Satay Bee hoon is a dish that is slowly vanishing from our hawker centres. It is a dish of blanched bee hoon (rice vermicelli), seafood and vegetables slathered in a rich peanut gravy.
In Flavour Memories, Pamelia Chia speaks with a satay bee hoon fan to recreate this dish at home. How will she fare? 🙈
WATCH THE FULL SERIES HERE.
Satay Beehoon
Serves 4
For the satay beehoon sauce:
300g skin-on peanuts
100g peeled onions, cut coarsely
45g peeled garlic
15g white part of lemongrass, sliced thinly
7g skinless galangal, sliced thinly
45g dried chillies, cut in half, soaked in hot water then squeezed
8 tablespoons oil
40g haebee, soaked for 5 minutes, drained and ground until fine
1.5L water
55g assam
¼ teaspoon cumin powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
2 tablespoons tee poh powder, preferably homemade
½ teaspoon five spice powder
10g salt
75g gula melaka
For the satay beehoon:
400g squid or calamari tubes
300g dried rice vermicelli (beehoon)
200g kang kong or tang oh
100g beansprouts
100g taupok, sliced
Instructions:
Satay Sauce
– In a dry wok, set over low heat, toast the peanuts for 15-20 minutes until the skins appear charred and the peanuts smell fragrant.
– Turn off the heat and set aside until cool enough to handle.
– Rub the peanuts between your hands to remove the skins from the nuts.
– Place in a colander and shake to get rid of the papery skins.
– Grind the peanuts into peanut butter in a blender or food processor if you are a fan of creamy satay beehoon sauce. Go a little chunkier if you prefer more texture. Set aside.
– Blend the onions, garlic, lemongrass, galangal and dried chillies to a fine paste.
– In a wok, add half the oil and the paste. Fry for 10 minutes over low heat or until thick and fragrant.
– Add the remaining oil and the haebee and fry for another 5 minutes over low heat.
– Add the ground peanuts and 900g water. Stir until well combined before adding the assam, cumin powder, coriander powder, tee poh powder, salt, gula melaka and five spice powder.
– Cook, stirring constantly, until the colour turns into a deep, dark brown and oil begins to separate. The mixture should look split at this point. Remember to cook the sauce to a dark colour as the colour will lighten when you add the water.
– Add the remaining 600g water and simmer until the consistency of the satay sauce resembles mee rebus-sauce – it should be flowy but should not be soupy. The satay sauce will continue to thicken as it cools and sits, so adjust the consistency again right before serving.
Bee Hoon
– Prepare a pot of well-salted water.
– When it comes to the boil, add the squid tubes and allow to cook for a few minutes or until cooked and opaque. Remove from the pot and slice into rings.
– Add the beehoon to the pot and cook for a few minutes until just cooked, before adding the rest of the ingredients.
– Turn off the heat and pass through a colander immediately to drain.
– Divide onto serving plates and pour hot satay sauce over.