Red…

I was always wondering how they cooked mee sua at the stalls around here – the meat was always red and the soup as well. I tried marinating it with the ang chiew (red wine) but it did not turn out red except for once when I was already down to the last bit of the wine in the bottle and I noticed there were some sediments – something like ang chao (the residue from making the wine) at the bottom.

Then, the other day, my brother-in-law sent some mee sua over to my house – it was his birthday that day. My sister-in-law had cooked some and lo and behold! It was red in colour!!!

I mentioned it to my missus and she said that it was because of the wine used.

We usually get our supply from one of the shops near my house. They come in recycled/reused soy sauce or beer bottles…

…and the best quality ones, unadulterated, are selling at RM8 a bottle.

It isn’t exactly blood or dark red actually…

– I would say it is a light shade of orangy red so of course, if you use that to cook mee sua, it would not turn everything – the meat and the soup  red like what you can see in the above photograph.

I mentioned this to my missus and she said that they sell another type of the wine – the one with sediments of the ang chao in it. I wouldn’t know for sure but probably they did not filter it well or that’s the leftover with all the ang chao that has settled at the bottom but my missus said that this type of ang chiew is cheaper. I guess it is of a lower quality considering that it is not completely clear…and true enough, I felt that the soup was not as fragrant…

…and I had to add a spoonful or two of the wine we have in the house to enhance the taste a bit. No wonder Annie-Q had the mee sua here and was not exactly thrilled by it. Incidentally, a spoonful or two of brandy would be very nice too with mee sua cooked and served in this manner.

Ok! Now that I know the secret behind the red colour, the next time I am cooking this, I would know how to go about it, that’s for sure.