[This recipe is an honourable mention on our NINE Favourite Recipes of 2020 list. Check out the post here].

This is one our favourite noodle dishes! Originating from Ipoh, this is a popular dish that can be served in soup or tossed with sweet-savoury sauce.

For this recipe, we are making the soup version. The key to a flavourful and wholesome bowl of kai si hor fun is a good batch of chicken carcass and prawns to give it sweetness. We were told that rock sugar can be added as well – we have yet to try this.

Our favourite restaurants to eat this in Klang Valley include Chong Thoong Kee in TTDI, Pau Kee and Chan Thong Kee in Imbi. See review of the former here.

Ming and a friend (we exchanged our hor fun for her moo palo, lol) enjoyed this dish and found the soup flavourful enough.

However, Max thought it needed more kick – maybe he is used to hor fun that is super “kau” or pekat (flavourful)! It could likely be the huge batch of prawns used at the restaurants and the added MSG. Lol.

In any case, I shortcut a bit – I used 500g instead of 800g of prawns – and did not pressure cook as long as I hoped. Also, fried shallots and chilli oil would have elevated the dish even further.

I have also added an extra step to make the prawn oil – which you can add to the dish at the end to give some extra prawn flavours. Yums!

Otherwise, the prawns were super succulent and tasty and the hor fun was excellent! The latter was the thinner and silky type that is perfect for this dish. We bought both from Fish For It! We like them because their seafood is super fresh, cleaned, gutted, flash-frozen, and vacuum-packed individually before they are delivered to your house. Check them out if you are in the Klang Valley area.

For videos and step-by-step instructions on our Instagram post here.

Ipoh kai si hor fun (shredded chicken and prawn rice noodles) [Pressure Cooker Recipe]

Recipe by ThoKoh MakanCourse: Lunch, BreakfastCuisine: Chinese, MalaysianDifficulty: Intermediate

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

hour

Here’s our take on the famous Ipoh kai si hor fun (shredded chicken with prawn and rice noodles) using the pressure cooker.

Ingredients

Chicken stock
2 chicken carcass (about 700 grams)
2 litre water
1 carrot
1 medium onion
1-inch ginger
Main stuff
1.2 kg kueh teow (rice noodles)
800g prawns with shells
100g chives, cut to 2-inch length
2-3 stalks of green onion, chopped
2 chicken breast
Garnish
4-5 fried shallots, chopped and fried
Salt & pepper, to taste
Sesame oil/chilli oil (optional)
Prawn oil (optional, see directions below)

Directions

Make chicken stock
Place all the ingredients to make chicken stock into pressure cooker. Seal and pressure cook for 40 minutes. Allow pressure to release naturally if possible. (Hot water might spray out due to high level of liquid. Cover with wet towel to be safe).
Prepare the prawns (and prawn oil)
While waiting for the chicken stock to cook, peel the prawns and retain the shells and heads. [TIP: Whenever you cook prawns and do not need the shells and heads, just keep them in the freezer. They come in handy for recipes like this].
Heat oil in a pan and fry the prawn heads & shells until fragrant. Press heads down with spatula to release the flavours.
[OPTIONAL TO MAKE PRAWN OIL] If you have extra prawns, you can retain some of the prawn oil from this step to add as a final touch to the dish. Just add some salt if you like.
Combine chicken stock and prawns
Once ready, add the prawn shells and heads into the chicken stock in the pressure cooker. Also add the chicken breasts (you may opt to steam them separately if you like). Seal and pressure cook for 15-20 minutes.
Blanch prawns and kueh teow
Boil some water in a pot (add salt if you like) and blanch the prawns (for about 30 seconds) until they are cooked. Set aside.
Blanch the kueh teow as well and set aside.
Combine all
Once soup is done, season it with salt and pepper to taste. You may strain the soup (to remove the carcass, prawn shells etc.) into another pot if you like.
Remove the chicken breast, and shred or cut them.
Place kueh teow, chives, green onion, shredded chicken, and cooked prawns in a serving bowl. Pour soup into the bowl. Garnish with fried shallots, prawn oil (if available) or chilli oil/garlic oil. Enjoy!