It was a Johor Night!

This is the story of Friday the 22nd... 

On Thursday, my sister was teasing me on whatsapp about what noodles I have in mind for tomorrow since I have recently declared to the world that I am into making noodles on Fridays.   I actually had Mee Jawa in mind but when it went across to her it became Mee Jaws! DYAC!  Huh? Mee Jaws, what?  Immediately the theme song from the movie JAWS played in our heads, if it rings a bell you are as old as I am :p  We were literally laughing tears over it.   I always get caught in blunders like this, thank god no damaging ones so far, most of the time end up rolling on the floor more than anything else :)  

Anyways, she suggested Mee Rebus which i think is quite similar to Mee Jaws(oops, i meant Jawa).  Actually I am not too sure if there are differences.  The ongoing Malaysian Food Fest (MFF)  came to mind so I look around for a Johor style Mee Rebus  I was very happy to land on a recipe that credited a Anak Johor (i.e. Johor state born and bred) and I also found that many have tried this recipe including Annie, the MFF host for this month. 

Mee Rebus is a Malay all in one noodle dish with yellow noodles being used most of the time.  Noodles are blanched then eaten with some condiments on top of a sweet and slightly spicy gravy which unique flavors come from spices, meat and sweet potatoes.

All nice and pretty until...

I spilled some gravy on the beancurd while pouring it over and I was lazee... But it does take a lot to make everything look nice and pretty, take photos, change pose, then continue taking more shots especially when you have something like this staring at you and begging you to eat it while it's piping hot!  So, pardon the blots on the photos!

  

And one final shot before digging in! Yum!

Recipe
Source : Annielicious and Masam Manis, with original source from Iza Akma

Ingredients

• 300g Minced Beef
• 250g Orange Sweet Potatoes
• 35g Dried Shrimp, washed, drained then finely ground
• 2 stalks of Lemongrass, cut into 5 inch length, bruised
• 8 pcs Star Anise
• 5 tbsp Pre-Packed Chilli Paste (More/less per preference)
• 2 tbsp Curry Powder
• 1 tbsp Coriander Powder
• 1 cube Beef Stock (or replaced with chicken stock powder)
• ½ cup Tamarind Juice  (mix 1 tsp Tamarind Paste top up with ½ cup water)
• 50g Grated Palm Sugar/Gula Melaka (More/less per preference)
• Salt per preference
• 1liter water
• 4 tbsp cooking Oil

Spices for Gravy

• 3 onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• 3/4 inc galangal
• 1 candlenut

Noodles and Condiments

• 500g yellow noodles, wash, blanch in boiling water
• 200g bean sprouts, wash, blanch in boiling water
• 3 pieces fried tofu, sliced
• 3 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
• 4 calamansi, halfed
• Parsley 
• Red and Green Chillies (if preferred)
• Fried Shallots (if preferred)

Steps

1. Boil sweet potatoes (skin on) until soften, remove skin then mashed them.  Set aside.
2. Prepare spices for gravy then grind everything together.  Set aside.
3. Heat oil in a wok, add in star anise and lemongrass, fry till fragrant.
4. Add in ground spices, fry until fragrant.
5. Add chilli paste and fry until aroma is present.
6. Add ground dried shrimps and fry until aroma is present.
7. Add in grounded minced beef. (I was greedy, I wanted to try the original recipe and some beef balls like what Annie did...so I added half added in at this stage while the other were made into balls).
8. Add curry powder and coriander powder, mix well.
9. Add water, beef/chicken stock and bring to a boil.
10. Add in meat balls (if made), and stir gently to prevent them from sticking together or breaking.
11. Under medium low heat, add in mashed sweet potatoes, tamarind juice, palm sugar and salt. Continue to stir until the mashed sweet potatoes incorporated into gravy.  
12. Let it simmer for awhile until gravy slightly thickened.  Slightly more water can be added if a more watery gravy is preferred.
13. Prepare noodles and condiments.  Scoop gravy onto noodles, garnish with parsley, fried chillies and shallots.  Savour!

I am submitting this to Malaysian Food Fest Event ( Johor Month ) hosted by Annie of Annielicious Food