#52 Simple Bee Hoon Soup

Bee hoon soup with carrot, cauliflower, bok choy and chicken breast meat. Plain as it may seems, it's pretty tasty due to the ikan bilis (dried anchovies) and soya bean soup.


Preparing ikan bilis soup is very fast and easy, unlike meat or veg stock. I'll usually boil the soup for about 30 minutes. I've also found out, thru' trial and error, that the choice of ikan bilis is very important! Never buy those pre-packed ones from supermarkets, the soup won't be as tasty. Better to go to a dried food shop and ask the seller for those suitable for soup base. Whole ikan bilis is also better than the halved (de-boned) type. Apparently there are better ones which are not so salty, but I've tasted them all (yay, I did that) at the store, I think they are all just as salty! So there's no need to add salt to this soup.


Preparation:
Ikan Bilis - A handful. Soak for about 5 minutes then rinse a few times. 
Soya beans - 1 tablespoon. Soak for 15minutes. (I bought those from japan, which look much better than those I got from the dried goods store).


Bring 3 cups of water to the boil, then add in ikan bilis and soya beans. Bring down the heat slightly and continue to let it boil for about 20-30 minutes. Remove all ikan bilis and beans. Soup is ready!


If you want to make it tastier, you can also add in red dates and chinese wolfberries.