Home > Kwetiau Siram (Flat Rice Noodles with Gravy)

Kwetiau Siram (Flat Rice Noodles with Gravy)

Posting Date: 10/08/17

Kwetiau Siram (Flat Rice Noodles with Gravy) can be found in some Chinese restaurants in Indonesia. Kwetiau is flat rice noodles. The rice noodles are served with the gravy poured on top of it. Siram means pour and hence, the name Kwetiau Siram. The gravy itself is made of soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, water, and chicken bouillon. It is thickened with corn starch. The gravy also has meat and vegetables. This dish reminds me of Chop Suey in US Chinese restaurants, except they use egg noodles instead of flat rice noodles. Chop Suey normally uses bean sprouts while kwetiau siram doesn't use it. However, you can use any vegetables you want on it. You can also make it vegetarian by omitting shrimp, chicken, and fish balls and substituting it with tofu. In addition, you must use vegetarian oyster sauce to make it vegetarian because regular oyster sauce contains oyster.

This dish is good during cold days. Instead of using rice noodles, you can serve it with rice, especially if you have leftover gravy.

The recipe serves 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

1/2 lbs or 250 grams flat rice noodles or rice sticks size L or XL. If you cannot find those sizes, size M is okay, too.
For the gravy sauce: 1.5 cup water (about 325 ml)
For the gravy sauce: 1/2 teaspoon chicken bouillon
For the gravy sauce: 1 tablespoon soy sauce or to taste
For the gravy sauce: 1 teaspoon sesame oil
For the gravy sauce: 1.5 tablespoon oyster sauce or to taste. To make it vegetarian, use vegetarian oyster sauce.
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 chicken breast, diced. To make it vegetarian, you can substitute it with diced firm tofu.
Optional: 4 fish meatballs, sliced into 3 each. You can find fish meatballs in the freezer section of Asian stores.
8 XL shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 carrot, sliced diagonally
1 cup bok choy (about 2 leaves of bok choy), sliced
1.5 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large egg, beaten
For thickener: 1 tablespoon corn starch
For thickener: 2 tablespoons water
pinch of black pepper or to taste
pinch of salt or to taste
1 green onion, sliced

Methods:

Cook rice noodles according to the package directions. Make sure you don't overcook them. Drain the liquid once it is done cooking. Rinse the noodles on a collander with cold water. Rinse them several times until the noodles is cold. Shake the collander off to get rid of water. Set them aside to drain more water. Rinsing noodles with cold water will prevent them from sticking to each other. You can also add a little bit of vegetable oil to the noodles and toss them to prevent sticking. I prefer not to add oil if it is not needed.
In a small bowl, prepare the gravy sauce by combining water, chicken bouillon, soy sauce, sesame oil, and oyster sauce. Stir it.
Heat up 1.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a deep pan or a wok over medium high heat. Add garlic. Saute it until it becomes aromatic. Add chicken and fish balls. Stir fry until chicken is cooked. Add shrimp and cook it until it turns pink. Add carrot and stir fry it for about 1 min. Add bok choy and stir fry it for about 1 min. Stir the gravy sauce to make sure it is mixed well before adding it into the pan. Stir the pan to make sure all vegetables and meat are coated with the gravy sauce. Let the sauce go to boil. Add beaten egg into the pan. Using a fork, stir the egg in the pan in 1 circular motion direction. Dissolve corn starch with 2 tablespoons water and stir until smooth. Add it into the pan and stir it until it is slightly thicken. Add pepper and salt. Taste it and add more seasoning if needed. Add green onion and turn off the heat.
To assemble, divide rice noodles into 2 and place them in a bowl. Pour the sauce on top of the noodles. The amount of sauce to pour is depending on your preference. If you want to make it more like noodle soup, you can pour a lot. Serve it while it is still hot. Any leftover vegetable and meat gravy sauce can be eaten with rice the next day. Just store it in a container in the fridge.

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