Singapore style Beehun/Bihun/Angel hair rice Vermicelli - Fried rice vermicelli with Tofu and Bok Choy

When we were kids, we sometimes used to lie down on green grass and watched the clouds floats by. We still do like it, even we are way past our childhood days, but with time crunch, it’s not something very frequent these days. Some will say huh! Who does that, kids not grown-ups like us, to that I would say it’s good to be a kid sometimes, to recall back all the innocence that we have lost in this maddening world of materialistic values.

When I see kids these days, hooked on to social media, and connecting with friends through smart-phones, I feel, as if we are somehow losing it out to technology, where is that innocence these days? And the problem is either you are in, or completely out, and with tremendous amount of peer pressure to fit in. Not all diagrams point to circles, some can be square as well. Then why put things into symmetric pigeon –holes.

Not all silly things makes us silly, you silly! …That’s what, my Ma told me once. And I couldn’t apprehend what she meant with that. Now that, I am myself a mother, I know what she meant.

We still catch up our cloud floating sessions sometimes, in spite of hectic schedules. Let’s see how long we will be able to do things like this in coming future as well.

Fried bihun, I happened to taste it for first time when one of my Malaysian friend in London made it for me, and with shrimps, we really liked the taste. The thin rice vermicelli soaked the flavours of soya sauce well and prawns were juicy, and soft. The noodles were light and flavourful.

Bihun/beehun is rice vermicelli in Malaysia, so when I tasted Singapore style Bihun in one of our local restaurant here, I thought to make it again in comfy of my home. As of now, I don’t think Singapore style noodles is popular in Singapore itself. But there, most of them know it as Fried Bihun/Beehun or fried rice vermicelli.

Well this is a great accompaniment with all sorts of curries and other sautéed vegetables. This is how we like to make it.

Singapore style Beehun/Bihun – Fried rice vermicelli with Tofu and Bok Choy

Recipe requirements (Serves 2-3)

150-200 g of thin rice vermicelli /Beehun/Bihun/angel hair vermicelli

3-4 tbs of cooking oil

2-3 garlic pods

1 medium size onion

300 gms of firm tofu cut into cubes

2-3 Bok choy bundles or about 8-10 small Bok Choy

1 medium size carrots

 3-4 Thai red chillies slit in between

2 free range eggs (optional)

6-7 fried shrimps (optional)

For the sauce

2-3 tsp of thick soya sauce

 1tsp of light soya sauce

2-3 tsp of hot chilli sauce

Salt as per taste

Method

Soak rice vermicelli or also known as bee hun/ bihun in water for about 20 mints or till they turn soft.

Chop and cut all the vegetables finely preferably in thin juliennes.

Now add in 2 tbs of cooking oil in a fry pan, add in eggs and fry well. Take them out in a separate plate.

Now add in reserved bit of cooking oil and stir/fry garlic and then onions.

Now add rest of the chopped vegetables- carrots,chilies,  bok choy etc.

In a mixing bowl- mix in hot chilies sauce and soya sauce and salt.

Now add this sauce to the above fried mixture of vegetables.

Add in soaked  and soft bihun/rice vermicelli.

Mix in with a spatula gently and garnish with fried eggs or shrimps.You can substitute Tofu with paneer cubes.

Singapore style bihun is ready to be served.

Today is Shubh Mahalaya , after this Navaratri starts.

Wish you all Shubh Mahalaya and Festive greetings.

Ash Gourd and potato Stir/fry with freshly grated coconut

Hi friends, I haven’t updated the blog for the past couple of weeks, after I wrote our Penang travelogue here, so thought of updating it with a vegetarian recipe this time. After all travel or no travel, cooking is integral part of my life, even though I may or may not update this blog.

I happened to pick ash gourd this time and wanted to make this with coconut- freshly grated coconut.Ash gourd has many health benefits. And this turned out a very flavourful dry stir/fry preparation and it reminded me of our very own ‘narkol diye chal kumro’.

Now I am not sure if 'chal kumro' is called ash gourd in English or not. As the ash gourds that are available here are different looking than the varieties, we find in Bengal. So as of now I am calling this recipe as ash gourd vegetable stir/fry with coconut. However, if you want to make chal kumro with narkol, the instructions are almost same. Ash gourd is high on water content. The dry stir/fry is slightly on a sweeter note due to the addition of coconut, however if you want a spicier version you can include green chillies as well or increase the hotness level.

Here is how I made it 

Ash gourd and Potato stir/fry with coconut

Recipe requirements-

1 medium size ash gourds

2 medium size potatoes

 1 medium tomatoes chopped or 8-10 ripened cherry tomatoes slit in between

1 cup of freshly grated coconut

¼ cup of coconut milk

3-4 red bird eye chilies/Thai chilies

 1 tsp of red pepper powder

½ tsp of turmeric powder

Salt as per taste

For tempering

1 tsp of cumin seeds

2 dry red chillies

5-6 tbs of cooking oil/mustard oil

Method

Clean and cut ash gourd, potatoes in to long juliennes, little bit thicker.

Heat up a fry pan/wok/kadai, Add in cooking oil to it, add cumin seeds, dry red pepper, let it splutter

Stir/fry it for 1-2 mints at med-high flame.

Add in ash gourd and potatoes pieces/juliennes.

Add in red chilly slit in between and finely chopped tomato pieces.

Add in grated coconut.

Add in all the dry spices- turmeric powder+red pepper powder+salt in a cup of water, mix it well.

Add this spices mixture to the above fried mix and keep on stir/fry for about 3-4 mints.

Add in coconut milk and cover. Let it cook for 10-12 mints at medium-low flame or till the potatoes turn soft.

Serve and enjoy with warm cooked rice.

Happy cooking friends