All recipes › Mee siam

How to cook Mee siam

Mee siam is a Singapore Peranakan-style dish of thin rice vermicelli tossed in a tangy, sweet-sour, lightly spicy gravy made from a blended chilli and shrimp paste, fermented soybean and tamarind. It is served with hard-boiled egg, tau pok, chives and a squeeze of calamansi lime.

Ingredients

For the rempah (spice paste)

• 15 g (about 12) dried chillies, snipped and soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, then drained
• 2 tbsp (about 20 g) dried shrimp (hae bee), rinsed and soaked in hot water for 15 minutes, then drained
• 150 g (about 10) shallots, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 tbsp (about 20 g) fermented soybean paste (taucheo)
• 1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste), toasted dry in a pan for 1 minute until fragrant
• 3 cm piece galangal, peeled and sliced
• 60 ml water, for blending

For the gravy

• 4 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tbsp (about 20 g) tamarind paste, mixed with 60 ml warm water, then strained
• 1.2 litres water
• 3 tbsp palm sugar or brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 stalk lemongrass, bruised (optional)
• 100 ml thick coconut milk (optional, for a richer gravy)

For the noodles

• 300 g dried thin rice vermicelli (bee hoon)
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 150 g (about 1 cup) beansprouts, tails pinched off

For the garnishes

• 4 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled and halved
• 8 pieces tau pok (fried tofu puffs), halved
• 50 g garlic chives (kuchai), cut into 3 cm lengths
• 6 to 8 calamansi limes, halved
• to taste sambal chilli (optional)

Steps

1. Soak the vermicelli10 min
   Place the dried vermicelli in a large bowl and cover with warm tap water. Soak for 10 minutes until pliable but still slightly firm. Drain well in a colander and leave to dry out for 10 minutes.
2. Hard-boil the eggs15 min
   Lower the eggs into a pot of boiling water and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Transfer to cold water for 5 minutes, then peel and halve. Set aside.
3. Blend the rempah5 min
   Combine the drained chillies, dried shrimp, shallots, garlic, taucheo, toasted belacan, galangal and 60 ml water in a blender. Blend on high until completely smooth, scraping down the sides once or twice.
4. Fry the rempah10 min
   Heat 4 tbsp oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the blended rempah and stir continuously for 8 to 10 minutes until the paste darkens, smells fragrant, and oil separates and pools at the edges. Lower the heat if it begins to catch on the base.
5. Build the gravy5 min
   Pour in the strained tamarind liquid, 1.2 litres of water, palm sugar, salt, light soy sauce and lemongrass if using. Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring to a boil over high heat.
6. Simmer the gravy15 min
   Reduce to low and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes so the flavours meld. Taste and adjust: add a little more sugar for sweetness, tamarind for tang, or salt for savouriness. If using coconut milk, stir it in during the last 3 minutes and do not let it boil hard.
7. Prepare the tau pok5 min
   While the gravy simmers, add the halved tau pok to the gravy for the last 5 minutes so they soak up the sauce. Remove and keep warm in a small bowl with a ladle of gravy.
8. Stir-fry the noodles4 min
   Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Fry the minced garlic for 20 seconds until fragrant. Add the drained vermicelli and 1 tsp salt and toss for 2 to 3 minutes until heated through and just tender. Do not over-fry or the noodles will break.
9. Blanch the beansprouts1 min
   Add the beansprouts to the wok for the final 30 seconds of tossing so they stay slightly crisp, then turn off the heat. Divide the noodles among four bowls.
10. Assemble and serve2 min
    Ladle the hot gravy over each bowl of noodles. Top with halved egg, tau pok and a sprinkle of garlic chives. Serve at once with calamansi halves on the side for squeezing over, and sambal if you like extra heat.

Tips

• Fry the rempah patiently until the oil visibly separates; this removes the raw taste of the dried shrimp and chilli and gives the gravy its depth.
• Add the tamarind gradually and taste as you go, since tamarind pastes vary in sourness.
• Drain the soaked vermicelli thoroughly and fry it only briefly; waterlogged noodles turn mushy once the gravy is added.
• The gravy keeps well, so make it ahead and reheat it gently, assembling the noodles and garnishes just before serving.
• For a milder gravy, deseed half the dried chillies before soaking.

Food safety and allergens

Make sure the hard-boiled eggs are cooked through and the gravy is brought to a full boil before serving. Cool leftover gravy quickly, refrigerate in a covered container and use within 2 days, reheating until piping hot; store noodles separately.

Contains: egg, shellfish, soy, wheat

Watch it being made

• SUPER EASY Singapore Mee Siam 米暹 Malay Noodles • Bee Hoon Recipe • Singapore Street FoodSpice N' Pans · 347,757 views · YouTube
• The ULTIMATE Singapore Mee Siam RecipeNomadette Eats · 324,236 views · YouTube
• How to Cook The Best Mee Siam GorengStory from K · 273,346 views · YouTube

Videos are made by their YouTube creators and open on YouTube. asklor! is not affiliated with them or with YouTube.

Ask asklor!

• Where to eat famous mee siam

More recipes: Hainanese chicken rice · Laksa · Char kway teow · Bak chor mee · Nasi lemak · Satay · Chilli crab · Black pepper crab · all recipes