Friday, 20 January 2012

Sweet and Savoury Longevity Noodles ~ 长寿面

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3 More days to Chinese Lunar New Year and everyone is busying with some last minutes shopping on clothing or groceries. Here in order to usher in wealth and good luck for the year of the dragon, I have prepared two auspicious "Longevity" noodles recipes to share with you.

And with these two noodle dishes I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year that comes with many folds of blessing, health and wealth.


SWEET LONGEVITY NOODLES


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Longevity Noodles(长寿面) is often eaten during Birthday or festive season such as Chinese New Year. And it is eaten to symbolise longevity together with a pair of hard-boiled eggs which representing fertility or life. There are many ways on preparing longevity noodles based on individual dialect groups and culture. Some might also use "Mee Suah/Mian Xian" ( 面线), Ee-Fu(伊面) noodles together with meat and etc to cook a sweet or savoury version.


(serves: 2 | Preparation: 5 minutes | Cooking: 20 minutes)

Ingredients: 
Half Packet (150g) of Handmade Red Noodle
4 Eggs
1 Knot of Pandan Leave
3 Slices of Ginger
Red/Brown Sugar to Taste


Method:-
1. To make hard-boiled eggs, bring fresh eggs and water to boil then simmer over medium low heat for about 8 - 10 minutes depending on your preference.

2. Using another pot, bring 1.2 litres of water to boil, add in ginger slices and pandan leave then let it simmer for about 5 minutes.

3. Meantime spread out the handmade red noodles and put it in boiling water for 1 minutes, stir occasionally. When soften, remove, rinse with water and drained well and divide into serving bowls.

4 Next add in shelled hard-boiled eggs and sugar to sweeten the soup(you can add in slightly more sugar as the noodles would balance the taste when added).

5. Lastly ladle the soup and eggs over the noodles and served immediately.


This quick and simple "Sweet Longevity Noodles" is something that my dad would prepared for me and my brother's Birthday during our childhood time. We have not eaten this for so long ever since we grown up and my dad passed away.

But today, suddenly I have this urge to replicate this dish which bought back many of my childhood memories. I guess nowadays the younger generation would find it hard to appreciate this traditional dish which might one day become extinct.


BRAISED EE FU NOODLES
(Cantonese-style Longevity Noodles)


Ee-Fu/Yi Mein(伊面) is one of the flat Cantonese egg noodles that is made from wheat flour and I am sure most of you are familiar with this noodle dish as it is a very common noodle dish served in most Chinese restaurant during special occasions such as wedding or birthday dinners. So in a way, this Cantonese-style noodle is also known as "Longevity" noodles too.


(serves: 4 | Preparation: 10 minutes | Cooking: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:
1 Packet Dried Hong Kong Ee-Fu Noodles, about 350g
250ml Chicken Stock
4 Tablespoons Oyster Sauce
4 Tablespoons Dark Soy Sauce
2 Teaspoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil
100g Small Dried Chinese Mushrooms, soaked till soften
200g Bean Sprouts, root removed
1 Bundle Yellow Chives, cut into sections
Splash of Cooking Wine(Hua Tiao Wine)
Dash of Pepper


Method:-
1. Bring a big pot of water to the boil and cook the noodles for about 5 minutes or until softened. Drained and set aside.

2. In a wok/frying pan, heat up 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and saute the mushrooms(squeeze dry) over low heat for about 3 minutes till fragrance.

3. Next add in the mixture of chicken stock, oyster sauce, sugar and dark soy sauce into the mushrooms and bring the mixture to boil.

4. Tip in the noodles and toss to coat with the sauce before tossing in the bean sprouts and yellow chives.

5. Give the mixture a good stir and if it dries up, add in another 50ml of chicken stock/hot water and simmer over low heat until most of the liquid has evaporated (about 5 minutes).

6. Lastly adjust the seasoning to taste, add in splash of cooking wine and pepper, serve immediately.

Note:-
~ You can replace dried Chinese mushrooms with fresh shiitake mushrooms.
~ Replace Abalone/Scallop Sauce with Oyster Sauce for better taste.


Lastly I am submitting this Braised Ee Fu Noodles dish to this month Aspiring Baker #15 - Auspicious Dishes for CNY (January 2012) that is hosted by Wen of Wen's Delight.

For more Chinese New Year recipes do hope over to my previous post HERE.

5 comments:

  1. Hi! =)
    pleased to meet you. I'd love to try your noodles; they look really tasty!
    I'd like to invite you to my bento contest. you can as well partecipate with this recipe, if you want.
    http://japanthewonderland.blogspot.com/2012/01/bento-contest-special-valentines-day.html
    please join us! ^^
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  2. mycookinghut20/1/12 6:25 pm

    I really love Yee Mee! Haven't had it for the longest time! Great dish for CNY!
    Gong Xi Fa Cai!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ann@Anncoo Journal20/1/12 11:26 pm

    This 长寿面looks so perfect for everyone! Very nice presentation and good clicks too!
    Wishing you a Happy Lunar New Year!恭喜发财!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love this noodle! We will be cooking this on first day of CNY for our guest! It's quite difficult to get yellow chives so we have to substitute with spring onion. Thanks for sharing! Happy Lunar New Year to you and your family!  

    ReplyDelete
  5. Never seen sweet version of longevity noodle before, also never seen handmade red noodle!
    I prefer Ee Fu noodle since it's  savory.

    Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Chinese New Year.

    ReplyDelete

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