Singapore Mee Siam Recipe (with Soup)
User Reviews
5
144 reviews
Excellent
-
Servings
8 people
-
Calories
499 kcal
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Course
Main Course
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Cuisine
Asian, Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean
Singapore Mee Siam Recipe (with Soup)
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Singapore Mee Siam is a noodle dish featuring a rich rempah paste made from dried chili, shallots, shrimp paste, and candlenuts, combined with stir-fried rice vermicelli and beansprouts. It includes a savory tamarind-based gravy enriched with preserved soya beans, served alongside garnishes like hard-boiled eggs, prawns, tau kwa, and Chinese chives with fresh calamansi lime. The layered flavors of spicy, sour, and umami create a complex, satisfying dish with diverse textures.
Description
Singapore Mee Siam balances a wet rempah spice paste with rice vermicelli and beansprouts stir-fried briefly in oil and water. The rempah, pounding together dried chilies, shallots, belacan (shrimp paste), and candlenuts, delivers a deeply aromatic and spicy base. The dish includes a tamarind-based gravy that adds a tangy element, enhanced by preserved soya beans and sugar to balance flavors.
The noodles absorb the fragrant rempah and broth, becoming fluffy and flavorful. Toppings such as hard-boiled eggs, prawns, deep-fried tofu cubes, and Chinese chives introduce varied textures and savory notes. Fresh calamansi limes offer acidity when squeezed over the dish, brightening the overall flavor.
This dish is traditionally served with the dry stir-fried noodles accompanied by the tangy gravy as soup, allowing diners to enjoy contrasting moist and dry elements. The use of preserved ingredients and fresh garnishes makes it a distinctive Southeast Asian meal often enjoyed as a comfort food or festive dish.
Storing components separately helps maintain texture and freshness when reheating. The rempah paste freezes well for future use, making this recipe practical for batch preparation and flexible additions like vegetables or other proteins.
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Ingredients
A.For the wet mee siam rempah (spice paste)
- 40 dried chili Soaked to soften. Remove the seeds if you don't want to choke on the spice!
- 7 oz shallots Substitute: onions, preferably red, cut into small pieces, 200g
- 0.7 z shrimp paste belacan, 20g
- 1.05 z candlenuts Substitute with macademia if you live outside of Asia and can't find this (I did manage to find it in Chinatown in London so you never know!, kemiri, 30g
- 0-5 red chillies The number of chillies I use depends on the fertility of my chilli plant!) These are added for color so it's OK if you don't have any, fresh, large
A. Pound separately
- 3 Tablespoons dried prawns Pound alone. Keep the soaking water to add to soups or stews, soaked till softened
- 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt or fish sauce, to taste
B. Noodles
- 4-6 Tablespoons neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
- 20.25 oz water 600ml
- 15.75 oz beansprouts 450g
- 15.75 oz rice vermicelli soaked in hot water till soft, fine, bee hoon, 450g
- 6-8 Tablespoons rempah from above (Section A
C. Gravy
- 1-2 Tablespoons neutral cooking oil generic cooking oil
- 4½ Tablespoons rempah If you still have rempah left, freeze it or use it to stir-fry vegetables, from above (Section A
- 9¾ Cups water about 2.25 litres / 76.05 oz
- 1½ Tablespoons tamarind assam jawa
- 1½ Cup water Mix with the tamarind above, then squeeze through cheesecloth and strain. Keep the water!, 12 oz / 354ml
- 3 Tablespoons preserved soya beans Substitute with miso or doenjang if that's what you can get, taucheo, mashed coarsely with a fork
- 3 teaspoon sugar or to taste
- salt to taste
D. Ingredients and garnishing
- 8-16 egg Depending on whether you want 1 or 2 eggs per person, hard boiled, peeled, sliced into 4
- 20.25 oz prawns 600g
- 3 pieces tau kwa deep fried, cut into 1 cm cubes
- 5.25 oz Chinese chives Use spring onions if you can't get koo chye. Wash and cut them into ½ cm bits, koo chye, 150g
- 8 lime preferably calamansi limes, sliced in half
- 3 Tablespoons dried prawns Cut into small pieces then stir fried with a little oil
Instructions
A. Rempah
- Boil the dried chillies till they are soft. (Remove some or all of the seeds, if not, it'll be super spicy!) Drain then pound the chillies with the rest of the rempah ingredients (from Section A but not including the dried prawns, salt and sugar) till they've become a fine paste. (The water from boiling the chillies can be discarded.)
