Rojak Mee aka Rojak Mamak
If I have to choose between Rojak Petis and Rojak Mee, I will definitely choose Rojak Mee.
Rojak Mee is consider as one of the Malaysian salad which consists of shredded turnip, cucumber, cucur udang (prawn fritters), fried tofu, fried bean curd (tempeh), fried potatoes, hard boiled eggs and blanched yellow noodles (mee kuning), eaten with sweet and spicy nut sauce or called as kuah kacang in Malay.
The deliciousness of rojak mee actually lies in the taste of the nut sauce, which is made of dried red chilies, peanut, onion, garlic, shallot, dried shrimp or dried squid, sugar and salt.
You can use orange sweet potatoes, boiled and blend until smooth or finely ground Marie biscuits to thickens the nut sauce.
Some of the nut sauce recipes called for the usage of palm sugar or Gula Melaka to make the nut sauce.
I love the flavors of palm sugar in my nut sauce, but I prefer to add two types of sugars - palm sugar and dark brown sugar (gula merah) when I make the nut sauce.
Dark brown sugar contains more molasses which will makes your nut gravy dark in color with richer caramel flavor.
I like my nut sauce to be darker in color in order to distinguish between nut sauce that is eaten with compressed rice and the nut sauce for Rojak Mee.
Watch my video for step-by-step tutorial on how to make Rojak Mee here:
To make Rojak Mee at home, to be honest, there is a lot of preparation that you need to do.
For me, I prefer to make the prawn fritters first, followed by preparing the fried tempeh and fried tofu.
Meanwhile, you can start boiling the eggs and blanch the yellow noodles.
You'll have to boil the potatoes until you can easily poke the potatoes with a bamboo skewer or a fork, then cut them in half before deep frying until golden brown.
I will make the nut sauce after I finished preparing Rojak Mee's "accessories" because I want the nut sauce to be hot when I serve.
The nut sauce will be more delicious after it is reheated because all the flavors from the ingredients to make the nut sauce will mingle together, forming new molecules to make the nut sauce more flavorful.
Each time when I make nut sauce, I'll make sure to prepare extra portions to be eaten with stuffed tofu (tahu sumbat) or onion fritters (cucur bawang).
You can freeze the nut sauce, and it can stays up to a few months if frozen.
I love to use onion and Holland onion to make my nut sauce.
Holland onion is sweeter with more delicate in flavor compared to the onion, which has a sharp and more pungent flavor.
Some of the nut sauce recipes called for adding shallots, you may add 1 or 2 shallots for this recipe if you like, but I prefer to use onion only.
Let's get the recipe of Rojak Mee.
ROJAK MEE / ROJAK MAMAK
Category : Resepi Mee, Indian Cuisine
Serving Size: 10 - 12 people
Preparation Time : 35 minutes
Cooking Time : 40 minutes
INGREDIENTS
Prawn Fritters (Cucur Udang) :
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of instant dry yeast
1 medium sized egg
1 tablespoon of dried shrimp (soaked for 5 minutes and finely chopped)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of turmeric powder
Approximately 1 & 1/2 cups of water
1/2 onion - diced
3 plants of chive - cut into 2 cm pieces
A handful of bean sprouts
13 to 15 medium sized prawns
Oil for frying
Nut Sauce:
1 cup of peanut
6 pieces of Maries biscuits
1 small block of palm sugar (gula Melaka)
6 tablespoons of dark brown sugar (gula merah)
1 liter of water
500 ml of water (to blend ingredients)
1 inch of ginger* - coarsely sliced
1 onion*- coarsely sliced
1 Holland onion*- coarsely sliced
4 cloves of garlic*- coarsely sliced
20 pieces of dried red chilies* - cut in half and remove some of the seeds
2 tablespoons of dried shrimps* - soaked for 10 minutes
Cooking oil as needed for frying spices ingredients
Other Ingredients:
2 blocks of soybean cake (tempeh)
4 blocks of hard tofu
5 eggs
2 to 3 potatoes
Julienned/Shredded cucumber
Julienned/shredded turnip
Chopped salad
500 grams of yellow noodles
INSTRUCTIONS
Prawn fritters (cucur udang):
In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, chopped dried shrimps, turmeric powder and dry yeasts. Stir the mixture with a whisk or a wooden spatula until combined.
