Friday, November 12, 2010

Ipoh Noodles Soup with Shredded Chicken/Ipoh Hor Fun

Ipoh is famous of their hor fun (flat rice noodles). The star of this noodle dish is the silky-smooth flat noodles, or as the locals calls it, hor fun. Around Ipoh, vendors may serve the hor fun in a clear chicken broth, or with chicken-and-shrimp broth. I actually cooked this noodles many months and only post it now as I totally forgoteen about it.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from My Gastronomic Odyssey

A handful of dried shrimps, soaked for 5 minutes in hot water, then drained
About 1 pound shrimp heads and shells
a handful of rock sugar
a small handful of peppercorns
4 tbsp oil
1 liter of chicken stock


For garnish:

A few stalks of Chinese chives, cut to 1" in length
Shrimps, shelled and blanch (however much you want!)
2 pieces chicken breast
Some bean sprout
Fried shallots


1. Heat up a stock pot and do not add in oil, but instead, toss in the dried shrimps and stir gently until fragrant. Then, add in the shrimp heads and shells and continue to toss until they are dry and not watery anymore.
2. Add in the oil, and stir fry for another 5 minutes until they're very fragrant. Add in about 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat and continue to simmer the stock for half an hour
3. Strain the stock to remove all the shrimp shells. Add in about 1000 ml of chicken stock and the rock sugar and bring it up to a boil again. Season it with salt.
4. Boil the chicken breasts in the stock. Reduce heat to medium-high and let simmer for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken breasts are cooked then, take out the chicken breasts and let cool. Blanch the shrimps in the broth until just done, and dish it out.
5. When the chicken breasts are cooled, shred them finely with your fingers. Set aside.
6. Bring a pot of water to boil. Lightly blanch the rice noodles and bean sprouts and set it in a bowl.
7. Garnish with Chinese chives, shrimps and shredded chicken meat. Pour the hot broth over them, and for the finishing touch, garnish with fried shallots.

23 comments:

Shawn said...

Wow, just stumbled onto your blog. Very nice! I love shrimp, and this dish looks great! My kiddos love soup and shrimp too- this will have to go on the menu! Thanks!

Yat Maria said...

Hi Gert,

We are a big fan of noodles here..this recipe is simple and looks yummy too..shall give it a go :)..thanks for sharing

ijayuji said...

hi again gert!!! eh eh i a bit confuse lah, hor fun ni sama dgn kue teow ke? correct me if im wrong :D n noddle+soup=love it!!!!! must try yg ini juga, thanks!!

My Little Space said...

Gert, I think I must visit Claire or Elin for this. They should know where to find the best chicken shredded Hor fun in Ipoh! haha... This looks quite easy to prepare. lol! Must try it out someday. Thanks for sharing & have a great day!
Cheers, Kristy

Zurin said...

Wow.. I didnt know this recipe used rock sugar. and a handful of dried shrimps sound good to me. So much umami has to be good! :))thnks for the recipe:)

Jeannie said...

One of my favourite dish to try whenever I visit Ipoh! Another one is their chicken rice with bean sprouts! yummy!

Shereen said...

Gert,
Come and cook for me this...I tengah sick...lol!

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

I like to use the chicken soup to prepare this ho fun too.

WendyinKK said...

Gert,
Just had this yesterday night in Ipoh.

Beachlover's Kitchen said...

Gert,I dying to have a bowl of your sar hor fun tong now!!! Your look really delicious!! I remember the best sar hor fun was in NYC at East Broadway near Canal ST..Called Happy Family(Msian restaurant) but closed down few years back..They have the best sar hor fun tong in US..Each time when I visit the city I must taupau 2-3 packets home with me...I think the secret is the soup base!

Kiersten said...

Very nice adaptation, Gert! If we had good quality chicken broth here, I would've used it too. I will add beansprouts to my version next time, for that extra crunch. Beautiful pictures! :)

ReeseKitchen said...

Yummy! I love this! I'll have it for breakfast at least once a week...;p

Cheah said...

Wow, such yummy Ipoh hor fun! Think I'll have this for lunch tomorrow!

Jo said...

This is definitely a classic dish and Ipoh hor fun is the best too! Somehow outside of Ipoh, the hor fun doesn't taste the same .. is it just me or what?

MaryMoh said...

This bowl of hor fun is so inviting. It would be just perfect in this cold weather....am drooling! :D

Lisa Ho said...

love... love... love...
Hor Fan... and it is so simple to make

Little Corner of Mine said...

Great looking Ipoh hor fun!

Carpensm @ A Life Without Ice Cream said...

OMG that looks good!

ICook4Fun said...

Shawn, thanks for stopping by and your kind comment.

Yat Maria, hope your family like this noodles soup.

Ijayuji, yes Hor fun is kue teow :)

Kristy, yes we should visit them the next time I go back home. They have the best hor fun in Ipoh :)

Zurin, you are welcome.

Jeannie, I like their bean sprouts too.

Shereen, kasihan you. I wish I can cook for you :(

Sonia, I can't get chicken carcass here so I just used the ready made chicken stock.

Wendy, lucky you :)

Lesley, do other Malaysia restaurant in Chinatown serve this noodles?

Kiersten, thanks for sharing your recipe. I like beansprout in my noodles :)

ICook4Fun said...

Reese, I like too :)

Cheah, lucky you. Can have it anytime you want :)

Jo, yes Ipoh hor fun is the best. Soft and smooth :)

MaryMoh, yes best for cold weather :)

Ho Ho Ho, not that difficult to make this.

LCOM, thanks.

Carpensm, thanks

Love2cook Malaysia said...

Hor Fun is my Hubby's fav...;)

This looks super yummy! :D

mycookinghut said...

Ipoh hor fun is truly a simple yet delicious dish! I like this!!

Pei-Lin said...

Ya, ya! I love Ipoh hor fun too!!! It's the best!

Haiya, don't worry about backlogs or forgetting about posting about certain dishes. I've been doing that ... in fact, still many backlogs left. I'm worse than you are. LOL!