Recipe: Mee Siam (Nyonya Spicy Rice Vermicelli)

by Mummy's Kitchen

I remembered back when I was in primary school, school canteen had this Indian stall tucked in one corner which sold Mee Siam and very often during recess time I would go and have my plate of Mee Siam which cost me only 30 cents. Oh boy, do I sound so old. :-/

I am not sure if Mee Siam is a Peranakan or Nyonya dish but what I know is that there are many varieties of Mee Siam and the one that I am sharing is more Nyonya in style. This dish was one of the most tedious noodle dish which I have prepared and seriously is not for the faint hearted. You will need to have time and patience.

When I first saw this recipe (Source: Cooking for the President, by Wee Eng Hwa), I told myself I must try this out since it was cooked for dignities it must be of a certain standard. Overall, the result was great and it was worth the time and effort. Will I do it again, yes I will!!

We love to hear from you so once you have tried this recipe, we hope that you could provide us with some feedback/comments. Like and follow us on Beyond Norm’s Facebook Page and subscribe to our blog. Follow us on Instagram (@TheRealBeyondNorm) and YouTube (@BeyondNormEats), to get the latest exciting updates and videos.  We would also like to welcome you to join our Mummy’s Kitchen Facebook Group for food lovers like you, whether newbie or veteran.

Serves: 12 full size portions, or 20-25 small portions

Ingredients:

For the Bee Hoon

1kg dried bee hoon (Chinese rice vermicelli)

2 ½ cups fresh coconut cream (use 1 ½ kg grated coconut add 1 cup (slightly more) water to squeeze)

20160219_110736

50g dried chillies (remove some seeds, soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry)

400g shallots (peel, wash, and pound with dried chillies till fine)

15g belachan (toast till dry and pound till fine)

20160219_110603

100g light brown taucheo (fermented soya beans) paste

140ml tomato ketchup

Salt to taste

For the Sauce

50g dried chillies (remove some seeds, soak in warm water till soft, about 30 minutes; squeeze dry)

400g shallots (peel, wash and pound with dried chillies till fine)

20160219_161431

25g belachan (toast till dry and pound till fine)

150g light brown taucheo (fermented soya beans) paste

2 pieces assam gelugoh (tamarind skin), adjust to taste (I omitted it)

120g assam jawa (add some water and remove the shell and seeds to get the assam paste)

100g sugar (You may adjust according to your taste)

1 1/2 tablespoons salt (You may adjust according to your taste)

Garnishing:

20160219_195611

350g Chinese chives (wash, trim and cut to 2cm long)

20160219_200602

6 hard-boiled eggs (peel and slice crosswise)

7 large pieces fried beancurd (blanch and dice into 1cm by 1cm)

1 kg prawns

350g beansprouts

20160219_200615

10 calamansi limes (halve crosswise and discard seeds)

Method:

Preparation for the Bee Hoon:

  1. Soak the bee hoon and blanch. Do not overcook.
  2. Refresh in cold water to stop the cooking. Set aside to drain.
    20160219_113602
  3. On low heat, heat up a non-stick pan/wok and add in the coconut cream and fry till oil separates and curds form.
  4. Then increase heat to medium. Fry till curds are medium brown.
  5. Drain to separate curds and oil. You should now have about 100ml coconut oil and 100g curds. (Plus or minus is ok, so don’t worry too much).
  6. Set the coconut oil aside.
    20160219_123013
  7. Grind curds till fine and set aside.
  8. Heat up the pan/wok with coconut oil made (from step 6), add in the pounded dried chillies and shallots and stir fry over medium low heat. If paste sticks to the pan/wok, drizzle some water and scrape to loosen sticky bits then continue frying till reddish brown and aromatic.
  9. Add 15g of the pounded belachan and stir through. Then push mixture to one side.
    20160219_163422
  10. Put 2 tsps of vegetable oil in the middle of the pan/wok. Add 100g taucheo. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp of water and scraping if it sticks.
    20160219_161556
  11. Next stir taucheo and chilli paste together. Turn off heat. Leave till cool.
    20160219_175359
  12. Add tomato ketchup, coconut curds and salt. Mix thoroughly.
    20160219_175734
  13. Add the above paste into the bee hoon and using (clean) hands, toss till thoroughly mixed. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Cover and set aside. Refrigerate if necessary. Allow to come to room temperature before serving.

Preparation for the sauce:

  1. Heat up a pan/wok on medium to low heat with 100ml vegetable oil.
    20160219_162555
  2. Add in pounded dried chillies and shallots and stir fry. If paste sticks to wok, drizzle 1 tbsp water, scrape to loosen sticky bits then continue frying till reddish brown and aromatic.
  3. Add in the pounded belachan powder and stir through. Push mixture to one side.
  4. Put 1 tbsp vegetable oil in the middle of the wok/pan. Add 150g taucheo. Fry till intensely aromatic, adding 1 tbsp water and scraping if it sticks.
  5. Add in pounded chilli and shallots and stir well together. Set aside.
  6. Shell prawns. Devein and wash and set aside the shelled prawns.
  7. Dry-fry shells and heads till red and fragrant.
  8. Add enough water to cover, along with assam gelugoh(if you are using), assam paste, sugar and salt.
  9. Bring to a boil and simmer gently, covered, for 15 minutes.
  10. If the assam paste is not yet disintegrated, mash with spoon and stir through.
  11. Pour the stock through a sift to remove all the prawn shells and impurities leaving only clear stock.
  12. Poach prawns in the stock till just cooked. Remove to cool down and set aside.
  13. Measure stock and top up with water to 1.4 litres.
  14. Add fried chilli paste. Stir through. Bring back to a boil. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Turn off heat.

Preparation for serving:

20160219_200518

  1. To serve, heat up sauce if necessary.
  2. Place bee hoon in a plate.
    20160219_231718
  3. Top with eggs, poached prawns, beancurds and chives.
  4. Add sauce sparingly, about ½ cup for each full size portion. (Presidential mee siam doesn’t swim in lots of sauce, unlike those from hawker centres!)
  5. Squeeze lime over Mee Siam and dig in.

Note:

  1. The ingredients quantity is only a guide.
  2. This recipe is a lot of work! Set aside 2 to 3 hours for your 1st The good news is you can make it one day ahead. Have fun!
  3. The recipe I saw had very few photos and was kind of confusing. I have taken the liberty to rewrite the recipe for more clarity. Hopefully this will make it easier for readers to follow.
  4. You can blend the dry chilli and shallots if you do not want to pound it with a mortar and pestle.
  5. I used a non-stick pan to fry the coconut cream and a wok to prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Tags:        
Mummy's Kitchen

Hi! My name is Josephine Go. I blog at BeyondNorm.com in a segment called Mummy’s Kitchen. I love to use fresh and natural ingredients in my cooking to promote healthy eating. Some of my recipes may not be in line with the traditional methods of cooking to the extent that some of the ingredients are different, but hopefully new recipes are being created in my style. I certainly hope that what I do will help guide kitchen first-timers on how to cook their first meal as well as further equip kitchen veterans with new recipes. My loving husband and two wonderful children are my best guinea pigs and critics. They have enjoyed (or endured) the food that has been served to them for all these years. Mind you, I did not know how to cook or ever knew that I could cook till I got married. So there is hope for everyone. If I can cook, you can cook. You will not know how good or talented you are until you put your hand in the plough.

One thought on “Recipe: Mee Siam (Nyonya Spicy Rice Vermicelli)”

  1. Pingback: Recipe: Fried Dry Mee Siam (Nyonya Style) | Beyond Norm

Leave a Reply