For a change…

When I was growing up, we would be delighted to come across any kulat ta’un that used to grow wild in the jungle and was believed to sprout out of dead tree trunks whenever there was a thunderstorm. We would fry it with egg and ginger or cook soup with it and I loved eating mee sua in the soup as it tasted exactly like chicken soup. Well, unfortunately, that variety of mushroom is quite extinct now so we would very rarely get to see any anymore. But we can use those farm-cultivated abalone or oyster mushroom…

…instead as an alternative – as they say, beggars can’t be choosers.

I did not want to cook the soup version though, when I cooked it that morning and opted for the fried version of the mee sua just to give it a try. First, I boiled some water and then I dropped the mee sua into it. The moment it had turned soft, I drained away the hot water and rinsed the mee sua in cold water…

…a few times to remove all the starch and to prevent it from cooking any further. I made sure that I did not boil it for too long in case the noodles would get too soft and soggy and it would then be very difficult to fry. Nope! I did not toss it in any oil to keep the strands from sticking together and neither did I deep-fry it first in oil. The mere idea of the excessive use of extra oil in the cooking would put me off completely.

I sliced a bit of ginger for use and cut the mushroom into thin strips like this…

…and after heating up the wok, I added a tablespoon of sesame oil in it and when the oil got hot enough, I fried the ginger slices till golden brown. Then I threw in the mushroom and added an egg, beaten…and a pinch of msg as well…

Having done that, I put in the mee sua, sprinkled some traditional Foochow red wine over it and fried it together with everything else quickly…and finally, I dished it all out and served…

I had some of my missus’ luncheon meat croquettes, left over from dinner the night before, to go with it and on the whole, I would say that it was pretty good, that’s for sure.

For one thing, the mee sua on its own lacked colour so perhaps, I could have added a teeny-weeny bit of dark soy sauce to give it a nice light brown tint…and perhaps, if I had added some thinly-sliced chili or carrot plus a bit of chopped spring onions, the end result would not look so pale.

I think I would try frying mee sua again some day and the next time around, I would use minced meat and prawns and some green vegetables too perhaps and I am pretty sure that would bring the taste to a whole new level. Stay tuned, folks!!!