Char Bee Hoon (Fried Rice Vermicelli)

If I were back in Singapore, this would be breakfast - at a hawker centre. My mother also makes fantastic char bee hoon - for breakfast, for parties, for picnics - it's a versatile dish for big groups (and leftovers). One of my fondest memories of growing up in Singapore was my mother frying up a big wok of bee hoon, a pot of curry chicken with a few loaves, and my whole family would take this simple Asian feast out for a warm tropical afternoon by the beach. Not quite the sandwich people, my family. =)

The key to this dish is good stock and colour. Carrots and chilis add red, scallions green, radish and the noodles themselves white/yellow. Since we also eat with our eyes, the toss of colour goes a long way to making this an enticing dish. It is a very versatile dish, however, so don't worry if you don't have one or two of the vegetables, or any meat for that matter. It's also a great way to use up leftovers.

RECIPE: CHAR BEE HOON (FRIED RICE VERMICELLI)
Cooking time: 20 mins
Serves: 6

Equipment: One big wok

A - Preparation
1 packet of white rice vermicelli
5-7 dried shiitake mushrooms

B - Vegetables
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2" ginger root, minced
1 handful of bean sprouts
2-3 stalks scallions, julienned
1-2 carrots, julienned
2" daikon/radish root, julienned
2-3 red chillis, de-seeded and julienned

C - Seasoning
1 jug of chicken stock (or water)
Kecap manis (sweet dark soya sauce, or use black soya sauce with 1-2 tsp of sugar)
White pepper

D - Protein
5-6 Eggs
Cooked meat (e.g. leftover chicken breast, shredded, prawns, luncheon meat, fried and cut, Chinese fish cake)

*****

A - Soak the white rice vermicelli in a bowl of cold water for 30 mins. Soak to the mushrooms in hot water for 30 mins to reconstitute them. Cut off the stems with a pair of kitchen shears and slice them in strips afterwards. Save the mushroom water as stock for later on.

B - Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a big wok. Fry the garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add the rest of the vegetables and stir-fry in the wok for 3 mins.

C - Add the vermicelli, stock, a few swirls of kecap manis and 1 tbsp of white pepper into the wok. Flip the ingredients a few times to mix them up. When the stock is boiling, lower the heat and let the vermicelli soak up the liquids, flipping occasionally and adding more liquid as needed. The goal is to get the vermicelli to soak up all the liquid until it is very dry and let it dry-fry for a few minutes. The whole process will take approx. 15-20 mins. Season according to taste.

D - When the vermicelli is done, push the whole lot to one side of the wok as far as possible. In the empty space, heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil. Crack the eggs in and scramble with the wok ladle. When the eggs are fried and done, flip them together with the vermicelli and serve with some sambal belacan (chili paste) or sriracha.

Voili! Fried bee hoon.