Vegetarian mee rebus

recipe

Vegetarian and former hawker Lui Yeen Chai’s mee rebus is a hit in Ubi Avenue 1.

Vegetarian and former hawker Lui Yeen Chai’s mee rebus is a hit with his customers in Ubi Avenue 1. Singapore Cooks Singapore, July 2, 2009 - Mr Lui Yeen Chai became a vegetarian 32 years ago and he has not looked back on his meat-eating days since. The 67-year-old retiree switched to a meat-free diet after a vegetarian friend convinced him of its health benefits. He says of the transition: “It came naturally and I didn’t have a hard time adjusting because I was not a big meat eater.” It also helps that Mr Lui, a former hawker, is adept at tweaking non-vegetarian recipes into meat-free dishes, so he does not find the diet restrictive. A non-vegetarian dish which the self-taught cook successfully modified is one of his favourite dishes – mee rebus, for which he shares the recipe below. The original Malay noodle dish uses dried

prawns to give the gravy a rich flavour. Instead, he increases the amount of other aromatic ingredients used for the gravy, such as candlenut, lemongrass and fermented soya bean paste, so that the taste of the noodles is preserved. He also blends the spice paste for the gravy to a coarse texture instead of a smooth consistency to give it more body. After a few tries at home, he perfected the proportions of the ingredients and decided to sell the noodles at his former vegetarian food stall at a small eatery in Ubi Avenue 1. He ran the stall for more than 20 years with his wife, Madam Heng Chen Kiow, 63, who is also a vegetarian. He says: “Vegetarian mee rebus was not commonly sold at vegetarian food stalls in the 1980s. I thought it would be a good way to attract customers.” His mee rebus quickly became popular and he would receive bulk orders from customers holding large-scale gatherings or functions. Otah (grilled fish paste) was another top-selling item at the stall. Its recipe was conceived by Madam Heng using tau kwa (firm soya beancurd) and egg to create the texture of fish paste. Other dishes sold included mock meat kway chap (organ stew) and vegetarian prawn noodle soup. In 2007, the couple retired and rented out their shop to a hawker who continues to sell vegetarian food at the stall. Mr Lui’s former customers, however, hanker after his cooking and some even call to ask him to make appearances at the stall. He obliges with fortnightly stints, much to the delight of the current tenant, whom he is friends with. He says: “I shared all my recipes with the new stallholder because I hope that he will continue, like I did, to encourage people to eat vegetarian food. But it takes time to

master these dishes.” Mr Lui, a father of two and grandfather of five, adds that there is no secret to his cooking. “I just use natural ingredients with strong flavours such as ginger, lemon juice and lime juice to season the food.” Beyond experimenting with recipes to increase his repertoire of vegetarian dishes, he also learns recipes from friends who are avid vegetarians. Some dishes he picked up include shark’s fin soup made with vermicelli, enoki mushrooms and black fungus to approximate the crunchy texture of fish cartilage, as well as tea-smoked duck made using mock meat and assam fish made using soya beancurd skin. Indeed, it was his change in diet that led him to learn to make vegetarian meals, which consequently fuelled his interest in cooking. Prior to becoming a hawker, he was a construction worker who enjoyed eating and would occasionally whip up his favourite foods. After he discovered his passion for vegetarian cooking, he decided to pursue it full-time. He ran a now-defunct vegetarian restaurant in Bendemeer Road with some partners before striking out on his own as a hawker. Although he no longer cooks professionally, he still whips up vegetarian meals at home. He retrofitted his kitchen stove at home for this purpose last year to increase the strength of the fire from one of its three burners. He says: “After being a hawker for so long, I’m used to cooking with a larger flame, the sort of fire you see at zi char stalls. The fire of home kitchen stoves, however, is so small, everything cooks much slower and I end up very ‘pek chek’.” “Pek chek” is Hokkien for frustrated. He adds that his food also has “wok hei”,

which is Cantonese for wok breath. “With the bigger flame, my food tastes better too.”

================================

MAKE IT YOURSELF: VEGETARIAN MEE

REBUS

INGREDIENTS

10 dried chillies, coarsely chopped

2 stalks lemongrass, coarsely chopped

5cm galangal, thickly sliced

10 candlenut (buah keras)

1 tsp curry powder

1.6 litres water

2 medium potatoes, cubed

2 Tbs fermented soya bean paste (tau cheo)

4 Tbs coconut milk

4 Tbs sugar

2 Tbs sweet potato starch

1kg yellow noodles

500g beansprouts

6 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced

3 deep-fried beancurd puff (tau pok), sliced

3 stalks coriander, coarsely chopped

6 stalks fresh green chilli, sliced

METHOD

1. Place the dried chillies, lemongrass,

galangal and candlenut in a food processor,

cover with water and blend for about 15

seconds on high speed until a coarse paste

forms.

2. Pour the paste into a pot, add curry powder

and 1.5 litres water. Mix well and bring to a

boil on high heat.

3. Place the potatoes in a food processor,

cover with water and blend for a few seconds

until a coarse paste forms. Set aside.

4. Blend the fermented soya bean paste for a

few seconds until a coarse paste forms. Set

aside.

5. To the boiling gravy, add the potatoes, mix

well and bring the mixture to a boil again on

medium fire. Stir continuously.

6. Add the fermented soya bean paste,

coconut milk and sugar to the gravy. Mix well.

7. Dissolve sweet potato starch in 100ml of

water and pour the mixture into the gravy

gradually while stirring to incorporate it

thoroughly. Keep the gravy warm on low fire.

(above)

8. Scald the noodles and beansprouts in

boiling water for half a minute. Drain well and

place in serving bowls. (above)

9. Ladle the gravy over the noodles and top

with hard-boiled egg, deep-fried beancurd

puff, coriander and green chilli. (above)

Serves six.