Remove the heads and shells of the prawns and set them aside. Slice down the entire middle of the prawn to remove its veins and waste (not cross-sectionally, but in the direction of head to tail). Keep the de-veined prawns in the fridge.
Clean the squid if it has not already been prepared - sometimes, there is cartilage in the middle which you need to remove before cooking and consuming. Slice the squid into bite sized pieces and keep in fridge.
Rehydrate the dried vermicelli in warm (not boiling) water.
Mince the garlic.
OPTIONAL - if you want to cook with pork lard but don’t already have some, you may use the fatty layers of the pork belly to make your own. To do so, slice off the fatty layers and cut them into cubes. Then, put them in a cold pan before putting it on a high heat. Once the fat begins to sizzle, lower the heat to a medium setting, and turn the fat occasionally so that it is thoroughly cooked on all sides. Once all the fat is browned, remove with chopsticks or a slotted spatula, then pour the oil into a small dish to be used later.
Part 2 - cooking the stock
Fry the prawn shells and heads in pork lard and/or oil. Use a spatula to bash the mix to extract as much flavour as possible. After frying for about 5 minutes at least (or until all of the shells and heads have turned red), scrape the contents of the pan into a large pot. Save the remaining oil in the pan for the next step, don’t throw it in the sink! Add 4L of water, chicken drumsticks and dried anchovies (optional) and put the pot on a high heat, then turn it down to a medium-low setting once the stock has come to a rolling boil. Leave the stock to boil for 45 minutes.
On a high heat, fry the pork bellies on all sides so that it turns a golden-brown colour, but there is no need to thoroughly cook it as it will undergo a second cooking process. After the stock has been boiling for 45 minutes, add the pork belly and boil for another 30 minutes.
While the stock is going, half cook the egg noodles so they are just slightly underdone, as they will go through a second cooking process later. Check the instructions on the packet for the cooking time that applies. Once done, strain the noodles in a colander / pour out the water and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside until the stock is done.
Once the stock is done, remove the pork belly and slice into bite-sized pieces. Remove and discard the prawn shells and heads, dried anchovies and chicken drumsticks. The easiest way to do is to pour everything into a separate pot through a sieve.
Whisk 4 eggs.
Part 3 - bringing it all together
Fry the garlic on a high heat with oil or pork lard. After 30 seconds, lower the heat to a medium setting and add the whisked eggs. Once the eggs are semi-set, add the prawn meat and squid and fry for 2 minutes, before adding the sliced pork belly and frying it altogether for a further 1 minute.
Finally, add the half cooked noodles and rehydrated vermicelli, turn the heat back up to the highest setting, and fry everything together for 30 seconds.
Add 6 cups of the prawn stock, 2 tsp of light soy sauce and 2 tsp of fish sauce, and lower the heat to medium-high. Stir the noodles slowly as the sauce bubbles for another 2 minutes, or until the sauce is at the consistency you prefer. If you would like the dish to be more “wet”, add more prawn stock to the pan.
Serve each portion with a slice of lime, and your favourite sambal or our Giga Chilli Sauce!
