Chef Wan's Mee Rebus

Mee Rebus (boiled noodles, in English) is a rich, spicy noodle dish popular in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Asian Food Channel star Chef Wan shares his famous Mee Rebus recipe.

1/2 cup vegetable oil
15 pieces shallots (sibuyas tagalog), finely pounded
2 centimeters fresh ginger
6 garlic cloves, finely pounded
5 small packets meat curry powder
1 kg beef, cubed, include bones and fatty meat
4 tablespoons fermented soy bean paste (taucu or tao-cheo)
4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
4 ripe tomatoes, cubed
4 centimeters galanggal (langkawas or blue ginger), lightly bruised
2 kilos kamote, boiled until soft and mashed until smooth
2 kilos potatoes, boiled until soft and mashed until smooth
2 cups roasted peanuts, pounded
water (as much as is required to make the gravy) 

for the paste
15 shallots (sibuyas tagalog), finely pounded
6 garlic cloves, finely pounded
2 centimeters fresh ginger
water

For the garnish
3 kilos hokkien mee or yellow egg noodles, cooked
250 grams bean sprout (togue), blanched
4 blocks bean curd, fried and cut into small cubes
4 hard-boiled eggs, halved
6 stalks of wansuy, finely chopped
6 stalks of spring onion, finely chopped
1 cup crisp-fried shallots   
10 pieces calamansi
6 pieces chilies, sliced thinly

1  Heat vegetable oil in a pot and stir fry the paste, till light brown.

2  Add in meat curry powder paste. Mix well, and then add in the beef. Render all ingredients in pot well.

3  Add in fermented soy bean paste , and sauté the beef until the oil begins to surface.

4  Add in water, cubed tomatoes, galanggal, mashed potatoes, and mashed sweet potatoes. Stir until the mashed potatoes dissolve into soup.

5 Add in toasted pounded peanuts and tomato. Stir evenly and simmer for approximately 20 minutes until the gravy thickens and meat becomes tender.

6  Serve gravy with the garnish.

Gravy tip   If gravy is not thickening, add in some cornstarch. Mix a tablespoon or two of cornstarch and mix them thoroughly with some water, and pour into the gravy.