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'Hor Hee' ~ Malaysian Monday no. 16'



Before the advent of plastic bags, plastic and styrofoam containers, we had to resort to tiffin carriers ~ 'kak lam' to carry or pack our food.  'Kak' means tiers and 'Lam' is basket, which literally means 'tiered  basket'.
Those days tiffin carriers were made of enamel, plain coloured or with beautiful and colourful designs.
I remember that many, many years ago I liked to patronise a 'Hor Hee' roadside stall in the hawker area next to the Majestic cinema along Chamberlain Road, Ipoh.  To take away, I had to bring along the faithful 'Kak Lam'.   At present, Majestic Cinema is now a furniture outlet.
Coming back to 'Hor Hee' which I think is synonymous  with Ipoh, is a soup based noodle and you can opt for 'Hor Fun', 'Hokkien Mee', bihun or 'glass noodles'~ 'toong fun'.  Accompanying the noodles are fish balls, fish paste and their signature 'fish skin wonton', with a sprinkling of finely shredded lettuce garnished with  some chopped red chilli, onion crisps  and a dash of pepper.



This tiffin carrier, made from Czechoslovakia is  older than me and it's now a display item in my house.








I used glass noodles to make this 'Hor Hee'  and I find it to be light and refreshing.

Ingredients
  • 125 gm glass noodles, pre-soaked for 3 servings
  • 300 gm chicken frame
  • 5 cups water
  • 10 gm toong choy - preserved vegetable
  • 10 fish balls
  • 10 fish skin wonton
  • 1 fish paste- slightly shallow fried and sliced
  • Lettuce - finely cut
  • Red chilli - chopped
  • Shallots - cut and stirfry with oil to make shallot crisps
  • Salt to taste
  • Pepper
Preparation
  1. Wash the chicken frame.  Bring to the boil, 5 cups of water.  Once boiling add in the chicken frame to make broth.  Simmer for about 45 mins.
  2. Heat up some oil in a pan and shallow fry the sliced shallots to make crisps.  Dish out, drain and set aside the oil.
  3. Soak the glass noodles till soft, rinse, drain and set aside.
  4. Discard the chicken frame and add in the toong choy, continue to simmer.
  5. Cook the fish balls and fish skin wonton in the soup, dish out and set aside.  Add in salt to the soup and fine tune to taste.
  6. Cook the softened glass noodles in a pot of boiling water, dish out, drain and place in  a serving bowl.
  7. Add in the fish balls, sliced fish paste and fish skin wonton.  Ladle soup onto the noodles.
  8. Garnish with shredded lettuce, red chilli, shallot crisps, shallot oil and a dash of pepper.
  9. Serve immediately with a light soya sauce and chilli dip.

Comments

  1. i like your tiffins! looks so pretty in green! the hor hee must be delish although i can't eat glass noodles gives me gastric pain everytime! can you serve me with hor fun cheah? hee!

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  2. I love the tiffin. Must remember to get one when I next return for a visit.

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  3. Your tiffins looks antique...nice color too ! Your hor hee looks good...hungry liao :p

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  4. The tiffin looks very oriental...czech made, that is a surprise.
    Love your hor hee, will try this over the weekend!
    Thanks for another wonderful entry and your tips on pau :)

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  5. Your Hor Hee looks very delicious and easy to cook. Like the color of your tiffins...really antique :)

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  6. yeah, making me hungry too and must eat this with lots of chilli padi and i saw you also got this in your picture.

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  7. I remember those tiffins...my mum had one with just 3 layers, but not so cool looking like yours...just simply white.
    The glass noodle soup looks delicious!

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  8. j3ss kitch3n
    Oh you can substitute with hor fun too.

    penny
    Doubt this type of tiffin carrier is available now. At present we're using the stainless steel type of tiffin.

    Elin
    Yup, it's antique!

    3 hungry tummies
    You are most welcome. So, can look forward to your 'Hor Hee' post as well.

    Anncoo
    Thanks! I like the tiffins too, that's why it's now on display.

    lena
    Those days they only served red chillies but now chilli padi is popular.

    Angie
    Yes, hor hee is popular in Ipoh.

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  9. I love that tiffin carrier and the soups is just comforting :)

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  10. the tiffin looks so pretty, like the color. I love glass noodle, looking at your post making me crave for it now.

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  11. I love hor hee (especially with hor fun) and also I adore your antique tiffin carrier. I was also plotting to use a tiffin for my shots, I have to ask my parents to dig some out :D

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  12. Thos are lovely tiffin carriers - priceless! And the hor hee looks delicious. Hot soup is what I love these days.

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  13. Ha ha Aunty Cheah, are you Ipoh mali? (I was born there and went to kindy there, don't rememeber too many land marks though). Your tiffin carrier is so pretty, we only ever had the stainless steel ones. Tough but not very photogenic :) Delicious noodles, I especially like Tang Hoon!

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  14. Ananda
    Thanks so much!

    Jess
    But not many people can take glass noodles, hard to digest.

    Jen
    Yes, hor hee with hor fun is also very delicious.

    Sharon Moh
    Yes, I wouldn't trade my tiffin carrier for any price.

    Shaz
    Yes, I'm Ipoh mali! Can you remember the last place you lived in Ipoh? The town has changed quite a lot, road names have changed to the extent that I can't even figure out which is which. Anyway, we still refer to them by the old names.

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  15. Oh wow, you still keeping this thing! Yours one is very pretty. Btw, I love 'dong fun' soup with fishballs. Very tasty! yummm....
    Have a nice evening.
    Kristy

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  16. HI again aunty, sorry been so busy, I only just read your comments. We lived in Ulu Kinta (my dad was in the Field Force), and I went to kindy at Canning Gardens :)

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  17. Thanks for the receipe i'm just another ipoh girl craving for ipoh hor hee

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