Singapore Chow Mei Fun | 星洲炒米
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What high school part-time jobs did you work on? I ask this question because without my high school job I probably wouldn’t be able to share today’s post.
One of my first part-time jobs was being a helper at a busy local Chinese takeout restaurant. It was a very demanding and stressful job that I almost quite on the first day but in the end I gained so much that I still benefit from the experience to this day.
First of all, it was fed well since I could take food home for free at the end of shift. Then the job was a great way for me to meet different kinds of people and practice my social skills. I also learned how to deal with high level of stress at a busy restaurant. And most importantly, I learned the secrets behind many popular dishes firsthand so I can share them with you on this blog.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is on 9/19/13 this year. Unfortunately I am not going to share a mooncake recipe as I have planned. Instead I’ll share another one of my favorite dishes called a recipe for Singapore Chow Mei Fun.
I’ll be honest that I had never had this dish before I came to the States so I’ll skip all that food history behind each dish like I normally do. However, as a mystery diner sent by my restaurant owner to sample all the same dish in the surrounding restaurants, I can claim that this is the recipe you can rely on if you just want a simple but good Singapore Chow Mei Fun!
So let’s cut to the chase and reveal the secret ingredients!
1) Use Javin brand Curry Powder. I have tested with a few different brands but only this brand gives me the exactly the same flavor as the one from the restaurant
2) Use Taiwanese Rice Noodles such as this brand for the best flavor and texture
3) Use Sha Cha sauce (aka Chinese BBQ sauce). This is the ingredient that makes Singapore Chow Mei Fun a best seller at the restaurant I worked for 🙂
So here is the Step by step instruction to make this takeout favorite. Feel free to add other types of veggies and proteins such as shrimp, chicken, or pork to the recipe.
Soak the rice noodle in cold water until softened . About 30 minutes
In the meantime, sliced the onion, celery, pepper, and napa
Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well
Boil a large pot of water. Add 1 tbsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil and blanch the rice noodles for about 1 minute. Drain well and set aside
Add 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or frying pan, Add egg and scramble until set. Remove and set aside
Drizzle another 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sliced onion, pepper, celery, and napa. Stir fry over high heat for 2 minutes
Add blanched noodles and stir to mix
Add curry powder. Continue to stir until the curry powder is well incorporated , about 30 sec
Mix in the sauce and stir immediately until the sauce is evenly distributed. Do not wait long before you start mixing as the sauce gets absorbed by noodles quickly
Add egg and scallion and stir fry for another minute. Transfer to a plate and serve hot
*Note – This is an ideal dish to serve in party however unless you own a giant wok and a high output burner (18,000+ BTU), you are better off cooking the noodles in smaller batches suggested in this recipe.
For those of you celebrate, Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!!
Ingredients
- 1/2 pk or 6oz dry rice noodle (mei fun)
- 1.5 tbsp curry powder
- 2 egg
- 1/2 large onion
- 2 celery rib
- ½ large green pepper
- 6 oz napa or cabbage
- 1 cup scallions, thinly sliced
- 2 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 Scallion, cut to 2 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
- I tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp cooking wine
- 1 tbsp Sha cha sauce, aka Chinese BBQ sauce (optional)
Instructions
- Soak the rice noodle in cold water until softened . About 30 minutes
- In the meantime, sliced the onion, celery, pepper, and napa
- Combine all the sauce ingredients and mix well
- Boil a large pot of water. Add 1 tbsp of salt and 1 tsp of oil and blanch the rice noodles for about 1 minute. Drain well and set aside
- Add 2 tbsp of oil in a wok or frying pan, Add egg and scramble until set. Remove and set aside
- Drizzle another 2 tbsp of oil in a wok, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add sliced onion, pepper, celery, and napa. Stir fry over high heat for 2 minutes
- Add blanched noodles and stir to mix
- Add curry powder. Continue to stir until the curry powder is well incorporated , about 30 sec
- Mix in the sauce and stir immediately until the sauce is evenly distributed. Do not wait long before you start mixing as the sauce gets absorbed by noodles quickly
- Add egg and scallion and stir fry for another minute. Transfer to a plate and serve hot
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wow, these looks so delicious and mouth watering. thanks for sharing this article.
