Shall We Doodle

Yes! I do dabble in some noodles here but certainly not oodles of it like some noodle houses that cater specifically and exclusively in noodles' menu only. There are of course more different types of noodles than what is shown here. There is the brownish buckwheat type the egg flavoured noodle the translucent arrow root based noodles as well as the greenish colour spinach based noodles. But given the already extensive nature of my menu and the fact that there is only one 'hands on chef' on the job it is best for practical reason to have the choice of available noodles restricted to a few. The far left plate above depicts a picture of yellowish egg flavoured wheat flour noodle. Your front left contains a plate of broad flat rice flour based noodle sometimes known as 'rice stick'. The plate to your far right represents a whitish finer form of rice vermicelli popularly know in Singapore and Malaysia as Bee Hoon.The last plate contains a softer and finer version of yellow noodle that is versatile and suitable for numerous dishes like Chinese 'Long soup' and chow mein.

Ideally noodles should be made fresh and delivered by the day. By tradition the techniques of noodle making are 'hand-made' that is to say they are, literally speaking, labouriously hand- pulled and left to dry in the shed. Chinese called it 'lai mein' or pulley noodle. Believe you me. Nowadays fresh noodles are mostly machine manufactured and mass produced. But given the small size of Hobart city's Asian community and its limited ancillary service we can only rely on existing local grocery stores and supermarkets for their pre-packed products.


The ubiquitous yellow soft noodle which is quite fine in texture. Cantonese restaurants use them regularly in their Long soup or soft Chow Mein. I found that children used to love and enjoy long soup. Especially when they found that they are too short for their stature they would try to drag their long trails of noodle with a pair of chopsticks all the way up to their mouths by standing up on their chair.

Take half a packet of noodle such as this . Scald it in a bucket of hot water for 2 or 3 minutes occasionally stir strains to loosen. Take a sample with a fork and bite for its firmness making sure that it is not over-soaked or over-cooked. Drain immediately in a sieve or colander and rinse noodle dry with cold water to prevent latent temperature. Prepare and mix 2 table spoon of oyster sauce to 3teaspoon of cornflour and a quarter cup water . Add 2 table spoon vegetable oil in your saucepan. Stir fry at high heat a handful mixture of fresh chicken pieces shrimps and squid with tit bits of crushed garlic(half teaspoon) and green vegetables like bok choy and sliced red capsicums till they are nearly cooked. Then add mixture of oyster favoured cornflour into the saucepan with the rest stirring further to boil. Lastly add your set aside noodles and stir again for 30 seconds or more. Hey Presto! You are a Chinese chef too! Anyone can be one if they try. Nothing is impossible.

Large cylindrical shaped egg noodles laced with chilli soya and tomato sauce. But nothing beats its freshness. Because when noodles are freshly made you can virtually taste the whole strain and its delicate balance . Soon you are fully engrossed and you feel you are captivated with the unusual freshness and mesmerised with its mildly salted subtlety from one strain to another strain and very soon you begin to gallop it down voraciously by mouthful after mouthful. Such was my observation on my way in to Singapore. Nothing beats their Singaporean Hokkien noodle dish. Indeed it is a popular quick fix for the locals. Some told me Hokkien Mee is synonymous with Singapore fast food icon but I would venture to add another one and that is the Char Kway Tiaow dish below.

My hot favourite simple and yet complex . Presumably this is another popular Singaporean street stall noodle widely known as Char kwai Tiaow the same noodle base which I use to prepare a Pad Thai noodle dish at Dom's Teahouse restaurant. It is the white colour rice flour based broad flat noodle. Although the soaking preparation takes longer time and the actual cooking experience requires more skills and nimbleness the proof of the pudding is really in the eating. There is a mysterious sweetness to its strain and I suspect this has something to do with the glutinous nature of its flour.

Initially it was a poor man's dish popular amongst the manual labourers camp during the colonial days . Their main ingredients for the day were a scrambled egg and cheap vegetables like chopped spring onion and beansprouts . But over time as popularity increases and as society becomes more affluent other ingredients were added and now Char Kway Tiaow as a quick fast food dish has become a buzz word with the local food connoisseurs. Today the chopped spring onion scrambled egg and fresh bean sprout still stay. But clams sliced pork and even chinese sausage were added. However, the base ingredients to this dish has to contain a mixture of sambal belachan and freshly ground chilli.

The Malays called it Bee Hoon Goreng and it is another hot favourite at our Dom's Teahouse here. It is hot. It is fiery but it is fierily tasty. I remember that balmy tropical night when I was back in Malaysia I went to a Malay kampung open air food stall market and ordered myself a plate of noodles made out of rice vermiceilli. It was so cheap and delicious and it didn't cost me anymore than what I would spend on a cup of tea in the West. You feel like after having resided in an highly inflated country like the West your money stretches like a Malayan rubber band as its purchasing power increases exponentially. I also ordered freshly squeezed tropical fruit juices akin to converting my stomach belly into a portable mixed juice punchbowl for the night. Their fruits are numerous and diverse as well as exotic. You name it Rambutang, mangoes, pineapple, durian, soursop, paw paws and the like. Their fruits are so sun ripened and natural so pungent so luscious and so aromatic so opposite to that of our Western greenly harvested refrigerated long haul transported fruits in our stores. Their Nasi Goreng, Beef Rendang, and skewered meat Satays along with Bee Hoon Goreng which I savoured that particular night are so equally smackingly delectable.

The Malays are a hospitable lot. There is something about them. They hold themselves with high esteem and they are damn sight loyal lot too because I used to employ some. John Howard would have grown to love them. Malay culture a classic quintessential fineness portraying their open Kampung friendliness and their classy batik baju dress. British don them for the occasions. Their warmth their hospitality and their openness that night has certainly left an indelible mark on my memory.