Mee Siam (Spicy Tangy Noodles)

A while back, I made a noodle dish that is popular in Singapore called mee siam.  Mee siam uses thin rice vermicelli and had a rich, aromatic gravy that was a bit sour and quite spicy.  The seasoning for the gravy came from a spice packet that a friend brought back for me from Singapore.  Well, I was wanting to eat this dish again, but I could not find a spice packet for it anywhere.  That's when I started digging through my small collection of Asian cookbooks.

I found this recipe in a little pamphlet-sized book that I had called "Nonya Favorites" with recipes by Lee Goek Boi.  So I made this dish for dinner last night.

Mee Siam (Spicy Tangy Noodles)

Noodles

7 ounces mifen (dried rice noodles)

- Soak noodles in warm water until soft, but still firm.  Drain, dry and set aside.

Spice Paste

3/4 teaspoon ground dried red chillies
1/8 cup shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons dou jiang (feremented soya beans)
1 tablespoon water

- Grind chillies, shallots, dou jiang and water until smooth.

2 tablespoons oil
7 ounces beansprouts, rinsed
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoons coconut cream

- Heat oil in a wok and saute spice paste until oil rises to the top.
- Stir in beansprouts, then add noodles, water and coconut cream.  Stir-fry until noodles are cooked (about 10 minutes).  Set aside to cool.

Gravy

2 tablespoons oil
2 1/2 cups chicken stock or water
1 1/2 teaspoons tamarind water
- Prepare by combining tamarind pulp with 1/2 cup water.  Stir, then strain.
1/4 cup coconut cream
1/4 teaspoon sugar

Spice Paste

1 tablespoons dou jiang (fermented soya beans)
3/4 cup shallots
1 1/2 teaspoons belacan (shrimp paste)
2 buah keras (candlenuts)
2 1/4 teaspoons ground dried red chillies

- Grind all spice paste ingredients until smooth.

- Heat oil in a large saucepan and saute the spice paste until fragrant and the oil rises to the surface.
- Add stock or water and tamarind water then bring to a boil.
- Turn down heat and add coconut cream and sugar.  Avoid boiling to prevent cream from separating.

Garnish

4 ounces deep-fried beancurd
10 pieces shrimp
1 egg, hard-boiled, shelled and quartered

Chilli Oil

1/2 teaspooon tamarind water
- Prepare by combining tamarind pulp with 1 tablespoon water, stir and then strain
1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried red chillies
1/4 cup shallots
1 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon oil

- Grind chillies, onion and water until smooth.
- Heat oil in a small saucepan and saute the ground chilli paste with sugar until oil rises to the surface.  Add tamarind water and continue cooking until the oil rises again.

1 kalamansi lime, halved

To serve:

- Place some fried noodles into a bowl.  Ladle hot gravy over the noodles.
- Garnish with egg, beancurd, shrimp, green onions, chilli oil and half a lime.

**NOTE**

I did make a few changes to the recipe, they are listed here.

- Halved the recipe.  The full recipe makes 4 portions.
- Reduced the amount of oil used for frying.
- Eliminated any additional salt.
- Substituted green onions for chives.
- Used pre-made deep-fried beancurd.
- Substituted shallots for onions.

Here's how my mee siam looked.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't have any kalamansi limes on hand to use as part of the garnish and for some reason, there wasn't enough gravy for the two servings that I made.  In my opinion, the gravy wasn't spicy enough or sour enough.  This was just OK compared to what I've had before.  I'll try to look for another recipe before making this again.

Comments

[Shirley]

Ho ho ho Reid, you'll get to taste the real one soon! Yours looked like the dry type of mee siam.

[Reid]

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for dropping by. This is definitely one of the dishes that I'm going to try when I'm in Singapore. You're right...it's coming up soon! I can't wait!

[AugustusGloop]

Looks pretty good to me!

I responded to your comment on my blog already but here again...So are you really thinking of heading Down Under? How long will you be in Sydney? Oh exciting... so much to eat, so little time! :P

[fish fish]

OMG! This one looks sooo good, except it's really a bit too dry. Kekeke... But even a dry mee siam of Reid can make this tropical fish crazing for one now. >.<

[ST]

Hi Reid, your mee siam looks really good. I went out and had some after reading your post :D

[xiaolongnu]

Hi Reid -- Where do you get your dou jiang in town, and have you been able to find the plain kind without garlic? I've only found the Lee Kum Kee pre-mixed kind, which I don't like (would rather mix my own). Granted I have only tried Foodland and Times so far (lazy, plus no car). Thanks for another great recipe.

