Fish Head Bee Hoon - 鱼头米粉

I cooked Fish Head Bee Hoon for dinner today. It tasted so good that I am beginning to believe that I can actually cook....

Food bloggers like us - we cook at home, we have cookbooks, we watch cooking programs and we attend cooking classes - everyone of us, I suppose, fancy ourselves as a bit of a cook. When we see our own cooking captured on film, it brings us a little closer to the wishful notion that we could perhaps be more than 'a bit of a cook'.... and do I even need to mention that we, food bloggers, have mastered the ethereal art of eating with our eyes?  I remember when I told my friends how we would visit each others' blogs leaving comments on the food - they had asked me, quite matter of factly, ' but they have not tasted your food, how do they comment on your food? '  To that, I replied sagely : we eat with our eyes.

Indeed, perhaps, one of these days, when we do get to taste each others' fare, we could be grossly disappointed and disillusioned but what is also true is that our knowledge of food has become more astute, we have become more aware and informed about the different tastes, ingredients and preparation of food - leading to higher expectation and appreciation of what would perhaps be just lunch or dinner.

When I had told L that I made this for dinner tonight and quite ignorantly asked if they have Fish Head Bee Hoon in KL, he had replied with an almost audible snort, ' of course we do, where do you think Singaporeans copy from? '. Absolutely futile to talk to him about food commonalities between Malaysia and Singapore.

I used the recipe from local celebrity chef, Sam Leong's 'A Taste Of Home'. Sam Leong, who hails from KL (eyes rolling)  is the Corporate Chef and Director of Kitchens for the Tung Lok Group, which own more than 20 world-class restaurants in Singapore, Indonesia, China, Japan and India. 'A Taste Of Home' is his third cookbook and is less stylistic and less intimidating than the first 2 books. The dishes featured in this book are very homely and unpretentious - totally relevant for home cooking for family and friends.
I don't suppose this is the best Fish Head Bee Hoon recipe as it does not really calls for fish bone stock but I had found a total of 3 different recipes, and all of them were using normal chicken stock. I suppose for home preparation, this would be easier to work with - it doesn't quite require one to tackle the possible fishy smell of the stock. What I have done a little differently, is to boil the stock with dried anchovies and impart some flavour of the sea to it.





I had bought a mixture of  fish (with bones) and fish fillet from the market. The fish I bought was Shengyu, also commonly known as Snakehead fish - not cheap. The $4 portion will probably only be good for 2 servings... sometimes, you wonder, what is the point of cooking it by yourself. I probably can get it cheaper at the hawker stall or the food court. These are seasoned with a little salt and deep fried until golden yellow.

I like my soup base with lots of pepper, a discernible hint of Chinese rice wine and the refreshing tang of the fresh tomatoes - all served with the ferocious cut chilli padi. I definitely will be making this again and I hope you will get to try it too.... it may also make you feel like more than a bit of a cook ;).



Recipe (from Sam Leong's A Taste Of Home)

Fresh thick rice vermecilli (Bee Hoon)           400g
Cooking oil for deep frying
Snake head fish, chopped into pieces            200g
Pickled Mustard Cabbage (Harm Choy)       200g (cut into strips)
Ginger                                                          5 pieces
Spring onion                                                 2 cut into short lengths
Tomatoes                                                     2 cut into wedges
Lettuce                                                        A few leaves

Stock
Chicken stock                                             800ml
Salt                                                            1/2 tsp
Sugar                                                         1/2 tsp
Salted plum                                                1 (I omitted this.)
Ground white pepper                                  Dash
Chinese cooking wine                                 Dash
Sesame Oil                                                 Dash
Evaporated milk                                          3 tbsp

Method
1. Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch Bee Hoon until soft. Drain and set aside and divided into large serving bowls.
2. Heat oil for deep-frying over high heat. Season fish with a little salt. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain and set aside.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and add ingredients for stock,except milk.Bring it to the boil, then add fish, pickled mustard cabbage, ginger, spring onions , tomatoes and milk.
4. Allow stock to return to the boil, then ladle into bowl over noodles.  Garnish with lettuce and serve immediately with red chillies.

1. Bring a pot of water to the boil and blanch Bee Hoon until soft. Drain and set aside and divided into large serving bowls.

2. Heat oil for deep-frying over high heat. Season fish with a little salt. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain and set aside.

3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok and add ingredients for stock,except milk.Bring it to the boil, then add fish, pickled mustard cabbage, ginger, spring onions , tomatoes and milk.

4. Allow stock to return to the boil, then ladle into bowl over noodles. Garnish with lettuce and serve immediately with red chillies.