Serve up Seafood Treasure Rat's Tail Noodles this CNY

Welcome the Year of the Rat with a dish of rat's tail noodles cooked with three types of scallops, prawns and sakura shrimp.

This is a versatile dish as it can be part of your line-up for a grand festive meal, or a one-dish meal for a quick luxurious lunch.

Made from rice flour, rat's tail noodles (lou xu fan in Cantonese or bee tai mak in Hokkien) are smooth, succulent and do not require a long cooking time.

Elevate this humble ingredient with seafood, shredded carrot, Chinese sausage and jiu huang (yellow chives).

And to get that bouncy springy texture in your prawns and scallops, marinate them in a little cornflour and sugar - this also helps rid them of strong seafood odours.

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SEAFOOD TREASURE RAT'S TAIL NOODLES

INGREDIENTS (SERVES SIX TO EIGHT)

• 12 prawns (360g), shelled and deveined
• 200g frozen bay scallops, defrosted
• 1 tsp cornflour
• ¼ tsp sugar
• 2 eggs (60g each)
• Pinch of salt
• Dash of pepper
• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (20g), soaked and sliced
• 6 dried scallops (24g), soaked until softened
• 40g dried baby scallops, soaked until softened
• 180ml water
• 6g sakura shrimp
• 1 carrot (120g), shredded
• 1kg bee tai mak (rat's tail noodles)
• 2 Chinese sausages (150g), blanched, skins removed and sliced
• 150g yellow chives, cut into 5cm lengths
• 4 tbsp soya sauce
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 tbsp fish sauce

METHOD

1. In a bowl, place the prawns and add half a teaspoon of cornflour and half of the sugar. Mix well, cover the bowl with Cling Wrap and allow to marinate for 20 minutes.

2. Do the same with the bay scallops using the remainder of cornflour and sugar.

3. Remove the prawns and bay scallops from the fridge five minutes before cooking.

4. In a bowl, add the eggs, a pinch of salt and a dash of pepper. Beat well.

5. Heat one tablespoon of oil in a frying pan.

6. Pour in the eggs and turn the heat to low. Allow the egg to cook for about a minute. Use a frying slice to cut the omelette in half and turn each half over carefully.

7. Once the egg is cooked through, remove from pan and allow to cool. Cut into thin strips and set aside to use for garnishing.

8. Heat 1½ tablespoons of oil in the frying pan.

9. Add 1/3 of the chopped garlic and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 30 seconds.

10. Add the prawns and fry for 45 seconds until nearly opaque. Add the bay scallops and fry for 40 seconds.

11. Remove the prawns and bay scallops from the heat and set aside.

12. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan or wok.

13. Add in the shiitake mushroom and fry over medium heat until fragrant.

14. Add the remaining chopped garlic and fry for 45 seconds until fragrant.

15. Add the dried scallops and dried baby scallops. Fry for a minute and add 50ml of water. Continue cooking until there is no liquid at the bottom of the pan.

16. Add the sakura shrimp and shredded carrot. Stir-fry for 45 seconds.

17. Add the rat's tail noodles. Mix well and stir-fry for a minute.

18. Add the soya sauce, oyster sauce and fish sauce.

19. Add the remaining water. Stir-fry briefly.

20. Add the Chinese sausage and cover for three minutes.

21. Uncover and add the stir-fried prawns, bay scallops and yellow chives.

22. Stir through, cover and let it cook for another two minutes.

23. To serve, take a bowl, add a few strips of omelette and arrange the prawns and Chinese sausage at the bottom of the bowl. Fill the bowl with rat's tail noodles and invert the bowl onto a plate.

24. Serve immediately.