Hokkien Mee

Ingredients

Stock

• the prawn shells and heads
• 200 gpork bones
• 1.5 litreswater

Noodles

• 300 gfresh yellow noodles
• 200 gthick rice vermicelli

Wok

• 300 gprawns, shelled
• 200 gpork belly, sliced
• 150 gsquid, in rings
• 3eggs
• 4 clovesgarlic, chopped
• 100 gbean sprouts
• 2 tbsplard
• 1 tbspfish sauce
• 1 tspdark soy sauce

To serve

• calamansi or lime halves
• sambal belacan
• chives

Directions

1. Make the stock, because the stock is the dish. Fry the prawn shells and heads hard in a little oil, pressing the heads to release their orange fat.
2. Press the heads. Everything that makes hokkien mee taste of prawn is in the heads, and shells alone give a thin pale stock.
3. Add the pork bones and the water and simmer for an hour, then strain it.
4. Poach the prawns in that stock for a minute, then lift them out and set them aside.
5. Heat the lard in a wok until it is smoking.
6. Fry the pork belly until the fat renders and the edges crisp, then push it to one side.
7. Add the garlic, then crack in the eggs and scramble them roughly into the fat.
8. Add both noodles and toss them hard in the fat for a minute.
9. Two noodles, always. Yellow egg noodles bring the chew and rice vermicelli drinks up the stock, and either one alone gives a different and lesser dish.
10. Now ladle in the stock a little at a time and let the noodles drink it.
11. Add the stock gradually across about ten minutes rather than all at once. The noodles have to absorb it and swell, and flooding the wok simply boils them.
12. Season with the fish sauce and just enough dark soy for colour.
13. Cover the wok for two or three minutes between additions, which braises the noodles rather than frying them.
14. Return the prawns and add the squid and bean sprouts for the last minute only.
15. It is ready when the noodles are glossy and slick and a little stock still pools at the bottom of the wok.
16. Wet but not swimming is the target, and the stock left in the bottom is meant to be there.
17. Serve with calamansi to squeeze over and sambal belacan on the side, both added at the table.
18. Squeeze the calamansi yourself at the last moment. The sourness cuts the richness and it fades within a minute of hitting the plate.
19. It is said to have started with Hokkien noodle-factory workers frying up surplus stock after the war.

Technique

• Singapore hokkien mee is wet and braised in prawn stock; the Kuala Lumpur dish of the same name is dark, dry and soy-braised, and they are not the same thing at all.
• Lard rather than oil makes a real and noticeable difference.
• Cook it in small portions rather than one large wokful, which steams instead of frying.

Substitutions

• Oil in place of lard.
• Chicken stock enriched with prawn shells if pork bones are unavailable.

Variations

• Kuala Lumpur hokkien mee, dark and soy-braised.
• With crisp pork lard scattered over the top.
• Served on an opeh leaf, which is the traditional wrapping.

History

Prawn and pork stock fried into yellow and rice noodles, said to have begun with Hokkien noodle-factory workers frying surplus stock after the war.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hokkien Mee?

Hokkien Mee is a main from Singapore: prawn-stock braised noodles with squid, lime and sambal. Prawn and pork stock fried into yellow and rice noodles, said to have begun with Hokkien noodle-factory workers frying surplus stock after the war.

How long does Hokkien Mee take to make?

Hokkien Mee takes 30 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Hokkien Mee?

Yes, within limits. Oil in place of lard. Chicken stock enriched with prawn shells if pork bones are unavailable.

What is the most important thing to get right in Hokkien Mee?

Add the stock gradually across about ten minutes rather than all at once. The noodles have to absorb it and swell, and flooding the wok simply boils them.