Pan Mee (Flat Flour Noodle Soup)

Italians has Spaghetti/Pasta as their staple and for Chinese noodles has become their essential staple. So much so that the Chinese are obsess in making all kinds of noodles, using different type of flour, making it into different shape and cooking it in different broth or serve them dry. In saying so, the dough can be cut into thin strips, hand pulled, hand rolled, extruded, peeled and kneaded. They do have a way to play with it and call it their specialty for that region.

When the Chinese exported their people to South-east Asia and other country, these people (my ancestors and friends) started to come out with a more localised noodle dish, thus in Malaysia we've Pan Mee.

A bowl of freshly made Pan Mee and condiments

While Malaysian food is not hard to find here in Perth and almost every Asian restaurant serves noodle dish, but Pan Mee is one exceptional that I don't seems to find it anywhere in Perth, except Spencer Village Food Court (but that doesn't taste as authentic as it should be). I have since then grew an obsession over Pan Mee, simply because I'm not getting any. Whenever I'm back in Malaysia for holiday, I'll eat as much Pan Mee as possible until my body expand.

Pan Mee is distinctively Malaysian Chinese cuisine, traditionally it's hand-knead and torn into small piece, or you could use a pasta machine to make them into thin strips, something like fettuccine but wider. It can be eaten with soup or toss it with special dark sauce for dry.

When one craves for something that bad, one has to be satisfied. I finally tried to get my hands in making them the other day. 

Ingredients: 

Dough

250g Plain Flour

1 no. Whole Egg

Approx. 100ml Salted Water

Broth

150g Ikan Bilis (Dried Asian Anchovies)

3lt Water

Condiments

Ikan Bilis (Dried Asian Anchovies)

200g Pork Mince
2 cloves Garlic

4no. Shitake Mushroom (reconstitute in water, then cut them into strips or diced) 

3no. Black Wood Ear Fungus (reconstitute in water, then finely shred)

Choy Sum (Traditionally uses tapioca leaves, but couldn't find it in Perth)
Spring Onion as garnish (julienne)

Black Wood Ear Fungus

To make dough:

1. Mix in flour, egg and some water until dough consistency, add more water if you feel it's too hard. (you make use a food processor or a mixer)

2. When dough is form, cover with cling film and let it rest for 30mins or until soft. 

3. When dough is ready, portion them into 4. 

Ikan Bilis fried til golden and crispy

To make condiments:
Ikan Bilis

1. Wash ikan bilis then dry them with a paper towel.

2. Fry them in hot oil, drain with paper towel.
3. Set aside.

Pork & Mushroom mix in action

Pork & Mushroom mix
1. Marinate pork with oysters sauce, pepper, sugar, salt, some soy sauce, sesame oil and Shaoxing wine.
2. Finely chop 2 cloves of garlic.
3. Marinate mushroom with some soy sauce and sugar.
4. Heat up a pan then heat up some vege oil.
5. Saute pork mince and chopped garlic for 2 mins.
6. Then add in mushroom until ready.
7. Set aside.

To make broth: 

1. Soak ikan bilis in cold water for 5 mins, drain and left dry.

2. Heat up a big pot and drizzle some veg oil.

3. Saute ikan bilis in hot oil until aromatic, then put in water and let it boil.

4. when it's boiling, turn heat down to simmer for about 1.5 hrs. 

5. Set aside.

To serve:
1. Bring about 500ml of broth to boil in a smaller pot.
2. Drizzle some vege oil on 1 portion of the dough before kneading and stretching.

3. Torn dough into small pieces (abt 2 inches), drop it into the broth. 

4. When it's floating on top of broth, use a slotted spoon to take it out, put it into a serving bowl
5. Put in shredded wood ear fungus and 1 tbls of cooked pork & mushroom mix into the soup (I like to infuse the soup with the fragrant of mushroom).
6. When it's almost ready, put in choy sum or vege.
7. Pour soup into noodle, then finish with putting fried ikan bilis, more pork & mushroom mix and spring onion.
8. If possible, serve it with blended chili with kaffir lime juice.

There you go, my favourite noodle dish of all time, it's healthy and heartwarming. I used to think it's very hard to make, but it's actually not. However, prepping the condiments takes up most of my time. Now, I have more respect to those Pan-Mee hawker seller as they do this on a daily basis.

Go try it at home, Pan-Mee is alot like pasta texture, soft, silky with a bite. I love it!