I’ve been meaning to share this recipe with you for AGES! This is one of the most popular takeout noodles here in Australia. It’s fast to make and is perfect for tossing in bits and pieces of whatever leftovers you have. It’s all about the SAUCE and NOODLES!!
Singapore noodles is one of those classic south east Asian street foods that hawkers whip up in minutes. It’s become hugely popular in Western countries and you often see it on menus of Chinese and other Asian restaurants, whether they serve other Singaporean food or not.
But here’s a bit of food trivia for you – the Singapore Noodles as many western countries know it, with the curry flavour and touch of spice, is not the authentic way it is made in Singapore. That probably doesn’t come as a huge surprise to you, as it is the case with most Asian dishes that are popular in Western countries. I just found this particularly interesting because the curry flavour of Singapore Noodles is what I consider to be the signature flavour of these noodles. But in fact, curry is not used in the authentic recipe.
This Singapore Noodles recipe is courtesy of the Brooklyn based Kayiu from Saucy Spatula food blog.
I’ve had these noodles on my “to blog” list for months! Months and months! Way back in early December, I asked one of my favourite bloggers – the lovely Kayiu from Saucy Spatula – what her favorite recipe on her blog was. Instantly, she picked her Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli Noodles, and it was clearly “meant to be” because when I went to read it, I realised it was the very first recipe of hers that I ever read when I first discovered her blog! I don’t think even Kayiu knows that. :-)
Kayiu is one of the very first food bloggers I became friends with when I was a newbie just starting out. The kid with no friends who ate lunch in the corner of the playground by myself. She reached out to me and was so unconditionally kind, cheerful and supportive, I feel fortunate to have met her and to call her my friend.
As for her food….if you like Chinese food and especially if you live in the US (she’s in Brooklyn), you HAVE to check out her blog.
MY PICKS FROM SAUCY SPATULA
So I finally got off my lazy bum to share this recipe because I made Chinese Barbecue Pork (Char Siu) recently and it’s one of the ingredients in this recipe. But honestly, I promise you, this will be scrumptious no matter what you throw into it and that’s one of the reasons I love noodle stir fries. I often make a vegetarian version of this, using leftover bits and pieces I have at the end of the week. This is truly all about the noodles and the sauce.
Speaking of noodles, this is made with rice vermicelli noodles – you know, those really thin dried ones that cost bugger all. Kayiu recommends a particular brand called Wai Wai (which you can get at Coles and Woolies in Australia!) because she believes it to be the best suited so I follow her recommendation. :-) Here’s what it looks like.
As with all stir fries, my golden rule is to chop everything up and have it ready to toss into the wok because once you start cooking, you ain’t got no time to do anything else!
Hope you enjoy! And pop on over to say thanks to Kayiu from Saucy Spatula for this recipe!! – Nagi
Recipe Type: Stir Fry, Noodles, Street Food
Cuisine: Singapore, Asian, Chinese, Hong Kong
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
One of the most popular stir fried noodles, made at home! Easy to make and you can substitute the stir fry ingredients with whatever you have on hand. It is a “dry” style stir fry so it isn’t saucy. The sauce flavour gets soaked into the noodles, and there is plenty of flavour – you can even just eat the noodles plain! ! I often make this vegetarian using whatever vegetables I have on hand. It’s also fantastic with chicken. Adapted from [url href=”http://www.saucy-spatula.com/recipes/singapore-style-rice-vermicelli/” target=”_blank”]Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli[/url] by [url href=”http://www.saucy-spatula.com” target=”_blank”]Saucy Spatula[/url]. (Note 1) This recipe makes 2 very large servings. It’s probably enough for 3 normal people.
5 tbsp soy sauce (ordinary dark soy sauce)
2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (or substitute dry sherry)
2 1/2 tsp curry powder (hot or ordinary)
1/2 tsp white pepper powder (or sub with black pepper)
2 1/2 oz / 75g dried rice vermicelli noodles (Note 2)
2 tbsp peanut oil, separated
8-10 medium raw shrimp / prawns, shelled and deveined
1 tsp ginger, freshly grated
1/2 lb / 250g Chinese barbecue pork (Char Siu), thinly sliced (Note 3)
1 cup of red bell pepper (capsicum), thinly sliced
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (yellow, brown or white)
2 tsp thinly sliced hot green pepper (adjust to taste)
Combine the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix.
Place rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl filled with boiled water and soak as per packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok or heavy based fry pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp/prawns, and stir fry until just cooked. (Note 4) This should only take 1 minute or so. Remove and set aside.
Add the egg and spread it out to make a thin omelette. Once set, use the egg flip to roll it up, remove from the wok and slice (while still rolled up).
Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 20 seconds or so until fragrant.
Add the onion and bell peppers (capsicum) and cook for 3 minutes or so until the onion is translucent.
Add the vermicelli noodles and give it a big stir (I sometimes roughly break the noodles to make them easier to stir fry). Then add the Sauce, egg, Char Siu and shrimp/prawns. Stir until the sauce coats all the noodles and everything is heated through – about 1 to 2 minutes.
1. The slight changes I made was to the cooking order of ingredients which worked slightly better for me – less oil required to be added. Also I only used 150g/5oz of Char Siu (the original recipe called for 250g/1/2lb) – I had thick slices which I sliced into batons so less went further. But honestly, you can never have enough Char Siu in a stir fry….[br][br]2. If you can get it, Wai Wai is the brand that Kayiu from Saucy Spatula recommends because the texture is best and soaking time is short. But if you can’t, use whatever you can find. [br][br]Rice vermicelli is very cheap – usually $2 for quite a large bag.[br][br]3. If you don’t have Char Siu (and I only happened to have it because I made it last week – here’s my recipe for an easy [url href=”http://www.recipetineats.com/chinese-barbecue-pork-char-siu/” target=”_blank” title=”Chinese Barbecue Pork | Char Siu”]Homemade Chinese Barbecue Pork[/url]), substitute with diced chicken, bacon, ham or pork or leave it out and add more vegetables.[br][br]4. How to tell shrimp/prawns are perfectly cooked: raw prawns hang straight, perfectly cooked prawns form a “C” shape and overcooked prawns are tightly curled into an “O” shape.
Nutrition assuming this serves 2. But this is 2 (very) large servings.
Singapore Noodles I've been meaning to share this recipe with you for AGES! This is one of the most popular takeout noodles here in Australia.
