Mee Rebus (Noodle in Gravy)

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lb Fresh yellow egg or chowmein noodles
• 6 Cups beef stock
• 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 Candlenuts
• 2 tbsp Chili paste
• 1 tbsp Coriander powder
• 1/2 Inch turmeric root
• 1 Inch fresh galangal
• 20 Shallots
• 2-4 Small sweet potatoes, peeled, cooked and mashed
• Salt to taste



For Garnishing:

• 10 Shallots, thinly sliced and fried golden brown
• 4 Pre-fried tofu or soy bean cakes, cut into small cubes
• 2-3 Dried squids, reconstituted in water or fresh squid cleaned, boiled and cut into rings or bite size
• 4 Cups bean sprouts, briefly blanched
• 4-6 Prawn fritters or crackers, fried and broken into small pieces
• 3-4 Hard boiled eggs, cut in wedges
• 2 Potatoes, peeled boiled, sliced
• 3-4 Limau kasturi, cut into halves
• 4 Fresh red Serrano chilies, thinly sliced


Cooking Instructions:

• Grind candlenuts, chili paste, turmeric root, shallots, galangal and coriander powder into a fine paste.
• Heat pot on medium flame, add vegetable oil.
• Cook paste until quite toasted.
• Add about 5-1/2 cups beef stock, bring it to a boil.
• Slowly add the mashed potato to the stock, till a gravy-like consistency is reached.
• Add salt , decrease the heat to low, simmer gently 8 to10 minutes, add more mashed sweet potato if gravy is too thin or more beef stock if the gravy is too thick, keep gravy hot on the low-medium heat, for serving.
• Take an another pot, pour about 6 cups water, bring it to a boil, for blanching bean sprouts and warming up noodles.
• Blanch a handful of bean sprouts in the warm water, dish into a soup-plate.
• Now put a serving portion of noodles in the sieve, dunk in the warm water briefly to warm up and top it on the bean sprouts.
• Ladle piping warm gravy over noodles.
• Top with a little of each garnishing.