Thanks for this delicious blog.
FYI, the “Taiwanese Rice Noodles” link (above) is broken. Which brand ?
hi there, thanks for bringing this to my attention, I have updated the link. I like to use Hsin Chu rice noodles from TW and there are normally different brands you can choose from depending on where you live. Thanks for checking out the recipe.
Thanks for this delicious blog.
FYI, the “Taiwanese Rice Noodles” link (above) is broken. Which brand ?
I was very impressed with the final result. SIngapore mei fun is my favorite. SInce I only have thick Thai noodles, I had to infuse the curry into the boiling noodles. I reuse the boiled curry water with better then bullion chicken base to add moisture for the noodle reheat or as a soup. The BBQ sauce is a key ingredient. I like a flavor explosion, so I increase curry/BBQ portion. Also adding bullion chicken base helps to take flavor stronger. I also hope to see recipes for pork egg foo yong, pork lo mein, chicken eggplant in garlic sauce, pork fried rice. I greatly appreciate this site as not many sites give the attention to detail necessary to make restaurant taste.
Hi Mark, thanks for checking out my recipe. I really appreciate your feedback on the dish and you sharing your workaround with the ingredients you have on hand. Yes the BBQ sauce is a secret weapon and not every recipe mentions about it.
I do have roast pork (homemade roast pork) fried rice lined up and adding the other dishes you suggested to my list. Please stay posted (please also join my newsletter for the latest updates if you have done so). Thanks.
Yi!!!! You are the man sir!!! That was the best Mei Fun recipe I have attempted to this day!! The other recipe’s I made were okay but they were always missing something… Your recipe gave me the flavor that I have been looking for! I grilled my shrimp on skewers and butter basted them when I took them off the grill just to add one more layer of flavor and my wife loved it!!! I am eternally grateful and have subscribed to your blog. Looking forward to learning new dishes from you!
Hi Terrence, thanks for the feedback and I am so happy to hear that you love this recipe. I like the grilled shrimp idea and will probably do the same next time I make this dish! Thanks again for following my blog!
this is wonderful i love this dish but what todo my whole family dont eat egg? Its there another way?
Greetings from Australia,
Your blog is amazing , so many tips I have never known before. I have made this last night and every one likes it. I thought I would struggle to find sha cha sauce in my local grocery but heaps of them on the rack with different varieties and brands too. Thanks for sharing and keep up on good work!
Greetings from Australia,
Your blog is brilliant, so many tips that I have never known before. I was thinking I would not find sha cha sauce in my local grocery but heaps of them on the rack with different varieties. I have made this last night and everyone likes it. Thanks for sharing!
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Hi Yi…
Tried this recipe and it worked excellent! Hubby & kids love it!!!
Thanks for making this website! I’ve subscribed to your blog and gotten the free e-cookbook! Thanks!
One question for making the Longevity noodle: how much baking soda to bake? (I read the part about making your own baked baking soda, you said to bake 30 mins at 320F. So I wonder how much baking soda to bake at this temp and duration)
Thanks!
Hi Sil, thanks for the feedback. I am so happy hear that your family loves the chow mei fun! to answer your question about longevity noodle recipe, you’ll need just 1 tbp of baing soda for that recipe. However I normally double the portion and freeze my extra noodles 🙂 Please let me know if you have any other questions.
Hi Yi…
Thanks for making this website! I’ve subscribed to your blog and gotten the free e-cookbook! Thanks!
One question for making the Longevity noodle: how much baking soda to bake? (I read the part about making your own baked baking soda, you said to bake 30 mins at 320F. So I wonder how much baking soda to bake at this temp and duration)
Thanks!
Thank you so much for adding this recipe on your site. It is very good that you listed out the brands. I made this dish last time and when you don’t use the correct curry spice, the taste is just not the same. I will incorporate in the dish some chicken and shrimp. I’ll update you afterwards on how this dish looked and taste.
