Rice Noodle Soup (Bee Thai Bak)
rice Noodle Soup (Bee Thai Bak)
November 17th, 2010 | , Malaysian Recipes, Penang Food | 2 Comments
I was reading the Flat Noodle Soup post on Eating Pleasure the other day and had a huge craving for Penang-style rice noodle soup, or Koay Teow Th’ng, which is a very common—and popular—Penang hawker food. I rushed to the market and got the ingredients for the dish. Instead of regular flat rice noodles, I bought a packet of Bee Thai Bak (米苔目), which is pretty much rice noodle but shaped differently. In Cantonese, they are called 老鼠粉, probably because of the shape of the noodles, which resemble rat droppings.
Back home in Penang, a simple rice noodle soup can be served in a few variations, using different types of noodles and toppings. I personally am a big fan of Bee Thai Bak, which is QQ (springy) and easy to eat (not much chewing needed!)…
This rice noodle soup is a great recipe as a quick lunch, especially if don’t have much time to cook. It’s hearty, filling, and tasty. For me, it fixes my craving for Penang hawker food, until I go home in a couple of months.
Serving: 2 bowls
Ingredients:
1 pack rice noodles (Bee Thai Bak), about 12 oz
1 can chicken broth, about 1 3/4 cups
1 1ǘ cups water
3 oz minced pork
6-8 fish balls
6 medium-sized shrimp, shelled and deveined
1 teaspoon fish sauce or to taste
3 dashes white pepper powder
Toppings:
Garlic oil
1 stalk scallion, cut into small rings
Method:
Heat up a pot of boiling water and blanch the rice noodles until they are cooked. Drain and set aside.
To prepare the soup, bring the chicken broth and the water to boil in a pot. Add the minced pork, fish balls, and shrimp. Boil forŁ-2 minutes or until the ingredients are cooked. Add the fish sauce and white pepper powder. Turn off the heat.
Divide the rice noodles into two serving bowls. Add the broth, garlic oil, and chopped scallion. Serve immediately.
Cook’s Notes:
- You can make the garlic oil by stir-frying some minced garlic with oil.
- If you like, you can add some shredded lettuce leaves and sliced fish cakes on top of the nood
le soup, and serve it with some cut red chilies (and bird’s eyes chilies) in soy sauce, just like the way it’s served in Penang.
