Mee Siam Mai Hum
Singaporeans once again showed they are a nation of foodies when they asked collectively on Sunday evening in their broadest Singlish, "Mee Siam got hum meh?"
What caused this puzzlement was their Prime Minister's reference to this favourite rice noodle dish in his annual National Day Rally speech that evening.
This is what he said "live" on national TV.
"You put out a funny podcast. You talk about bak chor mee. I will say mee siam mai hum."
Sms started flying immediately.
"mee siam got hum meh?"
"he mins laksa, rite?"
"char kway teow lah. mee siam where got hum."
"aiyah, shd b mee siam no hiam."
They might well be all correct.
Mee Siam is a spicy rice noodle dish that originated in Thailand - according to non other than Mrs Lee Chin Koon, the grandmother of the Prime Minister, whose recipe for it appears in her cookbook published in December 1974.
A quick check shows cockles or hum as they are called in Hokkien and Cantonese, are not one of the ingredients which include rice vermicelli, prawns, bean curd cake and bean sprouts.
So it couldn't be that Mr Lee remembered telling his grandmother, "no hum please" when offered a bowl of her delicious Mee Siam.
My view is he should have said "hiam" - thick chilli sauce that is sometimes served on the side to add extra kick, for those who like their Mee Siam hot.
Save the "hum" for Laksa or Char Kway Teow.
Or you could eat it only slightly cooked.
Scrub the cockles to get rid of the mud sticking to them.
Soak them in cool tap water for a few minutes.
When they open, wash away any dirt sticking to the flesh.
Pour boiling water over the cockles and let them stand for two to three minutes.
Pour away the water, remove the flesh from the shells and dip it in chilli sauce for a delicious bloody treat.
Another way is to marinate the cleaned raw cockles in thick black soya sauce. Add some sliced fresh chillies to the sauce and let the cockles steep for about an hour. Pour away the sauce, open the cockles and feast.
Nowadays, eating cockles this way would be like playing Russian roulette, what with the threat of Hepatitis hanging over our heads.
So it might well be prudent to follow the Prime Minister's advice and say "mai hum".
