Noodles are a great option as they’re super versatile (and commonly associated with longevity).
Here, local actress Constance Song shares her homecooked mee sua recipe, which she always eats as her first meal on the first day of Chinese New Year for the past 30 years.
This mee sua cooked in chicken soup and with chicken fillets and sesame oil, and garnished with omelette and dried seaweed.
Ingredients
- 400 g chicken fillet, skin removed and cut into 5 by 3 cm slices
- 5 tsps light soya sauce
- 2 tsps sesame oil
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and white pepper, to taste
- 6½ tbsps sesame oil
- 400 g ginger, shredded
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 10-20 g ginger, sliced thinly
- 500 ml store-bought chicken stock
- 350 ml hua diao jiu (Chinese rice wine)
- 400 ml water
- 550 g mee sua (seven bundles), soaked for 2 mins before rinsing with water
- 25 g dried seaweed
Steps
In a mixing bowl, marinate chicken slices with 4 tsps light soya sauce, 2 tsps sesame oil, sugar, salt and white pepper. Set it aside for 30 mins.
In a wok set over medium heat, add 4 tbsps sesame oil and fry shredded ginger till golden brown. Set aside.
In another mixing bowl, stir 1 tsp light soya sauce into four beaten eggs. Mix well and set aside.
In a clean wok set over medium heat, add 1 tbsp sesame oil, pour egg mixture in gradually till it fills the pan. After 2 mins, use a spatula to fold the egg into half and let it cook for 2 mins. Flip the omelette to the side and let it cook for another 2 mins, till it is slightly brown. Slice the omelette into thin slices. Set aside.
In a pan set over high heat, add 1½ tbsps sesame oil, chicken and sliced ginger, and fry the chicken for 3 to 4 mins.
With chicken slices still in the wok, pour in chicken stock and let the meat cook in the mixture till it comes to a boil.
Add hua diao jiu and water, stir continuously.
Add mee sua and cook for 2 to 3 mins in the stock. Turn heat off. Use a pair of tongs to transfer mee sua into a serving bowl.
Divide mee sua and chicken into four bowls. Garnish each bowl with strips of fried omelette, fried shredded ginger and seaweed.
Photo: Nivash Joyvin/Straits Times