Mee Rebus

A popular dish served in Singapore and Malaysia - yellow noodles served with a thick & spicy sweet-potato/peanut gravy and garnished with chopped spring onions, fried shallots, bean sprouts, fried bean curd, hard-boiled egg, chopped green chillies & calamansi lime.  This recipe has been passed down by my mother.  The preparation may seem to be time-consuming but do not let it hinder you because it is simple to cook and tastes excellent.

Ingredients (serves 4-6):
400 g beef (tetel lembu), to be cook with a little water until tender, then cut into small bite pieces
3 tbsp meat curry powder
100 g peanuts (skinless), to be fried without oil and finely grounded
80 g red sugar (gula tanjung) or brown sugar
30 g sugar
salt to taste
500 ml water or more depending on the consistency of gravy

50 g fermented soybean paste (tau cheow), to be blended together with 50 ml water
250 g sweet potatoes (orange), to be boiled or steamed until tender, then blended together with 150 ml water
3 tbsp cornflour, to be mixed with 2 tbsp water (to thicken gravy)

*A* Ingredients to be blended together:
30 g dried anchovies, to be soaked in warm water until soft and rinsed
50 g dried udang geragau/geraguk, to be soaked in warm water until soft and rinsed (one can use dried prawns instead of udang geragau/geraguk)

udang geragau/garaguk (left) & anchovies (right)

*B* Blended/Pounded Ingredients:
6 stalks dried red chillies, to be cut into pieces and soaked with warm water until soft
1 medium-sized onion, to be peeled and coarsely chopped
4 red shallots, to be peeled and coarsely chopped
2 pips garlic, to be peeled and coarsely chopped
1 lemon grass, to be sliced
1 cm fresh turmeric, to be peeled and sliced
1 cm fresh galangal, to be peeled and sliced
1 cm fresh ginger, to be peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
100 ml water

Ingredients for garnishing:
5 hard-boiled eggs, to be shelled and halved
250 g bean sprouts, to be plucked
1 block bean curd, to be sliced, deep-fried and cut into cubes
4 green chillies, to be sliced
3 spring onions, to be sliced into fine rings
fried shallots
5 calamansi limes (limau kasturi) or limes, to be halved

4-5 tbsp cooking oil
500 g yellow mee or cooked spaghetti

Method:
All blended ingredients:

From top:  sweet potato, spices, soybean paste and anchovies/udang geragau

In a big pot, heat cooking oil over medium heat.  Add in *A*, *B*, curry powder, chopped peanuts & blended soybean paste and fry until fragrant.  Then, add in blended sweet potato and beef.  Stir well.

Bring to a light boil and add in both types of sugar.  Then, add cornflour/water mixture to thicken gravy to your preference.  Check seasoning - you may want to add sugar & salt to taste.  Simmer gently for about 10 minutes.

To serve, blanch a portion noodles and bean sprouts in boiling water.  Drain well and add to serving bowl.  Pour enough gravy over noodles and garnished with chopped spring onions, fried shallots, bean curd cubes, sliced green chillies, half an egg and half a lime.

Bon Appetit!