Add 1/3 of water to the dry mixture, and whisk until mixture forms a thick paste. Then add in another 1/3 of water and continue whisking until a thick batter is formed. lastly, add in the remaining water and whisk until the batter is smooth.
Crack in an egg into the batter and whisk until fully combined.
Cover the bowl with with a clean towel or cling wrap and let it sit at warm place for 30 minutes, until you can see bubbles are forming.
After 30 minutes, preheat oil for deep frying in a frying pan or a pot over medium heat.
Add in diced onion, bean sprouts and chive pieces into the batter and mix gently with a spatula, or a spoon until just combined. Do not overmix to prevent the batter from deflating.
When the oil is hot, dip a stainless steel/ metal ladle in the hot oil for a few seconds to preheat the ladle before using. Spoon some of the batter onto the hot ladle and top with one prawn. Submerge the ladle into the hot oil for a few seconds for deep frying. Once you see the surface of the prawn fritter is firm, gently shake the ladle to detach the fritter from the ladle. You may have to push the fritter with a tong or a heat proof spatula to help loosen the fritter from the ladle. Deep fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden brown on all sides.
While waiting for the first fritter to set, you can start making for the next fritters. Do not overcrowd the pan/pot as to ensure fritters are even fried on all sides.
Place fried prawn fritters in a colander or paper towels to drain excess oil.
Once the fritters are cool, cut each fritter into 4 with a knife. Place the fritters in a container.
Other Ingredients:
 |
| Fried soy bean cakes, fried tofu & fried potatoes |
Deep fry tofu block and soybean cake until golden brown on all sides, then, place the fried tofu and soybean cake in a colander or on a paper towels to drain excess oil. Once the fried tofu and soybean cake are cool, cut into 6 to 12 pieces each. Place fried tofu and soybean cake pieces in a container.
Bring water to boil over medium heat. Use a ladle to put in the eggs into the boiling water to prevent cracking. In the same pot, add in cleanly wash (with skin on) potatoes. Boil eggs and potatoes until potatoes are tender over medium heat.
Place boiled eggs into cold water to easily peel the eggs. Peel off the skin and cut the eggs in half.
Allow the boiled potatoes to turn warm before peeling off the skin and cutting them in half. Deep fry the potatoes until golden brown. Cut the fried potatoes into 6 pieces each and place in a container.
Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in a pinch of salt and yellow noodles. Cook briefly until tender and then drain the water.
Nut Sauce:
Roast peanuts in a pan over medium heat, until the dark brown spots start to appear on the peanut skin. Finely grind the roasted peanut with a dry blender.
Heat about 1/4 cup of oil in a pan. Once oil is hot, fry garlic, Holland onion, onion, ginger and soaked dry shrimps until onions are translucent. Transfer the ingredients into a blender.
Using the same oil (you may need to add about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil), fry dry red chilies over medium-low heat until the chilies are crispy and turn darker. Be careful not to burn the chilies. Transfer fried dry red chilies in the blender.
Pour 500 ml of water into the blender and blend the fried spices until smooth.
Finely grind the Marie biscuits in a dry blender.
Bring 1 liter of water to boil in a pot. Add in blended spices, ground peanut, palm sugar, dark brown sugar and ground Marie biscuits. Simmer over medium heat until the sauce is slightly thickened or reaching your desired consistency. Stir occasionally to prevent crust from forming at the bottom of the pot.
Season the nut sauce with salt. Give it a quick stir and then turn off the heat.
How To Serve Rojak Mee:
Take a small amount of yellow noodles and place on a serving plate. Add a handful of prawn fritters pieces (make sure your glove is on) followed by a few pieces of fried tofu and soybean cake. Top with a small handful of julienned/shredded turnip and cucumber. Add halved hard-boiled egg.
Lastly, pour 1 or 2 ladles of nut sauce. Enjoy!
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