Fried Beehoon

dedicated to Pingers
Something as simple as fried beehoon reminds me of home. My nanny used to cook the best fried beehoon with her homemade nyonya style sambal. The best to me maybe because it was the easiest to cook for kids back then, and I had alot of it! Here's my version. When I fry beehoon, I like to have the rest of the ingredients to be in the same form, that is long and thin. So I have a tendency to cut the rest of my ingredients to that shape. :)


3 slabs of dried beehoon, soaked in tap water until soft then drained
1 bunch of choysum, cut into 5cm lengths
1 piece of fish cake, cut into slices
3 cloves of garlic, chopped finely
1 onion, cut into strips
2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
1 tablespoon of soya sauce
1 tablespoon of thick soya sauce (caramel type)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1-1.5 cups of water
2 tablespoon of oil
3 eggs, beaten


Heat up a flat frying pan and put in the oil. Pour the beaten eggs in and swirl the pan around to create an even layer of egg. Let it cook and once it has firmed up, cut it in half and flip the halves to cook the other side. Set aside to cool.

Heat up the frying pan and put in the oil. Once hot, stir fry the onions and garlic. Do not let them burn. Add in the fishcake slices and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the oyster sauce, soya sauce, thick soya sauce, salt, pepper and sugar at this stage and it will sizzle. Add in 1 cup of water and give it a good stir. Once it starts to bubble, add in the choysum and let it simmer until the choysum is cooked. Cover the frypan with a lid if necessary. Taste the sauce, add in more soya sauce, and dark soya sauce and water if needed. It should taste saltier than what is intended because the beehoon will balance out the flavours. The sauce should still be quite watery but dark in colour. Once it boils, add in the beehoon. I've been told by a friend that the best way to cook the beehoon is by using a pair of chopsticks. This is so that the noodles do not break into tiny little segments which has happened to me numerous times before. So use a pair of chopsticks and pick up some beehoon and mix it around until everything is evenly coated. Add abit more water if the beehoon has not softened properly. I use a lid to let the steam cook the noodles as well. Taste the noodles and add soya sauce or thick soya sauce to adjust the taste and colour. Stir through and let it cook until the sauce has dried up. Cut up the cooked egg omellette into strips - yup long and thin :).

Dish up the beehoon, sprinkle the egg strips on the top and eat! The one thing that would make the dish more delicious is sambal on the side and a sprinkle of crunchy fried onions on the noodles. :)