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How to cook Mee rebus

Mee rebus is a Singapore Malay-style noodle dish of yellow noodles smothered in a thick, sweet-savoury gravy built from sweet potato, dried shrimp and fermented soybean paste. It is finished with fried tofu, egg, green chilli, crispy shallots and a squeeze of calamansi lime.

Ingredients

For the spice paste (rempah)

• 8 dried red chillies, snipped and soaked in hot water for 15 minutes
• 6 shallots, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 cm fresh galangal, peeled and sliced
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp (hae bee), rinsed and soaked for 10 minutes
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground turmeric

For the gravy

• 400 g orange-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks
• 3 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp fermented soybean paste (taucheo), lightly mashed
• 1.2 litres water
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp (hae bee), pounded fine or blitzed to floss
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts, finely ground
• 3 tbsp palm sugar (gula melaka), chopped, or to taste
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 3 tbsp warm water, strained
• 1 tbsp cornflour mixed with 3 tbsp cold water (optional, only if gravy is too thin)

For the noodles and toppings

• 600 g fresh yellow noodles
• 150 g bean sprouts, tails trimmed
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and halved
• 2 blocks firm tofu (taukwa) or fried tofu puffs, cut into cubes and pan-fried until golden
• 2 green chillies, sliced
• 2 stalks spring onion or Chinese celery, chopped
• 3 tbsp crispy fried shallots
• 3 calamansi limes, halved
• 2 tbsp sambal chilli (optional, to serve on the side)

Steps

1. Boil the sweet potato15 min
   Put the sweet potato chunks in a medium pot with 1.2 litres of water. Bring to the boil over high heat, then lower to medium and simmer for 15 minutes until a knife slides in with no resistance.
2. Blend the potato5 min
   Lift the potato out with a slotted spoon, keeping the cooking water in the pot. Blend the potato with 250 ml of that water until completely smooth, then set aside.
3. Make the rempah5 min
   Drain the soaked chillies and dried shrimp. Blend them with the shallots, garlic, galangal, coriander, cumin and turmeric into a fine paste, adding a splash of water only if the blades stall.
4. Fry the rempah10 min
   Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the paste and fry, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes until it darkens, smells toasty and the oil separates and pools at the edges.
5. Add the soybean paste2 min
   Stir in the mashed taucheo and the pounded dried shrimp. Fry for 2 minutes until fragrant and well combined with the paste.
6. Build the gravy
   Pour in the blended sweet potato and the remaining cooking water. Add the ground peanuts and palm sugar. Stir well, bring to a gentle boil, then reduce to low.
7. Simmer and season30 min
   Simmer uncovered on low for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring every few minutes so the bottom does not catch. Stir in the salt and tamarind liquid. The gravy is ready when it coats the back of a spoon like thin custard and tastes sweet, savoury and slightly tangy; adjust with more sugar, salt or tamarind.
8. Thicken if needed2 min
   If the gravy still runs thin, stir in the cornflour slurry and simmer for 2 minutes until it thickens. Keep the gravy hot over the lowest heat.
9. Blanch bean sprouts1 min
   Bring a pot of water to the boil. Dip the bean sprouts for 20 to 30 seconds, then lift out and drain. They should stay crisp.
10. Loosen the noodles2 min
    In the same boiling water, cook the yellow noodles for 30 to 60 seconds, just until heated through and loosened. Drain very well and divide among 4 bowls.
11. Assemble3 min
    Ladle a generous amount of hot gravy over each bowl of noodles so they are well covered. Top with bean sprouts, tofu, two egg halves, green chilli, spring onion and crispy shallots.
12. Serve
    Serve immediately with calamansi halves and sambal on the side. Squeeze the lime over the bowl and mix everything together before eating.

Tips

• Orange-fleshed sweet potato gives the traditional colour and sweetness; pale varieties make a duller, less sweet gravy.
• Do not skip frying the paste until the oil separates, as this is where most of the depth of flavour comes from.
• The gravy thickens as it cools, so loosen it with a little hot water when reheating.
• Make the gravy a day ahead if you like; the flavours deepen overnight.
• Toast the peanuts in a dry pan until golden before grinding for a nuttier gravy.

Food safety and allergens

Boil the eggs for at least 9 minutes so the yolks are fully set, and reheat the gravy until steaming hot throughout before serving. Cool leftover gravy quickly, refrigerate in a covered container and use within 2 days; store noodles and toppings separately.

Contains: egg, peanuts, shellfish, soy, wheat

Watch it being made

• How to cook Mee Rebus 马来卤面 Malay Food (Noodles with Gravy) • Singapore Hawker Food RecipeSpice N' Pans · 570,144 views · YouTube
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• MEE REBUS TETEL DAHLIA’S KITCHENDahlia's Kitchen Sg · 309,177 views · YouTube

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