Glass vermicelli with dried shrimps and mince meat

A typical Cantonese dish ..... 'Tai Yee Mah Kah Looi' aka Glass vermicelli with dried shrimps and mince meat.  What a hilarious name!  It literally means 'maternal elder aunt's daughter getting married'!  I don't seem to find any connection with this dish.  Had asked my mum why it was named as such but she couldn't provide me with an answer because those days, recipes were just handed down, no questions asked.

It's a very simple, economical, quick and easy no-frills dish to put on the table.  Normally this dish does not require any meat, but I added some mince pork for that extra taste and to make it more wholesome.

'chit kua' or 'mow kua', 'mow' is the fine hair on the gourd, which can sum up to as 'hairy gourd', is an integral ingredient of this dish, so is the dried glass vermicelli, which needs to be soaked to soften

dried shrimps and mince meat make up the other ingredients for this dish

Recipe for Glass vermicelli with dried shrimps and mince meat

Ingredients

350 gm Chit kua

80 gm dried glass vermicelli - soak till soft

10 gm dried shrimps

100 gm mince pork

3 pips garlic  - chopped

Oil for frying

1.1/2 cups or more water

Salt and a bit of sugar to taste

Seasoning for mince pork

1  tsp salt

1/4  tsp sugar

1  tsp oyster sauce

a dash of pepper

Preparation

Marinate the mince pork with the above seasoning

set aside

Peel off the skin of the melon

cut into halves, slice and cut into fine strips

Saute the chopped garlic with a Tbsp oil

add in the dried shrimps, stir fry till fragrant

Add in the mince pork and continue frying

Add in the sliced melon strips, fry

When the melon strips are more or less done

add in the presoaked and softened glass vermicelli

Add in 1.1/2 cups of water

Fry till the glass vermicelli and melon strips

are fully incorporated

You may need to add in more water

as the glass vermicelli is very absorbent

Add salt to taste, a bit of sugar if desired

Serve