Fishball Noodles (Mee Pok Tah)

I’m always looking forward to Sunday morning breakfast with the hubs. We will get up early, walk across the street, and grab a copy of the Sunday newspaper on the way. Once we are at the coffeeshop, the husband will go hunt for a table and order kopi for the both of us. Meanwhile, I’ll head straight for the noodle store, and a friendly face will be smiling at me, asking if I’d like the usual. 

My usual order is not so usual to begin with. I like my flavours stronger with no lard, so I’ll always ask for more chilli and vinegar without any lard. On the other hand, as much as the husband enjoys his mee pok, he doesn’t like fishballs/fish cake. So his bowl will be more like Bak Chor Mee, with only minced pork and more vegetable added. So yes, the friendly uncle and auntie manning the store will customise our orders every time we visit. 🙂 So when I was given DoDo fish products to try out. I thought why not try to replicate this local favourite for my cooking blog. 

And replicate was what I did. I used shallot oil instead of lard because it’s a healthier alternative, but at the same time deepens the flavour of the end product. When the husband came home, I quickly cooked him a bowl of piping hot noodles, to his preference of course. Then I just sat there and stare at him awkwardly, eager to find out the verdict.

He said, “Wow! Did you make this or brought it? This is really good! Taste just like the hawkers only without all the grease! Is there any more in the kitchen?”.  He even finished every single drop of his fishball soup. When I told him I made it, he smirked and said, “Well, that means we don’t have to walk to get breakfast any more, you can make it in our own kitchen.”. I smiled and slowly disappeared into the kitchen to make him another serving of mee pok tah.  

Fishball Mee Pok (Dry)

Delishar

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Servings 4

Ingredients

  

• 2 packets of DoDo fresh fishballs 24pcs
• 1 piece DoDo fried fish cake sliced
• 4 pieces DoDo fish dumplings
• 4 cups 1000ml ikan bilis broth
• 1 tbsp dong cai Tianjin Preserved Vegetable
• 1 tsp sugar

Marinated Pork (divide into 4 servings)

• 200 g minced pork
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• White pepper to taste
• 1 tsp corn flour
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Noodles per serving

• 70 g Mee Pok
• 8-10 g beansprouts
• 4-5 slices of fried fish cake
• 50 g marinated minced pork

Sauce per serving

• 2 tsp black vinegar
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1-2 tsp sambal chilli to taste/optional
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp shallot or lard oil
• 2 tbsp prepared ikan bilis stock

To serve

• Fried shallot
• Chopped spring onions
• Hand torn lettuces
• Sliced chilli padi in light soy sauce

Instructions

 

• Marinate minced pork for at least 15 minutes.
• In a pot, bring ikan bilis broth to boil. Add dong cai, fishballs, fish dumplings, and sugar into pot.
• Allow to simmer until fishballs are cooked and floating on surface of broth.
• Reduce heat to a very gentle simmer, while you prepare the noodles.
• Mix all the ingredients for sauce in the serving bowl, and give it a quick mix.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil.
• Using a noodle ladle blanch mee pok and beansprouts for 45 seconds. Rinse with cool tap water stop the cooking process, drain, and transfer to serving bowl with prepared sauce.
• Blanch fish cake and minced pork in the noodle ladle, using a pair of chopstick to break up minced pork by swirling it in the ladle. Drain, and transfer to serving bowl.
• Top with fish dumpling, fish balls, fried shallot, chopped spring onions, and lettuces.
• Serve with a bowl of soup, and some chilli padi in light soy sauce.

Notes

I used Lee Wee Brother's Sambal Chilli.