Seafood Fried Ho Fun

I used to work as a kitchen hand in this restaurant more than 10 years ago when I was studying at the nearby University of Western Australia (UWA). Those days it was owned by a Hong Kong couple, the wife took care of PR and recruitment while the husband was back in the kitchen busy cooking. I wasn't too keen of their food back then because they cater to the Australian market so you would find fried rice with potato chips for example, something that tells you that it is not authentic Asian cuisine.

So I visited Sunflower Chinese Food Village again recently not because of the food but just hope to catch up with my ex-colleagues and boss. I found out that it has changed ownership instead. The interior of the restaurant does not changed much but there were completely new faces working around. I flipped through the new menu without placing high expectation and ordered Seafood Fried Ho Fun. Ho Fun is a flat rice noodle that is very popular in Cantonese dish.

My order came quite soon and I was glad to see the big portion considering that I was in the middle of winter that time. To my astonishment the Ho Fun was so smooth and with the delicious gravy blanketed all over it on top just made it so warm and tasty. They were also very generous with the scallops which is my personal favourite. Big chunky scallops sweetened your taste bud made you crave for more. The whole experience was unexpected and a surprise to me because I never thought it would taste so good. Although it costs slightly more expensive than elsewhere but with the big portion and plenty of seafood, it was value for money.

Recipe Of Koay Teow Th'ng

When compared to other Penang noodle dishes, Koay Teow Th’ng (Flat Rice Noodle Soup) is probably the plainest of them all. It comes in a clear meat-based broth accompanied by fish balls, fish cake slices and shredded chicken although some hawker uses duck meat as well.

Stock:

·         2 liters of water

·         1 chicken, quartered

·         1 chicken carcass, in pieces

·         200g pork bones

·         1 teaspoon of smashed white peppercorns

·         1 teaspoon of sugar

·         1 teaspoon of salt

·         600g of scalded flat rice noodles (Koay Teow)

·         180g of blanched bean sprouts

Toppings:

·         300g of shredded chicken meat

·         15 fish balls

·         2 chopped stalks spring onions

·         Lard oil and crisps

·          Garlic oil and crisps

Dipping Sauce

·         6 – 8 sliced bird’s eye chilies

·         3 tablespoon of light soy sauce

How To Prepare The Stock:

After water is boiled, add in the chicken, chicken carcass, pork bones and peppercorns. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 30 – 40 minutes. Strain stock into clean pot and season to taste with sugar and salt. Shred about 300g of chicken meat and set aside for the topping later.

How To Serve:

Bring stock back to a boil. Place a serving of Koay Teow and bean sprouts in a bowl. Top with shredded chicken. Cook 3 or 4 fish balls in the boiling stock and add to the bowl together with the hot stock. Garnish with spring onion, a teaspoon of lard oil and crisps, and a teaspoon of garlic oil and crisps. Serve with the chili and soy dipping sauce.