My Signature Fried Vermicelli :)

When I was young, my mom used to cook flour vermicelli for me when I was sick or rather when anyone of us were sick. So , vermicelli or ‘ mee suah as the Hokkien say or meen seen as the Cantonese say ’ is associated with ‘ taken when sick’. But today, vermicelli has become a famous noodles sold by hawkers all over the country. It can be prepared with basic soups or fried with bean sprouts and prawns. Sitiawan, a up and coming town in Perak, is famous for this noodles cooked in red rice wine. I bought all my rice vermicelli from Sitiawan. They are famous for it. Only recently, I grew to like it. I had my first taste of fried vermicelli with bean sprouts and prawns in Penang last year. I went to attend a government seminar and put up in Hotel Malaysia. Next to it was a food court called Red Garden Food Court. We had our dinner/ supper there. I was more adventurous, I tried their fried vermicelli . The vermicelli was not soggy at all and it was so tasty that I went for a few more helpings before I left Penang :)))))

Since then, I came back home and tried my hands at frying vermicelli…haha after a few attempts I managed to get it right. It has become my signature noodles (“,) My Piggies love it too.
For dinner yesterday, I fried vermicelli with bittergourd, prawns and egg. It was well done and we finished it in seconds!!!
I ate it with WASABI (“,) It goes well with the prawns…hmmmm it was so yummilicious . Haha…I am Wasabi Queen and I can’t live without WASABI!!!! :)))))) I have Wasabi with my meals almost everyday. I eat it with fish and any meat dish…can ??? I still have two cans of wasabi powder…crazy …right? :)))
Wasabi being "hot and fiery without burning," which changes to a sweetness that lingers in the mouth makes it so darn addictive.

I googled and found this interesting fact about wasabi. It has more goodness than meets the eye.

• wasabi's effectiveness against stomach cancer cells.
• wasabi may be effective against the tooth-adhering ability of the bacteria Streptococcus mutans, thus inhibiting dental plaque and decay.
• The risk of hormone-related malignancies, such as breast and prostate cancer, may also be lowered.
• wasabi's ability to stimulate the liver and gallbladder, aiding in the digestion of fatty foods and the processing of food nutrients.
• wasabi include its effectiveness against diarrhea, blood clots, inflammation, and asthma.Its pungent aroma may help relieve sinusitis and bronchitis.
• wasabi reportedly also contains potassium, calcium, and vitamin C.
• Wasabi's antiparasitic, antimicrobial, and antibiotic abilities may be preventive against food poisoning. (notes from http://www.answers.com/topic/wasabi?cat=health )

Sorry I have digress, back to the recipe for the above fried vermicelli.

Signature Fried Vermicelli

Ingredients:

3 pieces vermicelli (3 pieces for 2 persons)
Half bittergourd – sliced thinly (can substitute with your fav. Greens)
10 medium-sized prawns – cleaned and deveined
1 egg - beaten
3 pips of garlic – chopped finely
4 chili padi – slice thinly
2 tbsp of olive oil

Mix tog sauce/seasoning:
4 tbsp of water
½ tsp of black sauce
1.5 tbsp of oyster sauce

Method:
Boil ½ pot of water. When water boiled , put in the dried vermicelli and stirred till it loosen. Once loosen, take out and run over cold water and drained dry. Put aside.
Meanwhile , heat up the olive oil in a non stick wok, sautéed the garlic and chili padi, then add in the prawns. Dish up the prawns and keep aside. Add in the bittergourd and fry till half cook, add in the beaten egg and fry till it is cooked. Add in the vermicelli and use a chopstick, loosen the vermicelli up and add in the mixture of seasoning and stir fry till the vermicelli is dry and well mixed together with the bittergourd and eggs. Add in the cooked prawns and stir fry for a min and dish up. Serve hot.

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