Mee siam means Siamese (Thai) noodles in Malaysian. Growing up, I don’t really recall eating much of this dish, but I am going to try mee siam today!
Mee siam, which means “Siamese noodle”, is a dish of thin rice noodles (vermicelli) in spicy, sweet and sour light gravy with various toppings such as shrimp, chicken, fried firm tofu, and shredded omelet. It is usually served with a piece of lime and sambal. It is one of the popular one-dish meals in Singapore and Malaysia. There is also a “dry” version, which is essentially stir frying the rice noodles with the same spices used in the “gravy” version.
The flavour of this dish are made through dried shrimp, preserved soy beans, tamarind paste and spices. Do note that the ingredients may vary from region to region; however, you can be assured that this dish is a mixture of sweet, savoury, spicy and sour-ish. I added kefir lime leaves at the end to add the lime hint to it.
If you were to make the paste from scratch, you may need dried shrimp, garlic, chilli, shrimp paste, tamarind and soy bean pastes, and shallots for the stock. However, for this recipe, I am using the Little Nonya Mee Siam paste. Simple, tastes authentic and with minimal preparation time.
According to the instructions on the package, it says add water to the paste and it is good enough to go. It is that simple.
However, I want the flavour to be more authentic. First, I will fry the paste for 1-2 minutes on medium heat, then add the bee hoon (rice noodles) into the paste, fry for 1 minute on medium heat, gradually adding the prawn stock to soften the noodles.
If you want to try this dish, you can get the paste from the online shop.
Enjoy this dish if you are cooking it and let me know how you go. Share your finished product on our Facebook page.
OK, here are the additional ingredients that you will need for this recipe:
Stock
2-3 Tbsp cooking oil
1/2 packet Little Nonya Mee Siam paste
1 cup of water – for steaming prawns – I am using the prawn stock to add to the noodles.
Ingredients
1.5 nest dried bee hoon (dried rice noodles) – soak in warm water until soft (approx 15 minutes)
3 Kaffir lime leaves – julienned – to be mixed with noodles / Kaffirlime powder
15 medium size uncooked prawns.
1 large bowl of bean sprouts
1 litre of water for blanching bean shoots
Garnishing Ingredients:
2 eggs – whisked with 1 tsp soy sauce to make egg crepe for garnishing or boiled.
1-2 lime – cut into wedges
Spring onion – cut into 1-2 cm strips
1 chilli – sliced finely for garnishing
Hard tofu – cut into 1 cm wide and 3 cm in length strips, and pan fried until golden brown.
Preparations:
- Soak bee hoon in warm water for about 10 minutes or until quite soft (not soggy). Make sure the water covers the bee hoon.
- Boil 1 cup of water; once the water is boiled, steam the prawns for 5 minutes. Retain the water as we need the water for the noodles later. Remove the prawns, shelled and deveined, and put them aside.
- Boil 1 litre water; once boiled, blanch the bean shoots for 5-10 seconds (until slightly cooked but still retain the crunchiness). Put aside.
- Add 1 tsp cooking oil in the wok/pan; once the oil is heated, pour the whisked egg and spread evenly on the wok/pan until cooked. Remove from pan, allow to cool and sliced thinly.
Instructions:
- Heat the remaining oil on wok; once the oil is heated, fry the paste on medium heat for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Gradually add the rice noodles into the paste and stir fry.
- Gradually add the prawn stock to moisten the noodles while frying (and avoid noodles sticking onto the pan).
- Add bean sprouts and continue frying the noodles.
- When it is ready to serve, add finely chopped kaffir lime leaves and stir well. Note: I add kaffir lime leaves in because I feel that the lime leaves will bring up the flavour more; however, this is optional.
- Plate the noodle and garnish with prawns, bean shoots, fried tofu, lime, chilli and egg.
Number of people: 3
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Cook’s note:
I prefer the noodles to have stronger “prawn” flavour, so while frying the bee hoon into the paste, add prawn stock rather than water.
This is the paste that I use:
You can purchase the paste below
| Image | Name | Description | Price | Buy | hf:att:pa_language | hf:att:pa_weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Kaffir Lime Leaf Powder 50g My Blue Tea | Original price was: $17.85.$7.95Current price is: $7.95. | ||||
 | Little Nyonya Mee Siam Paste 250g | $4.75 |
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