Singapore Hokkien Mee

Hokkien Hae Mee (福建炒虾面) or Fujian prawn noodles is one of the most iconic hawker dish in Singapore. The Singapore version is pale (I ate dark Hokkien Mee at Malacca before and it was heavenly delicious; but that’s a totally different recipe) and uses a mixture of yellow noodles and thick (sometimes thin) rice vermicelli/bee hoon.

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The noodles are simmered in a rich prawn broth which is filled with umame seafood goodness.  Whenever I queue at popular Hokkien (Hokkein) Mee stalls, my favourite thing to do to pass the time is to watch the hawker at work, masterfully cooking a huge wok of Hokkien Mee with much expertise and dexerity (such as breaking the eggs with one hand). Although there are no fireworks in the Noob Cook kitchen, the home-cooked version is still decent according to my family. Personally I love my Hokkien Mee moist and saucy so that’s how this Hokkien Mee recipe turned out.

Hokkein Mee Prawn Stock

To me, the most tedious part of cooking Hokkien Mee is the home-made stock made from pork bones, prawn shells, clams and anchovies. You can cheat with instant pork stock (use the tetra-pak one for richness). As for home-made, it’s definitely worth the trouble. You may think it’s a waste to use clams for the stock but they made the soup really sweet especially if you don’t have such a big stash of prawn shells in the freezer. A half kg bag of lala clams cost about S$2. I even made my own sambal chilli.

Singapore Hokkein Mee Recipe

The actual wokking of the Hokkien noodles is pretty fast. I used lard and pork bones in my home-cooked version, but if you do not consume pork, skip the lard and replace pork bones with chicken bones.

Hokkein Mee Recipe

Singapore Hokkien Mee Recipe

Preparing the Hokkien prawn soup stock from scratch is the most tedious part of the recipe but it is rewarding. If you are busy, you can substitute with store-bought chicken stock. If you do not consume pork, omit the lard and replace pork bones with chicken bones.

Ingredients:

Prawn Stock

  • 1.5 liters water
  • 500g pork bones (or chicken bones) blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes & rinsed
  • 500g local (lala) clams
  • 50g ikan bilis (anchovies)
  • 200g prawn shells I usually plan and save prawn shells in the freezer for making prawn broth; skip this if you don’t have a ready stash
  • 1 squid (sotong) insides cleaned
  • 8 to 12 small or medium prawns with shells on
  • 1 tsp fish sauce to taste
  • 1/4 tsp dark soy sauce to taste

Hokkien Mee

  • 3 tbsp lard oil (or vegetable oil) divided
  • 2 small eggs lightly beaten
  • 250g yellow noodles
  • 150g rice vermicelli (bee hoon) usually thick bee hoon is used but thin bee hoon is fine as well
  • 60g bean sprouts
  • 1 tbsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 tbsp fried lard pieces optional
  • 3 stalks Chinese chives (koo chye) cut to 5 cm (2 in) length
  • 2 limes halved
  • sambal chilli

Directions:

Home-made Prawn Stock Recipe

  1. In a soup pot, add water, blanched pork bones, clams, ikan bilis and prawn shells. When water comes to a rapid boil, add squid and prawns; cook for 2 minutes and remove from pot.
  2. When cooled, peel the prawn shell (leaving the tail on); return the prawn heads and shells back to the soup pot. Slice the squid to thin rings.
  3. Continue simmering the stock for 40 minutes and strain the broth. Season the stock with fish sauce and dark soy sauce. Yields about 500ml of rich prawn stock.

Hokkien Mee Recipe

  1. Heat 1 tbsp oil in wok and add beaten egg. Scramble the egg quickly with a spatula until it is semi set.
  2. Add yellow noodles, rice vermicelli, bean sprouts, another tbsp of oil and 2 ladles of prawn stock. Stir fry on high heat for 1 minute.
  3. Push the wok contents to one side, add another 1 tbsp oil to the wok. Stir fry garlic and lard pieces for 15 seconds.
  4. Add chives, mix everything together, add 2 more ladles of stock and cover with lid to simmer/braise for 3 mins.
  5. Turn off the heat. Ladle the remaining stock over the cooked noodles. Return the prepared prawns and squid into the hot wok and mix in evenly with the noodles.
  6. Divide and portion to four serving plates. Serve each plate with a cut lime and some sambal at the side.

Noob Cook Tip

Some Hokkien mee is served with pork belly as well. Par-boil a piece of pork belly together with the soup stock. Slice to smaller pieces when cooled and add them to the wok when stir-frying the Hokkien noodles.