Mee Siam

Toast belachan till dry and crumbling. Pound to yield 1 tbsp + 2 tsp powder.

Trim dried chillies. Soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes. Squeeze dry.

Peel shallots and wash.

Grind finely shallots and dried chillies. Split into 2 equal portions.

Soak and cook bee hoon according to package instructions till soft but still very springy. Do not overcook. Refresh in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside to drain.

Halve beancurd. Cut into sticks 5 mm thick. Deep-fry in hot oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue frying till lightly golden. Transfer to plate. Divide into 2 equal portions.

Fry coconut milk over high heat till oil separates and curds form, stirring from time to time. Reduce heat to medium. Fry till curds are medium brown, stirring more frequently now, to yield about 100 ml coconut oil and 100 g curds. Remove curds, leaving coconut oil in wok. When curds are cold, grind finely in food processor.

In coconut oil just made, stir-fry 1 portion of ground dried chillies and shallots till reddish brown and aromatic, over medium to low heat. If paste sticks to wok, drizzle with 1 tbsp water, scrape to loosen sticky bits, then continue frying. Add 2 tsp belachan powder made earlier. Stir through. Push mixture to one side.

Put 2 tsp vegetable oil in middle of the wok. Add 90 g taucheo paste. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp water and scraping if it sticks. Stir taucheo and chilli paste together. Turn off heat. Leave till cool.

Add tomato ketchup, coconut curds made earlier, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add bee hoon and half of fried beancurd. Using hands, toss till thoroughly mixed. Taste and if necessary adjust seasoning. Cover and set aside. Refrigerate if necessary. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

While frying beancurd or coconut milk, stir-fry remaining portion of ground dried chillies and shallots in 100 ml corn oil over medium to low heat till reddish brown and aromatic. If paste sticks to wok, drizzle with 1 tbsp water, scrape to loosen sticky bits, then continue frying.

Add 1 tbsp belachan powder made earlier and stir through. Push mixture to one side.

Put 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the middle of the wok. Add 120 g taucheo. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp water and scraping if it sticks. Stir taucheo and chilli paste together. Set aside.

Shell prawns. Do not remove prawn tails. Devein and wash.

Weigh pot for making stock. Take note of weight.

Dry-fry shells and heads till red and fragrant. Add enough water to cover, along with sauce chilli paste made earlier, assam gelugoh, assam paste, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes. Taste and add more assam gelugoh if necessary. If assam paste is not yet disintegrated, mash with spoon and stir through. Simmer another 10 minutes if adding more assam gelugoh.With a sieve, remove and discard prawn shells, assam seeds, assam pulp, etc, leaving only stock. Weigh pot and stock. Add enough water so that weight exceeds weight of pot by 1.4 kg.

Poach prawns in the stock till just cooked. Remove to cool down.

While prawn stock is simmering, cook room temperature eggs in gently boiling water for 7 minutes. Transfer eggs to room temperature water. Peel eggs. Slice crosswise 0.5 cm thick.

Wash and trim garlic chives. Cut 2 cm long

Halve calamansi limes crosswise. Discard seeds.

To serve, heat up sauce if necessary. For each portion, place 100 g bee hoon in a deep plate. Add 80 g sauce. Top with 1 tbsp fried beancurd, 2 slices eggs, 2 poached prawns, and 1½ tbsp garlic chives. Squeeze ½ lime over bee hoon. Mix well. Dig in.