Wat Than Hor (Char Hor Fun or Gravy Fried Flat Rice Noodles)

Ingredients:

100 g dry flat rice noodles
100 g mee hoon/mihun/vermicelli noodles

Gravy:

2 tbsp cornstarch in 1 ½ cup water or stock
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Noodles stir-fry:

3 tbsp oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
few shrimps/prawns, removed shells
few slices of meat/chicken
few slices of fish cake
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 ½ tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp pepper powder
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
few stalks of Chinese mustard/choy sum, cut to 2 inch length

Chili Paste:

1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tbsp sambal omelek chili paste
4 tbsp oil

Method:

Soak the vermicelli in water for 30 minutes or till soften, drain well and set aside.

Boil the dry flat rice noodles according to the package and drain well; set aside.

To prepare the gravy:

Stir-in cornstarch to stock and bring to boil.

Add-in oyster sauce, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, sesame oil and light soy sauce, stir to mix.

Pour-in egg white and do a quick stir to break down into small white pieces as it cooked.

Bring to simmer to thicken the gravy to a desired consistency, set aside.

Noodles stir-fry:

In a wok or deep pan, heat 3 tbsp oil over medium high heat.

Saute garlic till fragrant and golden.

Add-in meat, prawns and fish cakes, stir-fry over high heat still prawns are seared.

Add-in flat rice noodles and stir-fry for few minutes.

Add-in vermicelli and the remaining seasoning ingredients, toss evenly over high heat for few minutes or till noodles are charred.

Add-in Chinese mustard and continue tossing for another short while.

Dish-up and transfer onto a serving plate.

Return gravy to wok and heat through.

Pour the hot gravy over the fried noodles.

Serve hot immediately with chili paste and white pepper powder if desired.

To make the chili paste, blend onion and garlic to yield paste. Heat 4 tbsp oil in wok over low heat, stir-fry onion-garlic paste still fragrant, add-in omelek chili paste, continue stir-fry till aroma, remove from heat and it is ready to serve.