-- xiaolongnu (from UH)

[MrsT]

Hey.. Reid.. ;)
Yer get to taste the real thingie soon..!! yummy .. for sure.. mee siam is my FAVOURITE..!!! i'm gonna die now..!!! die of longing..!!!!1

[Julia]

yeah, it does look like you need to double the quantity of the gravy, Reid. I like my mee siam swimming in gravy too. But there are also some who prefer the dry version.

[babe_kl]

hi reid,

would u be coming to kl? if yes, try the mee siam at alexis cafe in bangsar!!

else mail me, maybe we can meet up :)

[Reid]

Hi AG,

Thanks. Yes, I'm trying to plan a trip to either Sydney or Melbourne. If I can get more than 10 days off, I'll probably want to spend a couple of days in New Zealand as well.

Hi fish fish,

Thank you fish fish! =P

This was the second time I made mee siam. The first time was using a spice packet which was really good! When I go to S'pore, I'm going to look for some of those spice packets. =)

Hi ST,

Thank you! =) I don't think it was as good as you can get there though.

Hi xiaolongnu,

Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're near UH, you can probably go to the Asian Grocery on Beretania Street near Piikoi. I think they had it there. If I remember correctly, I bought this at 99 Ranch Market.

Hi MrsT,

I know I can't wait. This is actually one of the dishes that I'm dying to try. The first time I had it, I found it really yummy, but I think that it's going to be even better when I get to taste the real thing!

Hi Julia,

You know, I'm not sure if I wanted more gravy or if I wanted just more flavor. I think that I could have handled the mee siam dry like this, but it would have to either be more spicy or more tangy. This was neither. My thought was that the lack of gravy had something to do with it.

Hi babe_kl,

I'm thinking of visiting KL. If not, I think I might be going to Malacca. Nothing really set in stone yet as I was unable to make arrangements from here. Every agent that I contacted was unable to book a trip for me. I guess it's because all the Singaporeans leave S'pore for M'sia on CNY.

I'll definitely e-mail you if I'm going to be in KL. =)

[Wena]

hi reid, haven't pop by in a while so thought i'd stop by. saw this posting and IMMEDIATELY HUNGERED FOR SOME!! LOL! i'm definitely going to goto the coffee shop tomorrow to get some. :)

[Reid]

Hi Wena,

Long time no hear is right!

I can't wait for my trip to Singapore so that I can try some "real" mee siam. I'm also thinking of going to Malaysia. If not KL, then maybe Malacca. By the way, I hope you enjoy your mee siam tomorrow! =P

[babe_kl]

ok then reid. hope u going to enjoy yr trip.

[Jeanne]

Hi Reid

That looks really, really good! You wanna enter it into End of Month Egg on Noodles Extravaganza?? ;-) And btw - nice new banner!

[umami]

Your meesiam looks damn good I thought. I haven't come across a decent meesiam in Singapore so far, so yours may well be the real deal.

[Min]

Dropped by to say hello!:) Your mee siam looks good:)

[milgwimper]

Wow that sounds good. I will have to try the recipe. Thanks Reid!

[Reid]

Hi babe_kl,

I hope I have the chance to meet you in KL. =) I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Hi Jeanne,

Thank you and thank you. Hmmm...are you trying to start something new? =P

Hi Umami,

Thank you! =)

I don't think it would be as good as the mee siam there. For one thing, this one wasn't even sour. =(

Hopefully we can hunt down some good mee siam when I come to Singapore.

Hi Min,

Long time no hear!

Hopefully we can all get together for dinner when I come to Singapore. Got any suggestsions?

And thanks for the compliment...I wish it tasted better.

Hi milgwimper,

Thanks. If you do try it, let me know how you like it.

[Min]

eeeeps!!I am soooo shy!!Haha...is it alright if my husband joins us??

Suggestions hmmm..Muthu's Curry at Little India?I am still trying to feel my way around sorry lol.Umami and Renee should be better at this.

Where will you be staying?

[Reid]

Hi Min,

I'm very shy too, I'm sure that it won't be a problem for your hubby to join in on the fun! I'll let you know what my plans are once I get them settled.

I'll be staying at the Novotel Clarke Quay which is behind the Liang Court Shopping Centre. A friend made all of the arrangements for me. She said it was close the MRT and close enough to Orchard Road.

[Min]

It's a good location.I hear they have a japanese grocery store called Meidi-Ya or something at Liang Court..haven't been there but it's supposedly alright:)

[babe_kl]

umami, next time when u r back in kl, try alexis' mee siam

[stef]

Scrummy! That's my craving #2 - you should get a load of mee siam in SG too ;)

[Reid]

Hi Stef,

I'm going to be sure to have some mee siam when I'm in Singapore. I need to know what the real thing tastes like. =P

I can hardly wait!

[michelle]

very nice!!