Singapore Fried Rice Noodles Recipe (星洲炒米粉)
October 26th, 2008 | Chinese, Chinese Recipes | 36 Comments
(Chinese recipes, prepare authentic Chinese food now!)
Nate and Annie are the loving couple behind the up-and-coming food blog House of Annie. Annie grew up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, but her father came from Penang, so we love similar foods. Please welcome House of Annie to Rasa Malaysia with their serving of a very popular Chinese recipe: Singapore fried rice noodles or “Sing Chow Mai Fun/星洲炒米粉.”
Singapore Fried Rice Noodles (Sing Chow Mai Fun)
Guest Writer: House of Annie
Annie loves noodles. Besides her favorite KL-style Hokkien Mee and her Penang-style Char Koay Teow, she also grew up eating “Sing Chow Mai Fun” or Singapore fried rice noodles/vermicelli. So when she came to study here in America, she was excited to find out that the Chinese restaurants here served Singapore fried rice noodles. But what she got was not what she expected….(more picture and recipe after the jump)
The Singapore fried rice noodles we get here in America most often comes flavored with curry! The Sing Chow Mai Fun that Annie is used to in Malaysia do not come with curry! The sauce is completely different there. At first, she was not able to get past it. But as time passed, she came to accept the difference. (Note from Rasa Malaysia: The Singapore fried rice noodles served in Penang is flavored with ketchup and a little chili sauce.)
Here is a recipe for Sing Chow Mai Fun or Singapore fried rice noodles; while it may not be the version that Annie is used to in Malaysia, it’s one of the best Singapore fried rice noodle dishes I’ve tasted. There is quite a bit of prep work involved, but once you have everything in place, the cooking should go quite smoothly.
Aloha, Nate
If you like noodles, you might also want to check out the following noodle recipes on Rasa Malaysia:
1) Chow Mein (Chinese Noodles)
2) Fried Rice Vermicelli/Rice Sticks/Rice Noodles with Chicken
3) Garlic Noodles
4) Indian Mee Goreng/Indian Fried Noodles
adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine, Nov 2005, pages 64-65
Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
8 dried or fresh shiitake mushrooms
12 ounces of fine dry rice vermicelli (Wai Wai brand recommended)
2 stalks celery, sliced thin
1 medium yellow onion, sliced thin
4 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup bean sprouts, rinsed and drained
8 green onions, root end trimmed, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 pound char siu (Chinese barbecued pork), cut into matchsticks
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
For sauce:
3 tablespoons Madras (hot) curry powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
1 cup chicken broth
4 tablespoons soy sauce
4 teaspoons granlulated sugar
2 teaspoons hot chili paste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Method:
1) If using dried shiitake mushrooms, soak them in hot water for half an hour. Drain, then cut off the stems. Slice the mushrooms thinly.
2) Put the rice vermicelli in a large bowl and soak in enough hot water to cover, until the noodles are soft (about 8 to 10 minutes). Drain noodles and set aside.
3) Start by heating up 2 tablespoons of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add the curry powder, the ginger, and the minced garlic, and saute until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, and chili paste. Stir to combine and then cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large wok over high heat. Add in the remaining garlic and ginger, and stir-fry until the garlic starts to become golden. Add in the celery, onion, pepper, sprouts, green onions, and mushrooms. Stir-fry for 3 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften. Set the vegetables aside in a bowl.
5) Heat the last 2 tablespoons of oil in the wok over high heat. Add in the shrimp and stir-fry until they start to turn pink on both sides. Add the char siu and toss to combine.
6) Add in the noodles and the vegetables. Pour on the sauce and also add the oyster sauce. Mix the ingredients thoroughly to coat all the noodles and incorporate all the vegetables.
7) Serve hot.
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I love Singapore fried noodles, I always order it at the Chinese takeouts. The ketchup and chili sauce version sounds good, would love to get the real Singapore fried noodles recipe too. Yummy.
I am a great fan of noodles too! Thanks for sharing this Nate & Annie!
How I love these noodles! Hard to get a good one around here.
I’m bookmarking all of your noodle recipes — I’m completely addicted to Malaysian noodles, and have been since my visit there 10 years ago. It’s great to have these recipes adapted for home cooking!
OMG, I love Singapore fried rice noodles. The three giant shrimps are calling my name. Drool!!
I don’t really like Singapore Fried Mee that much, especially now I’m in SIN, however, this looks so nice! Making me hungry! I need to disappear in 10 seconds time to find one. ciao
I seldom take Singapore Bee Hoon, I also don’t know why. Not because I don’t like it, maybe Penang has others hawker foods which attract me more. :)
the photos are really great, especially the prawns! it looks so clear.
