White Bee Hoon 白米粉

*in collaboration with Tramontina

For years, we'd been staying within one minute walk from the famous Sembawang White Bee Hoon 三巴旺白米粉. During those days, it's really unnecessary for me to cook this dish on my own. Why cook on your own when others were queueing for the real stuff so close to you? They had no other branches back then and we had admired in fascination their ability to draw never-ending long queues on daily basis. Indeed, their White Bee Hoon 白米粉 were good! My husband and I enjoyed beating the queues during off peak hours. Now that we've moved a little further away, it's no longer so convenient to just pop over to eat whenever we feel like it. To satisfy our cravings, I've since adapted my own home cooked version of   White Bee Hoon 白米粉. 

The basis for my home cooked White Bee Hoon 白米粉 lies on the pot of Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底. I think I'd mentioned few times that I always keep boxes of various stock base in my freezer. The prawn heads stock base are just so versatile. To me, they're the essence to cook many dishes such as White Bee Hoon 白米粉, Fried Hokkien Noodles, Seafood Pastas, Paella etc. Also, I use pork lard to cook my White Bee Hoon 白米粉. You probably disagree with that (by all means substitute with other cooking oil 😊) but I would not lie about loving the aroma when cooking this dish with pork lard. It just give us the oomph!

I used to cook for my entire family and possess mostly heavy weight and big sized pots and pans. It took me a while to adjust my cooking habits after my husband and I moved out on our own. I actually had to struggle cooking for 2 pax in those heavy and over sized pots and pans. You could imagine my excitement and relief when Tramontina sent me a 24cm Stainless Steel Frying Pan with internal Starflon Plus Coating last week! I'd not used such a light weight frying pan in a long long while and the feeling's just so right! As I was cooking the White Bee Hoon 白米粉, what really impressed me were the even distribution of heat that resulted in faster and uniform cooking, the ease to 'glide' my ingredients in the pan and best of all, the stainless steel handle was not too hot to hold even when I was cooking on medium-high heat. I'm loving that it looks good and presentable enough to be put on the dining table straight from the stove!

About Tramontina Stainless Steel Frying Pan with Internal Starflon Plus Coating

• 24cm Stainless Steel Frying Pan with internal Starflon Plus Coating
• Product Code: 62376247
• Product Dimensions: 44.2(length) x 26.7(width) x 6(height)cm
• Diameter: 24cm
• Capacity: 2.1L
• Material: Premium 18/10 Stainless Steel
• Internal Starflon Non-stick Coating prevents food from sticking to the pan and maintains food moisture. (Coating does not release any residues on food with proper care).
• Promotes Healthy Cooking with less use of oil.
• 3-ply Base (Stainless Steel + Aluminum + Stainless Steel) distributes heat evenly, resulting in Faster and Uniform Cooking.
• Compatible with Induction/Gas/Electric Stoves/Vitroceramic Glass Stoves & Oven. (up to 260 degrees)
• Made and Quality-controlled in Brazil.

• Care Instructions:
• Do not cook with sharp pointed utensils.
• Do not wash with scratchy sponges.
• First Use: - When using the frying pan for the first time, wash, dry and grease the interior with cooking oil. Next, heat it up on a low temperature for two to three minutes, depending on the frying pan size. Leave it to cool, then wash it with a soft sponge and mild detergent in lukewarm water. Rinse and dry as usual. Repeat the first use procedure whenever the dishwasher is used. Repeat this procedure periodically to better conserve the lining.

*Product Information provided by Tramontina.

Ingredients (enough for 3 to 4 pax) :

• 100 gm to 150 gm dried rice vermicelli/bee hoon (approx. 50 gm per pax)
• 6 shallots or 1 mid-sized onion (finely chopped)
• 5 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 10 mid-sized prawns (de-shelled and de-veined)
• 1 squid/sotong (cut to rings)
• 1 cup brown clams or/and toman/snakehead fish slices 
• 30 gm pork slices or cubes
• a handful of green vegetables (Cai Xin)
• 2 beaten eggs
• 600 ml to 800 ml Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底 (Click here for prawn heads stock base recipe)(subject to pot/pan size and ingredients quantity)
• 1 ikan bills stock cube (or to taste)
• 1 tsp grounded white pepper (or to taste)
• a dash of fish sauce (or to taste)
• pork lard (cut to small cubes)(blanched and deep fried to extract lard oil 猪油)(set aside deep fried crispy pork lard cubes 猪油渣 as condiments) or use other cooking oil of your choice
• 3 to 4 limes (cut into halves)(condiment to be served along the dish)
• chili & lime sambal (condiment to be served along the dish) 

(tsp = teaspoon; tbsp = tablespoon)    

Method : 

1. Heat Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底 in a pot. Set aside.
2. Soak dried bee hoon/rice vermicelli in room temperature water till softened. Drain and set aside.
3. Add pork lard/cooking oil to Tramontina frying pan and stir fry shallots/onions and garlic till aromatic.
4. Fold in drained bee hoon/rice vermicelli and lightly stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer bee hoon/rice vermicelli and aromatics to another bowl/plate. Set aside.
5. Heat a little lard oil in Tramontina frying pan again. Fold in pork slices/cubes and stir fry till lightly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
6. Fold in beaten eggs into Tramontina frying pan and quick stir fry to scramble egg texture.
7. Fold in Prawn Heads Stock Base 虾头浓汤底, taste test and add seasonings to your desired taste. 
8. Fold in all seafood and meat ingredients. Cover with lid and allow to simmer for 5 to 7 minutes (subject to pan size and ingredients quantity).
9. Remove lid and fold in bee hoon/rice vermicelli and vegetables. Submerge into liquid.
10. Toss gently till all ingredients are fully cooked. 
11. Turn off heat, dish out and serve hot immediately with deep fried crispy pork lard cubes, cut limes and chili sambal.

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