Mee Siam (Spicy Rice Vermicelli)

Mee siam is a popular noodle dish in Singapore. Bee hoon (rice vermicelli) is mixed with spices and seasoning, then a slightly spicy, sweet and tart sauce is added. Basic toppings include egg slices, fried beancurd, sambal, garlic chives and lime.

The mee siam recipe I’m sharing is from “Cooking for the President”.

When Wee Kim Wee was an ambassador in Malaysia and Japan, Mrs Wee’s cooking took Tokyo and KL by storm (according to the cookbook). She invited 500 guests at a time, and laid out an entire spread of Nyonya delicacies.

Mee siam was one of the guests’ firm favourites, along with sambal udang and chicken satay.

The magic in Mrs Wee’s mee siam is the bee hoon made with a special ingredient: coconut milk. Thick, freshly squeezed milk is fried till all the water evaporates, leaving coconut oil and nicely browned curds.

The coconut oil is then used to fry dried chillies, shallots, belachan and taucheo. This aromatic, spicy paste is mixed with the coconut curds, plus another not-found-in-other-recipes ingredient: tomato ketchup. Finally, it’s tossed with coarse bee hoon.

Mrs Wee’s dry mee siam is nothing short of presidential. It’s so good it can be totally eaten on its own, but the wonderful mee siam sauce makes it even better.

If you’re not on Mrs or Ms Wee’s rarefied guest list, never mind. You now have her mee siam recipe.

Mee Siam

This recipe takes some time. The good news is, it’ll be the best mee siam ever. It’s pretty idiot-proof, and you can make it ahead. If you like, you can skip the sauce and make dry mee siam. That’ll also be the best dry mee siam ever.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 25 minutes mins

Course Main Course, One Dish Meal

Cuisine Malaysia, Singapore

Servings 20

Calories 420 kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 20 g belachan
• 80 g dried chillies
• 700 g shallots

Noodles

• 1 kg coarse dried bee hoon (rice vermicelli)
• 960 g firm beancurd 6 large pieces
• corn oil for deep-frying
• 540 g fresh undiluted coconut milk
• 2 tsp corn oil
• 1 portion ground dried chillies and shallots
• 2 tsp belachan powder
• 90 g light brown taucheo (fermented soya beans paste)
• 130 ml tomato ketchup
• ½ tsp salt (adjust to taste – I use 1 tbsp)

Sauce

• 1 portion ground shallots and dried chillies
• 100 ml corn oil
• 1 tbsp belachan powder
• 1 tbsp corn oil
• 120 g light brown taucheo paste (fermented soya beans paste)
• 50 prawns about 1 kg
• 2 pieces assam gelugoh (tamarind skin) adjust to taste (I use 8 pieces)
• 60 g assam jawa (tamarind paste)
• 80 g sugar
• 2 tsp salt

Garnish

• 5 eggs
• 350 g garlic chives
• 10 calamansi limes

Instructions

 

Ingredients for 2 chilli pastes

• Toast belachan till dry and crumbling. Pound to yield 1 tbsp + 2 tsp powder.
  20 g belachan
• Trim dried chillies. Soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes. Squeeze dry.
  80 g dried chillies
• Peel shallots and wash.
  700 g shallots
• Grind finely shallots and dried chillies. Split into 2 equal portions.

Bee hoon

• Soak and cook bee hoon according to package instructions till soft but still very springy. Do not overcook. Refresh in cold water to stop cooking. Set aside to drain.
  1 kg coarse dried bee hoon (rice vermicelli)
• Halve beancurd. Cut into sticks 5 mm thick. Deep-fry in hot oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Continue frying till lightly golden. Transfer to plate. Divide into 2 equal portions.
  960 g firm beancurd, corn oil for deep-frying
• Fry coconut milk over high heat till oil separates and curds form, stirring from time to time. Reduce heat to medium. Fry till curds are medium brown, stirring more frequently now, to yield about 100 ml coconut oil and 100 g curds.

  Remove curds, leaving coconut oil in wok. When curds are cold, grind finely in food processor.
  540 g fresh undiluted coconut milk
• In coconut oil just made, stir-fry 1 portion of ground dried chillies and shallots till reddish brown and aromatic, over medium to low heat. If paste sticks to wok, drizzle with 1 tbsp water, scrape to loosen sticky bits, then continue frying. Add 2 tsp belachan powder made earlier. Stir through. Push mixture to one side.
  1 portion ground dried chillies and shallots, 2 tsp belachan powder
• Put 2 tsp vegetable oil in middle of the wok. Add 90 g taucheo paste. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp water and scraping if it sticks. Stir taucheo and chilli paste together. Turn off heat. Leave till cool.
  2 tsp corn oil, 90 g light brown taucheo (fermented soya beans paste)
• Add tomato ketchup, coconut curds made earlier, and salt. Mix thoroughly. Add bee hoon and half of fried beancurd. Using hands, toss till thoroughly mixed. Taste and if necessary adjust seasoning. Cover and set aside. Refrigerate if necessary. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.
  130 ml tomato ketchup, ½ tsp salt (adjust to taste – I use 1 tbsp)

Sauce chilli paste

• While frying beancurd or coconut milk, stir-fry remaining portion of ground dried chillies and shallots in 100 ml corn oil over medium to low heat till reddish brown and aromatic.

  If paste sticks to wok, drizzle with 1 tbsp water, scrape to loosen sticky bits, then continue frying.
  1 portion ground shallots and dried chillies, 100 ml corn oil
• Add 1 tbsp belachan powder made earlier and stir through. Push mixture to one side.
  1 tbsp belachan powder
• Put 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the middle of the wok. Add 120 g taucheo. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp water and scraping if it sticks. Stir taucheo and chilli paste together. Set aside.
  1 tbsp corn oil, 120 g light brown taucheo paste (fermented soya beans paste)

Sauce

• Shell prawns. Do not remove prawn tails. Devein and wash.
  50 prawns about 1 kg
• Weigh pot for making stock. Take note of weight.
• Dry-fry shells and heads till red and fragrant. Add enough water to cover, along with sauce chilli paste made earlier, assam gelugoh, assam paste, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes.

  Taste and add more assam gelugoh if necessary. If assam paste is not yet disintegrated, mash with spoon and stir through. Simmer another 10 minutes if adding more assam gelugoh.

  With a sieve, remove and discard prawn shells, assam seeds, assam pulp, etc, leaving only stock.

  Weigh pot and stock. Add enough water so that weight exceeds weight of pot by 1.4 kg.
  2 pieces assam gelugoh (tamarind skin), 60 g assam jawa (tamarind paste), 80 g sugar, 2 tsp salt
• Poach prawns in the stock till just cooked. Remove to cool down.

Garnish

• While prawn stock is simmering, cook room temperature eggs in gently boiling water for 7 minutes. Transfer eggs to room temperature water. Peel eggs. Slice crosswise 0.5 cm thick.
  5 eggs
• Wash and trim garlic chives. Cut 2 cm long
  350 g garlic chives
• Halve calamansi limes crosswise. Discard seeds.
  10 calamansi limes

Plate up

• To serve, heat up sauce if necessary. For each portion, place 100 g bee hoon in a deep plate. Add 80 g sauce. Top with 1 tbsp fried beancurd, 2 slices eggs, 2 poached prawns, and 1½ tbsp garlic chives. Squeeze ½ lime over bee hoon. Mix well. Dig in.