I’ll call it a ritual, if I may. Every time I visit Singapore, I simply HAVE to visit one of the food stalls and have a plate of Singapore Hokkien Mee, fresh from the wok. Make that a large one, thank you very much. I’ve got this craze for Singapore Hokkien Mee…there’s just something about it that I can’t seem to resist. Though I’ve never really had to, if I were to choose between a spread of gourmet cuisine and a plate of Singapore Hokkien Mee, I have a feeling I’ll be choosing the latter…
Singapore Hokkien Mee really is stir-fried egg noodles, leafy greens or shredded cabbage and an assortment of seafood nestled in a small amount of gravy made from soy sauce. Not to be confused with the Penang Hokkien Mee which is made in soup and the Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Mee which is slightly darker in colour. Usually there are huge, succulent prawns, fish cake and squid accompanying the noodles, and their fresh flavours coincide excellently with the raw greenness of the blanched leafy vegetables. I could go on and on about how the sauce beautifully coats the long strands of the noodles and how the small amounts of fried pork lard added in gives an amazing aromatic boost to the dish, not to mention heighten its flavours to unimaginable levels. So during my last visit to Singapore, I finally decided to find the recipe for this dish…I mean, I have to have something to combat my cravings when I’m in Malaysia, right?
The key method to make this dish a success is to braise it. To do this, the noodles have to be first subjected to high heat in a wok, just to brown them and give them a slightly crisp outer layer. Stock is then added to them and they are cooked on a low heat in a covered pot until the stock is absorbed and there is a small amount of gravy in the wok. It is very important to ensure that they are braised quickly to avoid having soggy noodles-mush, in other words. The stock used is also very important as it provides the necessary flavours to make this dish a flavourful one. I use stock made from prawn head and pork bones for they have an amazing flavour that allows me to have this fantastic dish. The stock is reabsorbed back into the moisture-deprived noodles when you cover it, giving them a boost and enhancing the rich taste of the egg noodles. One thing to note about egg noodles are they should always be refrigerated upon buying them to ensure they stay fresh. It’s best to buy them a few days before they are needed.
To serve this dish, you would need a slice of lime and a small amount of spicy, thick sambal. Sambal is a condiment made from chillies that is popular in many Asian countries, especially Indonesia and Malaysia. The lime gives this dish a tangy twist, while the sambal gives it an extra ‘oomph’-that spiciness that mingles with the lime juice which perfectly complements this dish. Ooooh I need a plate of it now!
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: approximately 1 1/2 hour (about 1 hour for the stock)
Serves 4
300g pork knuckle and pork belly
300g prawn head and shell, for the stock, peel and deveined prawns for the dish
1/2 bulb garlic, peeled
1/2 medium size pot water
1 packet singapore hokkien noodles
200g chinese chives
2 whole chicken eggs
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt and Pepper for seasoning
1. For the stock, boil pork knuckle and pork belly in some water for about 15 minutes. Discard the water. Bring 1/2 pot of clean water to a boil. Add prawn head, shell, pork knuckle, pork belly and garlic. Boil for approximately 1 hour, over low heat until stock is reduced by 2cm. When stock is done, strain stock into another clean bowl and cut pieces of pork belly into small 1cm strips. Discard the remainder of ingredients.
2. In a heated work, add oil and scramble eggs.
3. Add pork belly and peeled prawns and fry over high heat until prawns are cooked
4. Add hokkien noodles, fish sauce and continue frying for further 2-3 minutes over high heat
5. Add about 3 ladles of stock into the wok and mix ingredients thoroughly
6. Cover the wok and let the noodles braise in stock for 3 minutes
7. Once the cover is opened, add chives, salt and pepper to the noodles
8. Divide noodles into 4 separate plates and serve immediately
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