Look at the size of the prawns!!Yummilicious. Here in Melb, i don’t think in any chinese take away shops you’ll ever see such a big prawns in the S’pore fried noodles.
the noodles look absolutely GREAT !
I love mee hoon, I can just eat and eat and eat so Singapore mee hoon is another yummy dish for me. I have just started my food blog, give me some comments. Your blog is an inspiration.
It is simply MARVELLOUS!! Making me very very hungry now! Great photos!
I’m sorry, but this just hit a chord with me …. I think I’m qualified to make the following comment because I’m was born and raised in Singapore. The Singapore “Sing Chow Mai Fun” served in the US is NOTHING like the real deal in Singapore. The real deal does not have any sauce, no curry powder, no ketchup, no chili sauce either. Sorry but this is something that would irritate me to no end when I first moved to the US … less so now, but still. The REAl version is tons better. I think restaurants shouldn’t name their dish Singapore Fried Rice Noodles because it is really nothing like the real deal. Anyone from Singapore feel the same?
ahh Have dissapeared for comments for a while but have always visited your site. Always so pretty and inspiring. Stayed up late today and saw this beehoon, looks so good and it makes me hungry :)
Hi all, thanks for the nice comments and thank you for coming over to check our site out!
Re: your comments about the real deal Singapore noodles. We totally agree that the US version is nothing like what you get in Singapore and Malaysia. Why they call it “Singapore” noodles is beyond me (just like why they call a pizza “Hawaiian” just because it has pineapples – another sore point).
I also don’t think that ketchup is the main flavoring ingredient. Some people say it’s Worchestershire sauce. Who knows? It may be those things in some parts of the country, and something completely different in other parts. We are trying to pin down a recipe that matches to what Annie feels is closest to home. When we do, we’ll be sure to post it!
Does anyone else out there have an opinion as to what is in the real deal Singapore fried mee hoon?
Hi all – thanks for your comments and thanks to Annie and Nate for this wonderful post.
This sentence is added by me: (The Singapore fried rice noodles served back home is flavored with ketchup and chili sauce.)
The reason being that the Singapore fried vermicelli served in Penang is usually flavored with ketchup and a little chili sauce, with eggs, bean sprouts, sliced green bell peppers and onions, plus chopped scallion. It’s a little wet and the color is always slightly orangy in color (due to the ketchup). But again, every recipe is different and with variations, so as to what is the real recipe, I am not sure either.
If you know, please do let me know.
Yum… Singapore noodles are one of my favorite foods! Thanks for the recipe, I’ll be making this one for dinner this week!
“Salt and pepper squid / and Singapore noodles / I could look at your face / For oodles and oodles” – Renee is Crying by Luna
Hi, I am from Singapore, and I do agree (hands and legs up) with my fellow mate that the singapore version does not have so many sauces (ketchup, chili sauce, etc) in it. Just plain old bee hoon with onions, bean sprouts, char siew, and lime. The yummy part is there’s alot of wok hei in it. Unfortunately I am still looking for the recipe too. Nate-n-Annie, how about sharing recipe for KL hokkien mee ? :b… drooling for them now ;)
@buzzinghive – your wish is our command ;-)
http://chezannies.blogspot.com/2008/10/kl-style-hokkien-mee-recipe.html
That looks so yummy! We have a noodle dish that is similar over here :)
Hi all – I did some research about Singapore fried rice noodles and found out that this is not even a Singaporean-dish or nor did it come from Singapore. I checked out the food booklet created by the Tourism board of Singapore and this dish is definitely not there. I believe this is just a name that overseas Chinese restaurateurs
created and it became famous.
Other cases-in-point: Mongolian Beef and Yang Chow Fried Rice. Both of these dishes didn’t come from Mongolia or from Yang Chow, but somehow they became famous and has since been affiliated with that country or place.
Hope this helps.
Much thanks to Nate and Annie for this recipe. Much thanks for posting it.
there is no such thing as Singapore Fried Bee Hoon – what you would call Singapore Fried Bee Hoon is what Singaporeans would order at the zi char stall as Hong Kong Fried Bee Hoon or Hong Kong noodles – fried bee hoon in Singapore is fried with black soy sauce with or without bean sprouts and eaten in the mornings as a breakfast item with an egg sunny side up and a slice of fried Maling luncheon meat – anything else is a fraud perpetuated by our neighbours up north -
Anonymous – I disagree with you. I am from your “neigbours up north” as I think you can clearly tell that from the title of my blog. ;)
Ultimately, fried rice noodles is a Chinese dish, so the origin can only be Chinese. This variation so-called Singaporean fried rice noodles–I believe–is a American-Chinese creation, just like Mongolian Beef, Yang Chow Fried Rice, Chop Suey, Beef and Broccoli. It got popular in the west and then spread back to the east.
then you should be aware that Penang is predominantly Chinese – it is far more likely for Sin Chow Mi Fen to have come out of a hawkers wok at Gurney Drive – and brought across the Pacific to California by homesick Malaysian students and expats – then for some Hong Kong chef in San Francisco Chinatown to wake up one day and decide to fry “Singapore” noodles -
i have so learn tht any dish comes with a country/state/race/whtever in it doesnt necessarily originated/created by tht country/state/race/whtever.
