, put the meat and sauce into separate bowls)

Seasonings:

Salt (if needed)

Grounded white pepper 

Methods:

1. In a large wok, add a tbsp of oil, swirl the sides of the wok, lightly beat the egg and add into the oil, scramble, dish and put aside for later use.
2. In the same wok add 2 tbsp cooking oil, fry the onions and garlic, just before brown add in the mushrooms and stir-fry till fragrant.
3. Add in the stewed pork, give it a quick stir, then in goes the beehoon and stir to mix. Add in 1/2 of the sauce and stir to combine.  Taste for correct seasoning, for my case my sauce is tasty enough, so I do not add extra salt to season the dish.
4. Add in the rest of the sauce as and when necessary, then in goes the stems of the chye sim follow by the leaves. For information I use the whole bowl of sauce.  In this case my noodles are not soaked, so it needs more sauce to cook the beehoon, taste the beehoon to ensure that it is fully cooked.
5. Drizzle grounded white pepper over the dish and stir to combine.
6. Off the heat, dish on a serving plate.
7. Serve with sliced chillies, juice of small limes and light soy sauce.

Notes:  For the older version this Henghua Beehoon is served topped with fried peanuts, black seaweeds and slices of fried eggs.