
INTRODUCTION
This shall be a fast and simple post and I blogged this recipe for the sake of my kids who may need this recipe when i am not around.. ha-ha. Well, this bowl of sweet long life noodles is only prepared on certain occasions in my house. I have been eating this since very young and I shall continue the tradition of serving my family members in this manner.
It only appears during Chinese New Years breakfast and also the lunar birthday for any family members. While for Roman calendar’s birthday, it is usually cakes and presents but for Chinese lunar calendar birthday, my kids will have a bowl of this long life noodle, 2 red eggs and an angpao or red packet.
Usually on the first day of Chinese New Year, the whole family will be on vegetarian and hence this bowl of long life noodles is a vegetarian version without any meat. It is sweet which represent harmonious relationship (甜甜蜜蜜)and the noodles represent longevity . The red dates is my addition and represent robust growth (红红火火)。
Unsure of the origin, my Zhaoan tradition (诏安) may been influenced by the Teochew or Chaozhou customs. I knew there are Teochew families who cooked these sweet noodles as well for birthday too. Preparation is straightforward and easy but I believe not many readers will try unless you have tasted it before. To me, it is delicious and my kids will remind me to cook this dish if it is their birthday. To them, this is a treat and they “deserved and entitled” to one bowl of this type of sweet noodles. Lol. I especially love the ginger and pandan aroma that make it taste like a dessert rather than a meal. Well, when we served, it is usually just a small dessert bowl and we do not eat this as a meal. We eat it more for ceremonial purposes.
WHAT IS REQUIRED
Servings: 3-4 adult servings
- 100 grams of long life noodles
- 8 slices of ginger
- 8 pieces of pandan leaves, bundled
- 8 red dates , soak until soft
- 2 medium size rock sugar
- 1.5 litres of plain water
*As for the long life noodles, you can choose those that are thicker and Teochew called them “mee tiao” or the fine strands version “Mee Sua”.
STEPS OF PREPARATION
- In a pot, put the water, ginger, pandan leaves, red dates and rock sugar. Bring to boil and once it boils, reduce the heat to medium and let it simmer for 15 minutes until the syrup is aromatic.
- Blanch the long life noodles in accordance to the packaging instruction. For every package of long life noodles, there should be a cooking instruction. Follow that instruction. Drain and if you want more springy noodles, you have to soak it in icy water for 5 minutes and drain again. However we usually served immediately after it is cooked.
- Put the blanch long life noodles in a serving bowl and scope a few ladles of ginger syrup before servings. This noodle dish is best served hot.
CONCLUSION
I remember there is one Teochew reader ask me for a recipe before and possibly there are minority readers who are looking for this niche recipe. Hope it will help those readers and this recipe is blogged for record of my family recipes.
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