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Køkken69 is a Singaporean food blog. Authored by Shirley, a chemist by day, Køkken69 is a gorgeous blog chocked full of delicious Asian dishes, pastry recipes, and travel tales as Shirley travels around the world. While Shirley says that she approaches every recipe on her site like an experiment, I personally think that she is a talented home cook, and a fantastic food photographer. Please welcome Køkken69 to Rasa Malaysia and learn more about the Singaporean version of Hokkien Mee!
It is too old fashioned to proclaim that I am honoured to be invited by super star food blogger, Bee to do a guest post for her immensely successful blog, Rasa Malaysia. Unfortunately, for my lack of eloquence, that is probably the best way to sum up my thrill and appreciation for this opportunity.
Excited as I might be, I was also plagued with a bugging concern over what else I can bring to a blog that is already so rich in content. I doubt that there is any Malaysian/ Singaporean dish that has not been featured on Rasa Malaysia already…
I was literally at the cusp of exasperation when I recall a dish which I have been told is not available in Malaysia. Fried Hokkien Mee, literally translates to mean noodles,fried Fujian style. Fujian (Hokkien) is a province in Southern China. Most of the Chinese residing in Malaysia and Singapore have roots originating from the Fujian province. Hence, Fujian/Hokkien cuisine and way of cooking tend to feature prominently in the local chinese food here.
Despite being close neighbours, Singapore and Malaysia frequently have their competitive moments. Some trivial, some not so… Both nations are fierce food lovers and there have been countless debates on who has better food and who should lay claim to ownership of a particular dish… There are, as far as I can recall 2 versions of Hokkien Mee in Malaysia. Hokkien Char mee from Kuala Lumpur is a fried yellow noodle dish braised in dark soya sauce. Penang Hokkien Prawn Noodles is another yellow noodle dish served in a rich spicy and flavourful prawn broth. The Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee featured here, is a variant of the Penang Prawn Noodles.
A mixture of yellow noodles and thick rice vermicelli ,first fried with eggs until fragrant and braised in rich, flavourful prawn broth, the Singapore Fried Hokkien Mee is served semi-dry and garnished with prawns, squid, sliced pork belly, chives and eaten with Sambal chilli and a squirt of lime juice.Traditionally, for take out, the Hokkien Mee would be wrapped in Opeh leaf. The Opeh leaf comes from the inner sheath of the bark of a Betel Nut tree. It could be nostalgia but I have always felt that food wrapped in an Opeh leaf smells better.
This is not a very difficult dish to cook, however it is pertinent that you work with a good prawn stock. The prawn stock imparts the essence to the noodle and is the key ingredient that makes the bland-looking dish flavourful. The sambal and lime juice cuts through the richness of the dish to balance an otherwise heavy starchy dish.
I hope you enjoy this local Singaporean local dish as much as I have enjoyed cooking it for this guest post.
(Click Page 2 for the Singapore Hokkien Mee Recipe)
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I’ve never seen opeh leave in Malaysia…I wonder what’s the smell it imparts to the dish. Is it like banana leaf?
Well done ,Shirley! The noodles look delish, and served in “my” favourite bowl too. ;)
Bee, I was pleasantly woken up at 6:30am here in Goa by your email! Thank you so much for the opportunity. I wish the photographs had turned out better but more importantly, I hope this post will let more people outside learn about this scrumptious noodle dish in Singapore. I am proud to be a Singaporean and I hope everyone will get a chance to come over to experience the great food here.
Oh no, I am sorry that I had woken you up at 6:30 am, I thought you already left India. In any case, thanks so much for guest posting, I really appreciate it. Never mind about the photographs, Asian food is sooooooo hard to photograph and not photogenic!! (Could you imagine the struggles I had when I was shooting for my cookbook??? Gosh!!!). I will have to try out this version of Hokkien mee the next time I am in Singapore. :)
Ju, Thanks!
Rina- Yes, the Opeh leaf works in the same way as the banana leaf but is less ‘ green’ and raw. It is, in my opinion a little more woody than the banana leaf. Ah, I am lost for words… you have to come and experience for yourself. However not many stalls are using these anymore. Let me know if you want to know which stalls still have it.
Love this stuff. I’m sitting here stunned thinking that it cannot be that easy to make. I’ve been missing out all this time! Thanks for sharing this wonderful sounding recipe.
I have had this in one singaporean restaurant in sydney and I absolutely loved it. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. Finally I can try to recreate it at home.
I have tried all the version of Hokkien Mee and found the best one is fried with dark soya sauce :)
No matter the food is from Singapore or Malaysia, let the taste do the talking :D
Thanks for letting me know. I’ll try to find opeh leaf in KL, wish me luck. Just curious as to what it does to the dish.
being a singaporean living overseas, i am always in search for recipes that reminds me of home. Blogging has heap heaps. I am glad to see this recipe here. Off to collect some prawn heads/shells! This looks far healthier than what we buy in SG too.
wow! this is my absolute favourite and it’s so hard to get it right, whether it’s eating out in China or making my own. I only attempted it once but it was too wet. would it be tastier to deep fry the pork belly bits (ju yao) with the prawns together before throwing them into the stock?
More room for experiments! thanks for sharing!
Baobabs- definitely! Add some ju Yao zhar, it would improve the taste immensely! :)
OH yes, to cook this dish, need to start planning early: Start collecting those prawn heads! Heee heee! That’s the key!
congrats, Shirley! what a great looking Hokkein mee, and served in Opeh leaves, no less =)
Hi Shirley,
I would love to try cooking this for my family one day. I do have a small request….Do you happen to have the recipe for the sambal chilli too ? I have tried making it many times but unsuccessful. Would really appreciate if you could share the recipe. Thanks a million.
Hi Asbejna, in fact I do have a recipe for the chilli sambal that goes with this. It is too lengthy to write it here. Could you email me directly at kokken69blog@gmail.com
It looks delicious and I’ll definately have a try. For how many persons is this recipe?
Thanks,
Kohinoor
I live in canada but am still hook on Hainese chicken rice that I used to buy from cross street. appreciate if somone can get me that recipe.
I left S’pore 30 yrs ago and havde not been back.
cheers….Jerry