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ChiLlI Pan MeE
Continued
Prepare the (many) garnishes
Prepare the garnishes early, as it is fine for these not to be
piping hot when served.
Shallow fry the rinsed, dried anchovies – be careful of oil
splatter as these tend to spit. Set aside on a paper towel to drain
off excess oil.
Boil some water. Wash the dried shitake mushrooms, and soak
these in around half a cup of recently boiled water for at least
15 minutes. Reserve this water, as we will be using it later. Once
the mushrooms are soft, cut them into halves.
Poach your eggs (or use your preferred method): put some
water in a pot with a lid and raise it to a rolling boil. Turn off the
heat and wait for the bubbles to settle. Crack eggs into a bowl
and lower into the hot water one by one, before covering the
pot with a lid. Time 3 minutes before removing the eggs, set
aside in cool water to keep.
Briefly blanch the spinach in hot water, and rinse with cool
water in the sink to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
Remaining garnishes do not require cooking (spring onion,
pre–fried onions, crispy chilli oil).
Hand-pinch and boil the noodles
Fill a pot with water and bring to a boil. Pinch a small ball of dough
off the main block that you have set aside to rest, around the size
of a 50 cent coin. Flatten this roughly between your thumbs and
forefingers, and twist slightly. Toss into the boiling water.
Repeat this process until all the dough has been used. These
cook similarly to gnocchi – when they float to the surface
they are done. Once done, remove with a slotted spoon and
place into bowls to serve. Try not to overcrowd the pan so
they do not stick together.
Method
Start your noodles
Add all the noodle ingredients to a food
processor, and run the processer until the dough
comes together in a ball and starts ‘thumping’ the
walls of the food processor. If the dough looks like
dry and does not come together after a minute,
add a little more water. If it looks wet and does
not form a ball, add a little more flour.
Once dough has come together, knead for a few
minutes on a floured chopping board until it
becomes smooth and has a slight shine.
Place in a bowl and cover with cling film to rest
for at least half an hour.
Get your pan mee soup boiling
Put the water in a large pot with a lid, and bring to
boil. Add all the soup ingredients. If you have one,
it is convenient to use a small muslin spice bag
or disposable tea bag to hold the anchovies and
white peppercorns.
Cover the soup with a lid, and lower to medium
heat. Allow to boil for at least 45 min, while you
work on the other components.
Before serving, season with salt and pepper, and
discard the bag of anchovies and peppercorns.
The longer this cooks the better it will taste!
Cook the meat topping
Over medium heat, fry chopped onions until golden. Then add
chopped garlic, and cook until the mixture is fragrant.
Add the minced meat, fry and stir until meat is cooked. Stir in
all the sauces and continue to fry until the meat is browned
and slightly dry.
Moisten the meat slightly with approximately 3 tablespoons
of the water used to soak the shitake mushrooms. Taste and
adjust with sauces as you like. Season with salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Assemble the pan mee
To each bowl of noodles, add the following: 1 scoop of meat
topping, ¼ of the cooked spinach, a few halved shitake
mushrooms, 1 poached egg, 5 to 10 fried anchovies.
Sprinkle across the top of each bowl: half tablespoon
fried onions, some chopped spring onions, approximately
1 teaspoon chilli oil, depending on the level of spiciness you
can tolerate.
Serve each bowl of noodles with a small bowl of the anchovy
soup. Before eating the noodles, pour about 3 to 5 tablespoons of
anchovy soup into the noodle bowl. Break up the poached egg,
and mix the yolky goodness into the noodles and soup. Enjoy!
Maker’s note
“Special shout out to my favourite Asian supermarket,
Minh Phat (Victoria St, Richmond)! Everything you could
ever need and more. Hawker food tastes better with
amazing fresh Victorian produce, and I would never have
attempted to cook this dish if I didn’t live in Melbourne.”
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