IPOH HOR FUN

Ingredients:

A handful of dried shrimps, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water, then
drained
About 1 pound shrimp heads and shells
a handful of rock sugar
a small handful of peppercorns
4 tbsp oil
1 liter of chicken stock


For garnish:

A few stalks of Chinese chives, cut to 1" in length
Shrimps, shelled and blanch (however much you want!)
2 pieces chicken breast
Some bean sprout
Fried shallots

1. Heat up a stock pot and do not add in oil, but instead, toss in the dried
shrimps and stir gently until fragrant. Then, add in the shrimp heads and
shells and continue to toss until they are dry and not watery anymore.
2. Add in the oil, and stir fry for another 5 minutes until they're very
fragrant. Add in about 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat
and continue to simmer the stock for half an hour
3. Strain the stock to remove all the shrimp shells. Add in about 1000 ml
of chicken stock and the rock sugar and bring it up to a boil again.
Season it with salt.
4. Boil the chicken breasts in the stock. Reduce heat to medium-high and
let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are cooked
then, take out the chicken breasts and let cool. Blanch the shrimps in the
broth until just done, and dish it out.
5. When the chicken breasts are cooled, shred them finely with your
fingers. Set aside.
6. Bring a pot of water to boil. Lightly blanch the rice noodles and bean
sprouts and set it in a bowl.
7. Garnish with Chinese chives, shrimps and shredded chicken meat.
Pour the hot broth over them, and for the finishing touch, garnish with
fried shallots.

IPOH HOR FUN/RICE NOODLE SOUP WITH CHICKEN AND PRAWN

Ingredients

5 (About 1.3 kg) Chicken Carcasses, blanched
15 Cups of Water
1 Medium Yellow Onion, quartered
1 Tbsp White Peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 Piece Rock Sugar
Sea Salt, to taste
500 g Medium Size Prawns (w/Head), cooked and shelled
3 Tbsp Peanut Oil
400 g Chicken Fillet, blanched
800 g Fresh Rice Noodles (hor fun), scalded in hot water and drained
1 Bag Bean Sprouts, quick blanched
60 g Chives, washed and cut into 3 cm lengths
4 Scallions, chopped
8 Bird's Eye Chilies, chopped
3 to 4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
Fried Shallots, optional

Method

For the soup base: Heat a stockpot with 3 Tbsp of oil, and stir-fry the
prawns head and shells on high heat. Once the prawn head and shells
are fragrant, add the chicken carcasses, water, onion, white
peppercorns, and rock sugar. Add the water and bring it to a boil. Lower
the heat and simmer for 2 hours.

Strain the soup base into a clean pot. Bring it to a boil and cook the
chicken meat. Remove the chicken with a ladle. When cool, shred or
chop the chicken. Season the soup stock with sea salt and sugar, if
necessary.

To serve: Place a portion of rice noodles, bean sprouts, chicken, prawns,
and chives. Ladle the hot stock and sprinkle scallions, and some deep
fried shallots, if desire. Serve some chilies in light soy sauce on the side.



Ipoh Kai See Hor Fun Recipe

Ingredients
For 10-12 servings

For the broth
4 litres of water
1 large chicken, preferably, "kampung" or local 'free-range" chicken
1 kg of prawns (medium size)
Chicken stock (3 tablespoon liquid concentrate or 2 stock cube)
Rock sugar (about 10 pieces or to taste)
Salt to taste

Garnishing
Prawns
Chicken strips
Chives
Fried Onions (Shallots)

Making the Broth

1. Peel the prawns and devein.
2. Bring water to boil.
3. Add the chicken and simmer.
4. Meanwhile fry the prawn heads and shells in two tablespoon
of oil till they turn golder in color. Then add to the pot of
stock. This step will impart a layer of red oil at the top of the
stock.
5. Simmer for an hour. (If using Pressure Cooker, 20 minutes
will do)
6. Add rock sugar and some concentrated chicken stock or salt
(also adjusting saltiness) or salt to taste. Chicken stock
concentrate is optional if you have used enough chicken and
the stock is tasty.
7. Strain the broth.
Preparing the garnishing ingredients

1. You can remove some chicken meaty pieces earlier for the
strips if you prefer them to be tastier.
2. Blanched the prawn meat in the soup, remove and after it has
cooled, slice the prawns into two halves (see photo).
3. Cut chives into 1 inch strips. Blanch.
Serving

1. Blanched a portion hor fun in a pot of boiling water for
about 5-10 secs and then put it into a bowl.
2. Add a few pieces of the cooked prawns, chicken and chives.
3. Add the boiling soup.
4. Garnish with fried shallots and serve immediately.
Remember the small plate of tau yu (light soy sauce) with cut
red chillies.
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Cooking Notes:

1. Chicken meat will impart more flavour to the stock then just
bones alone. If you like a good soup, don't stinge on your
chicken. I prefer to use a large whole "Kampung" chicken to
make the broth. One thing which you should NEVER do is to
use commercial chicken stock as a base for this soup.
2. You can choose to crush the fried prawn shells with a
blender. This will make your broth cloudier and add a nice
red oily sheen to it. You can skim and set aside the red oils as
an added option for those who prefer a tastier broth and omit
for those who like a healthier version. You can omit the fats
in the chicken if you like a clean and light broth and yes,
don't crush the prawn heads of course.
3. Fried onions/shallots is mandatory for this dish!