The Final #AuntieCookAlong...

Azfar & His Mom's Dry Meesiam

Just like that, 4 weeks have flown by and we’re down to our last cookalong of the series… ending it with a bang! This is a dish that so many of you have voted for when I polled asking which dish you’d like Azfar and his mom to teach in their cookalong, featuring Malay home-cooked food - it won by a landslide! Dry meesiam is actually quite a common dish, even in Chinese households, so I am very excited to see how it differs from the version that my mom made for parties at home in the past.

6pm SGT, this coming Wednesday!

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Mee Siam Kering (Dry Mee Siam)

(Serves 6)

400g dried beehoon

400g firm tofu (taukwa), cut into a large dice

2 teaspoons salted taucheo

1 tablespoon sweet taucheo (sweet taucheo may be hard to find, even in Singapore. If not available, substitute with a mixture of 2 teaspoons salted taucheo and 1 tbsp sugar)

300g shrimp or prawns, skinned and deveined

200g fried fishcake, sliced thinly

2 eggs, hardboiled and peeled

10 stalks of garlic chives (koo chye), cut into 2” lengths

1 1/2 cups + 1/2 cup neutral cooking oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Salt to taste

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For the rempah:

8 shallots

6 cloves garlic

15 pcs dried chilli, seeded

100 g dried shrimp, hydrated in boiling water

50 g peanuts (with skin)

Water, as needed

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Pre-IG live prep:

1. Soak beehoon in cold water for at least 30 minutes to hydrate

2. Soak dried chillies in boiling water to hydrate

3. ‘Brine’ cut tofu in salt solution (2 cups or 480ml cold water + 1 1/2 tablespoons salt) for 30 minutes

4. Deep fry peanuts with the 1 1/2 cups oil in the recipe (save to fry tofu after) and allow to cool down

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During IG Live

1. Pan-fry the tofu in oil until golden brown on all sides (using oil from frying peanuts). Set aside.

2. Blend all rempah ingredients with a small amount of water (as needed) to make a fine paste.

3. Heat 1 1/2 cup oil in a wok until almost smoking point. Fry (‘tumis) the rempah for 5 minutes or until the oil begins to separate

4. Add sugar, sweet and salty taucheo and combine well. Season lightly with salt as needed.

5. Add fishcake and shrimp and toss well until the shrimp is about half-cooked

6. Add the hydrated beehoon and toss well to coat. Toss in the fried taukwa

7. Cover with a lid and allow the beehoon to cook until tender.

8. Remove the lid and sprinkle in the garlic chives. Mix to combine and turn off the heat.

9. Slice eggs into 1” slices. Arrange mee siam on a serving plate and garnish with egg slices.