Mushroom Bak Chor Mee (Mee Kia Tah Recipe)
This is a recipe for one of Singapore’s most popular and iconic hawker dish – “bak chor mee” aka minced meat noodles (肉脞面). While I have featured the recipe for fish ball bak chor mee, this is the other version with stewed mushrooms, minced pork, pork ball, pork liver and sliced pork.
See Also:
As compared to the fish ball version, there is slightly more work for this one as there are more variety of ingredients. The stewed mushrooms also take some time to stew, though the good news is that they keep well in the fridge for many days, and serve well as toppings for almost any soup noodle dish. I love both the fish ball and mushrooms versions equally and it totally depends on my mood that day. Since I used “mee pok” aka flat egg noodles the last time, I used “mee kia” aka thin egg noodles this time round. The home-cooked version means you can swop around the ingredients based on your time and ingredient availability. For instance, you can do fish balls with stewed mushrooms, omit the liver or even try the soup version of bak chor mee.
“Mee Kia Tah” – Before eating, remember to mix the noodles well to coat everything with the sauce.
Stewed/Braised Mushrooms – Keeps well in the fridge, great for other dishes such as shredded chicken & mushroom noodles, even mee sua soup or a savoury topping for most Asian dishes!
Individual serving of pork liver, minced pork and sliced pork for each bowl of bak chor mee (Step B of the recipe)
If you are looking for the other recipe for bak chor mee with fishballs, get the recipe here (or click on the photo above).
Bak Chor Mee Recipe
The quantities stated for the stewed mushrooms is doubled the serving required for four to six persons, as it takes some time to stew them and the excess keeps well in the fridge (up to a week). Feel free to reduce the amount used according to your preference.
Ingredients:
(A) Stewed (Braised) Mushrooms
- 50 grams Chinese dried shiitake mushrooms
- 750 ml water (including mushroom soaking liquid, filtered through a fine sieve)
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp rock sugar
(B1) Marinated Pork
- 150 grams minced pork
- 1 tsp light soy sauce
- 3 dashes white pepper powder
- 1 tsp corn flour (starch)
- 1 tsp sesame oil
(B2) Marinated Pork Liver
- 8 thinly sliced pork liver
- 1/4 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 dashes white pepper powder
- 1/2 tsp corn flour (starch)
(B3) Marinated Pork Slices
- 8 slices thinly sliced lean pork
- 1/4 tsp light soy sauce
- 2 dashes white pepper powder
- 1/2 tsp corn flour (starch)
(C) Soup Base
- 1 litre ikan bilis stock (you may also use hot water)
- 8 pork balls
(D) Sauce (per one pax serving)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese fish sauce
- 1 tsp black vinegar
- 1 tbsp mushroom stewing sauce (see step A2 below)
- 1 tbsp hot stock (see step C1 below)
- 1 tbsp sambal tumis if you do not take chilli, substitute with ketchup
- 1 tsp crispy lard pieces optional
- 1 tsp lard oil may substitute with shallot oil
(E) Noodles (per one pax serving)
- one bundle (about 70 grams) of fresh “mee pok” or “mee kia”
- a small handful (about 10 grams) of beansprouts
(F) Serving suggestions
- saucer of sliced chilli padi in light soy sauce
- small slices of dried seaweed
- chopped spring onions
- a few leaves lettuce torn to smaller pieces by hand
Directions:
(A) Stewed Mushrooms
- Soak mushrooms in a bowl of hot water for 30 minutes until softened, trim and discard stalks and squeeze out excess water from each mushroom cap. Using a pair of kitchen scissors, cut the mushrooms as thinly as possible.
- Add sliced mushrooms with the rest of the ingredients at (A) in a small pot. Simmer for 30 minutes until the mushrooms are tender. Transfer the stewed mushrooms together with the stewing sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Optional: Keep the stewed mushrooms warm and tender by keeping in a mini slow cooker on low until serving time.
(B) Pork Marinate
- Marinate (B1), (B2) and (B3) in individual small bowls for at least 10 minutes. Divide to four equal portions (i.e 40 grams of marinated minced pork, 2 slices pork liver and 2 pork slices per person).
(C) Soup base
- In a pot, add soup stock (or water). Bring to a boil, then simmer pork balls until cooked, a few minutes. Keep the soup bubbling at a low heat.
Cooking and assembling the bak chor mee
- In each serving bowl, add (D). Stir with a spoon to mix it well.
- Add one ladle of prepared hot soup base over each individual serving bowl of marinated pork and pork liver. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, bring another pot of water to boil. Cook noodles and bean sprouts through a slotted ladle until just cooked, about 30-45 seconds. Rinse the noodles in tap water for a few seconds. Add drained noodles and beansprouts to serving bowl.
- Return the bowl of marinated pork and pork liver in hot stock back to the soup pot. Cook for a few seconds using a slotted ladle and separate the minced pork to smaller pieces with wooden chopsticks. Drain and top the serving bowl with minced pork, pork liver and pork slices.
- Garnish with stewed mushrooms, lettuce and spring onions. Add a small piece of seaweed to a small bowl and ladle hot stock over. Serve with a saucer of sliced chilli padi in soy sauce.
- Mix the noodles thoroughly with the sauce before eating.
Noob Cook Tip
For best results, use quick cooking dried mushrooms (enquire at the shop) as some dried mushrooms may be of the harder variety and require long hours of stewing.