- Add oil to the wok and heat till shimmering then add the pounded dried prawns for 1-2 minutes, till the smell is released. Add the rempah spice paste from above and continue stir frying till fragrant and the oil has been released. (This may take a while)
- Add salt and sugar to taste, then place the rempah in a bowl, leaving 4-5 tablespoons in the wok.
B. Noodles
- Add the water to the wok. Once simmering, add the bean sprouts and stir for about 1 minute. Add in the noodles then fry over high heat and stir till all the sauce has been absorbed.
- Lower the heat, stirring continuously till the noodles are dry and fluffy. Plate.
C. Gravy
- Add oil to the wok and once shimmering, add 4½ tablespoons of the rempah, the taucheo and a little tamarind water (to prevent burning). Mix everything well.
- Add the rest of the tamarind water then bring to a boil. Add the sugar and salt, and season to your taste.
D. Assembling the noodles, gravy, ingredients and garnishing
- Boil the eggs, peel then cut into quarters.
- Boil the prawns till cooked, shell, de-vein and, if feeling hardworking (or short on ingredients but want to bulk up the plate) halve the prawns. (The water used to boil the prawns can be kept as a base for soup stock.)
- Assemble your bowls: place some bee hoon in each bowl, then pour the gravy soup over the noodles. Add a few prawns, 4-8 egg quarters and 1 calamansi (ie 2 pieces since it's sliced in half) to each bowl.
- Sprinkle the koo chye, tau kwa and fried dried shrimps over each bowl.
Notes
- Store ingredients separately to preserve texture; keep vermicelli, rempah, and tofu in different containers.
- Reheat noodles and soup separately before assembling for best taste and consistency.
- Freeze leftover rempah paste in portions to use later for mee siam or as a flavor base for stir-fries.
- Adjust chili levels in the rempah paste to control the dish's spiciness according to preference.
Nutrition Information
Show Details
Calories
499kcal
(25%)
Carbohydrates
70g
(23%)
Protein
23g
(46%)
Fat
15g
(23%)
Saturated Fat
2g
(10%)
Polyunsaturated Fat
4g
(24%)
Monounsaturated Fat
7g
(35%)
Trans Fat
0.1g
(5%)
Cholesterol
269mg
(90%)
Sodium
1196mg
(50%)
Potassium
541mg
(12%)
Fiber
6g
(24%)
Sugar
10g
(20%)
Vitamin A
1911IU
(38%)
Vitamin C
41mg
(46%)
Calcium
155mg
(16%)
Iron
3mg
(17%)
Nutrition Facts
Serving: 8people
Amount Per Serving
Calories 499 kcal
% Daily Value*
| Calories | 499kcal | 25% |
| Carbohydrates | 70g | 23% |
| Protein | 23g | 46% |
| Fat | 15g | 23% |
| Saturated Fat | 2g | 10% |
| Polyunsaturated Fat | 4g | 24% |
| Monounsaturated Fat | 7g | 35% |
| Trans Fat | 0.1g | 5% |
| Cholesterol | 269mg | 90% |
| Sodium | 1196mg | 50% |
| Potassium | 541mg | 12% |
| Fiber | 6g | 24% |
| Sugar | 10g | 20% |
| Vitamin A | 1911IU | 38% |
| Vitamin C | 41mg | 46% |
| Calcium | 155mg | 16% |
| Iron | 3mg | 17% |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Genuine Reviews
User Reviews
Overall Rating
5
144 reviews
Excellent
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