Authentic Singapore Dry Mee Siam Goreng

A pair of chopsticks grabbing some fried mee siam goreng with eggs and red chili.

5 from 41 votes

Authentic Singapore Dry Mee Siam Goreng

A popular breakfast in Singapore, dry mee siam goreng is sweet, spicy, salty, a little sour and altogether delicious! A feast for the senses but simple to make!

Prep Time25

Cook Time15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Chinese, Malay, Nyonya, singaporean

Servings: people

Calories: 397kcal

Author: Zen

Equipment

Blender Substitute: mortar and pestle
Wok and heat-proof spatula

Ingredients

For the rempah (dry mee goreng paste)

2 Tablespoons dried prawns (heibi), pound till powdery. Click here for dried shrimp substitutes.
20 dried chillies, cut and deseeded Note that various brands of dried chillies have different spice levels. we've removed the seeds to make sure it's not too spicy but if you're not sure about the spice level, maybe use a bit less for your first try. You can also substitute this with chilli paste (unseasoned) if you want to cut down on the blending time- if so, blend the shallots, fresh chillies and candlenuts first, then add in the chilli paste before stir-frying)
5 oz shallots cut into small ½-1 inch pieces for easy blending/ pounding (approx 140g.) I use red onions (or yellow) when I don't have shallots
0.5 oz belacan (14g) do not substitute with fresh prawns if you can't get taste or you'll be making a totally different dish
0.7 oz candlenuts (20g) Use macademia, 1 of these candlenut subs or leave out if you can't get this. Note uncooked candlenuts are a little toxic so don't eat them raw!
0-4 fresh red chillies The amount depends on how fertile my plant feels.

Noodles

5.6 oz dried bee hoon (160g) Alternative option: glass noodles. Note the weight of dried vs rehydrated noodles is totally different! 5-10 minutes before you're going to start stir-frying the noodles, soak the bee hoon (rice vermicelli) or tang hoon (glass noodles) in hot water. Make sure that they're not left too long- you want them al dente because they're going to be cooked some more. (Also the mee becomes fragile if it soaks for too long- if using glass noodles, they won't break even if soaked longer.) If you use room temperature/ cold water, it may need around 40 minutes of soaking.
1 Tablespoon tamarind Also known as assam jawa. Substitute: ½ Cup tamarind juice.
½ Cup Water Mix with the tamarind above then strain- keep the tamarind water.
2 Tablespoons taucheo Can be substituted with miso or doenjang
3 teaspoons white sugar or to taste
1 teaspoon salt or to taste Substitute: soy sauce or fish sauce.

Ingredients (Optional- you can skip these for plain stir fried noodles or pick what you like from the list. However, note that If you add more or less ingredients, you may find that there is too little/ too much spice paste!)

6 eggs beaten till foamy, seasoned with salt or fish sauce, then fried into an omelette and cut into strips
9 Prawns deveined and deshelled then blanched. Substitute: sliced canned abalone, scallops etc
1 oz garlic chives cut into 3 inch strips
8 slices fish cake pan fried

Garnish (Optional)

2 Calamansi Limes halved.To squeeze on the noodles if u want more tang- but taste first! Click here for alternatives to calamansi.

Instructions

Making the dry mee siam paste- this part can be batch made in advance and frozen

Put ⅓ of the rempah ingredients in the blender/ food processor or mortar and pestle. Blend/ process/ pound. If necessary, add a bit of oil to the blender/ processor to help the blending.
Once the ingredients are broken down, scrape with a spatula, then add another ⅓. Repeat the process until all the ingredients have been blended.
Note: don't use a spatula that you use for baking as the belacan smell is quite noxious.
Add 1.5-2T of oil to a wok and heat it on medium-high. When hot, add the mee siam paste. (Add oil to a cold pan if you're using non-stick cookware. If you're using stainless steel, heat then pan then add the oil.) (Don't skimp on the oil as the rempah needs it, but if you've added oil when blending the rempah, use a bit less.)
Saute the spice paste till fragrant (about 5-10 minutes).
Once aromatic, add the taucheo/ miso/ doenjang and stir till well-mixed.
Note: If you're planning to freeze the spice paste, stop at this step. Let it cool, portion and freeze accordingly. (You can also freeze the rempah after blending and before saute-ing, but stir-frying the rempah now saves time later!)

Frying the noodles

If you're eating the mee siam today, add ¾ of the tamarind water to the rempah in the pan, stir, then season with sugar and salt to taste. If too dry, add more tamarind juice.
Add the noodles and stir till they've absorbed the rest of the water and become fluffy.. Taste and add more salt or/and sugar if necessary
Add the prawns, garlic chives, omelette strips and whatever (cooked) ingredients you're using, give everything a mix and the noodles are good to go
Optional: give it a squeeze of calamansi juice and maybe a side of sambal if you like your spice!

Notes

WARNING

Remember to handle chilies with gloves and not to touch your eyes! Also, soak then cut the chillies and remove the seeds or the spice level will literally burn your tongue. Different brands of dried chillies differ in heat (also dependent on the age of the dried chillies.)

Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.

Nutrition