Sumptuous Kai See Hor Fun

In the universally-accepted list of adult food consisting of broccoli, celery, liver, intestines, coriander leaves, I'm happy, no ecstatic that beansprouts do not have a place in there.

I know that hate is a strong word. We should have love and light to bounce off positivity into the world.

But, I detest beansprouts.

Conventional Kai See Hor Fun (Shredded Chicken with Flat Rice Noodles) incorporates beansprouts into the broth. So if you have an aversion to beansprouts like me, be sure to tell the waiter to leave it off your order. And, if you are looking to make delicious Kai See Hor Fun without beansprouts, here's my recipe.

First, drop some bomb ass dried shrimps in hot oil. To prevent them from spitting oil all over your kitchen, use some kitchen towel to pat dry the washed shrimps first.

Next, add shallots and lemongrass into the mix.

(After this experience, I've jotted down in my memory to never cut the lemongrass so thinly for any soup dish but to bruise them instead because straining them is not worth the effort really.)

In a separate pot, boil water to get ready to blanch the flat rice noodles.

Add a second layer of aromatics consisting of onion, garlic and bird eye chillies. In my opinion, the bird eye chillies are very important not just to impart heat but mainly to contribute another notch up in flavour.

After a few minutes of stirring, lay a piece of boneless chicken onto the aromatics.

Add chicken and prawn broth and let the soup reach a boiling point, the timing should more or less sync with the separate pot of water that has been left to boil.

Add some salt and pepper to taste.

When the soup boils, add Chinese cabbage and let it boil for 5 seconds then quickly add prawns and turn off the heat. The piping hot soup should cook the prawns through.

Finally, slice the boneless chicken into thin slices, garnish the noodles with scallions and enjoy the beansprouts-free soup. The Chinese cabbage imparts such a sweet flavour, you could even skip the flat rice noodles and load up on the veggie for a carb-free meal.

Recipe serves 2

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

1 boneless chicken (chicken chop)

8 prawns

1/4 Chinese cabbage, sliced into 1/2" width

2 tbsp dried shrimps

3-4 shallots

2 lemongrass stalks

1 onion

4 garlic cloves