Mee Siam is a popular comfort dish amongst the Malay and Peranakan communities in both Malaysia and Singapore.
This dish is basically a spicy stir-fried rice vermicelli that is garnished with shredded omelette, spring onions, fried shallots and calamansi wedges with an extra side of sambal if you need more heat in your noodles. Some people also enjoy it with some crushed peanuts.
Even though the long list of ingredients may seem a little complicated, rest assured that it is easy to make and is worth the effort. Enjoy.
Ingredients
- 30 dried chilli peppers, soaked and deseeded
- 40g dried shrimps, soak in water for 5 minutes
- 6 shallots
- 8 cloves garlic
- 4 tablespoons fermented soybean (taucu) paste, smashed with a fork
- 12 fresh prawns, peeled and deveined
- 4 fried bean curds, sliced
- 6 tablespoons water
- 400g rice vermicelli noodles, soaked in boiled water for five minutes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste puree
- 1 tablespoon tamarind paste, mixed with 2 tablespoons warm water
- 2 stalks Chinese chives, sliced into 2.5cm pieces
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
Garnishing
- 2 stalks spring onions, diced
- 1 fresh red chillies, sliced
- 2 omelettes, shredded
- 2 calamansi, sliced in half
- 3 tablespoons fried shallots
- 1 tablespoon crushed roasted peanuts, optional
Method
- Begin by blending the dried chillies, dried shrimps, shallots and garlic with two tablespoons of water until it becomes a slightly chunky paste.
- Next, in a large wok, sauté the blended ingredients over medium heat with two tablespoons of oil until fragrant and add the fermented soybeans.
- Then, add in the prawns and fried bean curd into the pan before adding water.
- Once the sauce starts to simmer, lower the heat and add in the rice vermicelli and Chinese chives.
- Next, add the tomato paste and tamarind juice. Mix to coat the noodles evenly.
- Add in the salt, sugar and pepper. If you feel the taste is not right, adjust it to suit your palate. Turn off the heat.
- Lastly, garnish the noodles with spring onions, shredded omelette, crushed peanuts, fried shallots, calamansi wedges and chilli slices.
- Serve with sambal belacan for the best mee siam experience.
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