Mee Rebus

Ingredients

Gravy base

• 500 gorange sweet potato, boiled and mashed
• 3 tbspdried shrimp, soaked
• 1 tbspfermented soybean paste, taucheo
• 6shallots
• 4 clovesgarlic
• 3candlenuts or macadamias
• 2 tbspdried chilli paste
• 2cm galangal
• 2 stalkslemongrass
• 1 tspground turmeric
• 1 tspground coriander

Also

• 1.2 litresprawn or beef stock
• 2 tbsppalm sugar
• 2 tbsptamarind paste
• 4 tbspoil
• salt

Noodles

• 600 gfresh yellow wheat noodles
• 200 gbeansprouts, blanched

Toppings

• 4hard-boiled eggs, halved
• 200 gfirm tofu, fried and sliced
• 2green chillies, sliced
• 4spring onions, sliced
• Chinese celery leaves
• fried shallots
• 4calamansi or limes
• sambal or chilli paste

To serve

• hot, in a wide bowl, at a hawker centre

Directions

1. Use orange-fleshed sweet potato rather than the white or purple kinds, since the colour is a large part of the presentation. Blend the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, chilli paste, galangal, lemongrass and turmeric into a smooth paste. Candlenuts thicken and enrich the paste, and macadamias are the usual substitute since candlenuts are mildly toxic raw and must be cooked.
2. Fry the rempah in oil over a medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring often. Fry it until it darkens, smells sweet rather than raw, and the oil visibly separates and pools around the edges.
3. Add it to the fried paste and cook it for a few minutes. Mash it with the back of the spoon as it cooks so it disperses evenly. Whisk it in gradually rather than tipping it all in, which stops lumps forming. Simmer it gently for twenty to thirty minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Add palm sugar and tamarind and taste as you go. It should be sweet, sour, salty and savoury all at once, with the sweetness slightly forward. Adjust it patiently, since a gravy that is only sweet is cloying and one that is only savoury misses the point. It should be thick enough to coat the noodles heavily and cling to a spoon, but still pourable.
5. Add hot stock to loosen it if it has gone too far. Rinse the fresh yellow noodles under warm water and loosen the strands. Blanch them briefly and drain them well, since noodles left sitting in water go soft and the gravy will not cling.
6. Put the drained noodles and beansprouts in a wide bowl. Ladle the hot gravy generously over them. Arrange halved boiled egg, fried tofu, sliced green chilli, spring onion and Chinese celery over the top. Scatter fried shallots over generously and add a spoonful of sambal.
7. Serve half a calamansi lime with each bowl, to be squeezed over at the table. The sharp citrus against a thick sweet gravy is what makes the dish work, and without it it is heavy. Serve immediately, since the noodles absorb the gravy and go soft within minutes. The gravy keeps three days refrigerated and is genuinely better on the second day.

Technique

• The gravy is thickened with mashed sweet potato rather than flour.
• The rempah must be fried until the oil separates.
• The calamansi squeezed over at the table is essential.

Substitutions

• Macadamia nuts in place of candlenuts.
• Lime in place of calamansi, though calamansi is better.

Variations

• Made with beef stock and beef, which is common in Johor.
• Mie jawa, the Javanese version with a different character.
• Made hotter, with more chilli paste in the rempah.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mee Rebus?

Mee Rebus is a main from Singapore: yellow noodles in thick sweet potato and prawn gravy with egg and lime.

How long does Mee Rebus take to make?

Mee Rebus takes 40 min of preparation and 1 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mee Rebus?

Yes, within limits. Macadamia nuts in place of candlenuts. Lime in place of calamansi, though calamansi is better.

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

Use orange-fleshed sweet potato rather than the white or purple kinds, since the colour is a large part of the presentation. Blend the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, chilli paste, galangal, lemongrass and turmeric into a smooth paste. Candlenuts thicken and enrich the paste, and macadamias are the usual substitute since candlenuts are mildly toxic raw and must be cooked.