Just like mee bandung whc i kno bandung ppl would look at you weird if you try to order it there. or mee hong kong. try ordering tht when you’re in hk and they’l think you’re crazy. :P
Sometimes a name is just a name and what we’r used to back home would be served differently when you are away. Isnt that what Nate-n-Annie said in the post? I dont see them claiming the recipe as the one-authentic-real-recipe-tht-you-would-die-if-you-dont-follow. *roll eyes*
Hey!
This looks delicious.. I was wondering if you have ever tried to make this Burmese dish called Kauk Swe (sometimes called Khau Swe?)
I would like to try making your version of it..
Cheers
You should come to Singapore and taste our REAL Singapore Mee Hoon !
Please-lah no Curry Powder used in the AUTHENTIC recipe !!!
From,
The real Singaporean
Tried the “Singapore noodles” in Melbourne! Please delete the Singaporean adj. As stated b/4 no curry powder in the fried bee hoon/vermicelli/mi fen found in singapore!
Anonymous – perhaps you could offer to guest post on Rasa Malaysia your version of fried bee hoon without curry.
I’m a Singaporean, and I’m struggling to think of how a real Singapore Fried Mee Hoon should be like. You see them in zi char stall menu but it is not popular.
Like what anonymous said, what is more common is bee hoon fried simply in dark soy sauce and with bean sprouts (斋米粉). Besides egg, luncheon meat, you can also have it with otah, crispy fried chicken wing, sambal long beans, fish cake…I’m definitely missing home food, but not Singapore fried bee hoon.
Hoho this is fun. I’m a Singaporean too, and there’s no such thing as Singapore bee hoon… Order bee hoon in Singapore and it’s either vegetarian bee hoon (complete with curry cabbage and mock meat and beancurd skin)… or economical bee hoon, which yup, as anonymous and fangie said, usually comes with egg, luncheon meat, etc…
Strikes me as fun to trace the roots of food names. =) Wonder who named the dish Singapore bee hoon… they should have popularized it in Singapore first!
And ya, agreed about US chinese food. Americans swear by Panda Wok. And insist General Tsao’s chicken is REAL CHINESE FOOD. And moo shu chicken. I’m like… excuse me? Those are dishes created by Chinese immigrants to suit the US tastebuds… ok so perhaps they qualify as real chinese food because they were developed by the Chinese. But that’s a tenuous line… Ok, sorry! that was a side point, but the comments abt US food just started me on my rant!
It’s actually not that complicated. Singapore noodles got their name because, for a long period of time (in the 19th century), that’s where the British East India company had a port. Obviously, the BEI was shipping curry powder along with other exotics. The name was attached in the 20th century, in the Chinese province of Canton, a stop further along the BEI’s line. The four Chinese cuisines that were transplanted to the west with immigration were Szechuan, Peking, Hunan, and… Canton. I’ve heard that in most parts of China outside of Guangdong, they associate the dish with Guangdong rather than Singapore, but I don’t know whether that’s true. At any rate, the name (1) was not affixed by any westerner, and (2) is actually very much related to Singapore’s history as a port.
I’m a born and bred Singaporean, and there really is no such dish as Singaporean fried noodles. I see the name all over Aussie and NZ, and a Malaysian who grew up in Perth insisted that such a dish exists because her dad cooks it!!! Yes, it irritates me too to see the Singapore name attached to a dish that doesn’t exist in Singapore.
Jan – I agree it’s annoying. There are many Penang dishes that carry the name of Penang but the dish is completely disfigured and butchered and it carries a bad name for Penang. In Malaysia, Singapore fried noodles are cooked with ketchup, perhaps that Singaporeans food uses a lot of ketchup? I don’t know.
Loved the recipes. Back in the old days, I could find similar Sgp fried mee hoon with curry powder in Sabah. But apparently, the shop is no longer using the same recipe.. how sad.. But now I’m so glad to find ur recipe here and i’ll definitely give it a try ;) Thank you for posting it
~Cheers!