Hi Yi,
Thanks for the recipe. I never thought I could have made Singapore chow mei fun myself. I added one tbsp of Chinese vinegar just to mimic the one I had at PF.CHANG. It is so easy to make and turned out really well. It was extremely addictive…..I had almost 1 lb of the chow mei fun to myself this weekend.
Mary
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What type of wine is used for this recipe?
Hello, What type of wine is used for this recipe?
Hello Russell, I normally use a Chinese cooking wine called Shaoxing wine. If you have it can also use sherry or other cooking wine instead. I hope this helps.
better with sesame oil, sesame seeds and some chilli
Agreed Helen. I normally drizzle some hot oil before I serve…so delicious!!
Hello – this is my favorite dish at our local chinese food restaurant. Thanks for sharing! What type of oil do you use?
Hi Dena, thanks for visiting my blog. I use granola oil normally but you can use vegetable oil or peanut oil if that’s what you have available. Please let me know how you like it!
This was delicious! I loved the texture of the noodles — I boiled them about 30 seconds and then let them air dry. I mixed the curry powder with the noodle before I added them to the pan, just so the spices were well incorporated. I’ve made this dish before but your sauce mix and method really did produce a superior dish. Thank you! I look forward to exploring more of your recipes.
Hi teapot, I am glad that you enjoyed this recipe. Brilliant idea to mix the curry powder before cooking for better incorporation. I’ll have to try that next time. Thanks!
Dear Yi,
I am very impressed with your passion to promote Asian cuisine, especially as you are from Chongqing. I am an American living in Hong Kong, and along with my 2 Hong Kong partners, have just started a company to import Chongqing Zhoujunji Hot Pot seasoning products into the US. One partner owns 3 Northern China – style dumpling restaurants in Hong Kong, and the other is in the insurance industy with many clients in Chongqing.
Last week, I signed an agreement with the Zhoujunji Hot Pot to be the Exclusive US Sales Agent. The company has been selling to the US for the past 5 years, but small quantities – targeting the Chinese-Americans. The company wants to target Average, Mainstream Americans. The company has FDA approval. A classmate of mine is a Chef in the Boston area. He is very interested in helping by introducing me to other Chefs with key relations with supermarkets and to organize tasting demonstrations.
Here’s my question to you: As you are from Chongqing and living in NYC, and as Chongqing has a Sister City relationship with NYC, I believe we have a mutually compatible goal of educating Americans about how to use/add Chongqing Seasonings to traditional American dishes! With your blog community and my experience in producing special face-to-face events, I imagine organising tasting Hot Pot celebrations across the US- as an effective marketing technique. You have an awesome blog and obviously, totally committed to educating your expanding community. IF you are (hopefully) interested in exploring how we might work together, I welcome the chance to SKYPE with you.
This is my FULL TIME business venture, and the Chongqing Factory is extremely committed to its US expansion. The website is being built now… so what you will see is in no way the final version. Anyway, thank you in advance for your consideration to SKYPE.
PS: I am awaiting for official Chop certification from the Factory- and will send you the copy of the certificate appointing Sino-American Quality Food Company as the Exclusive US Sales Agent.
Best regards,
Jim Sugarman
Cell: +852 – 9459-3875
Hi Jim, thanks for the introduction. I have sent you an email. Speak to you soon.
-Yi
Awesome recipe! I just made this and if my stomach allowed, I’d eat the whole pan. Better than the neighborhood take out resturants. A keeper!
Hello Bee, thank you so much for the feedback and am so happy to hear that you liked the recipe!
Noodles with curry powder? I love this Indian touch in Singaporean delicacies like this! This chow mein is so tempting….I wish I could get some right now! Yi, wonderful post!!
haha! This always stikes up an argument among my friends- there is no such thign as sngapore noodles in singapore! It’s actually a hk invention- though we do have something similar just called fried beehoon- no curry powder though! But whatever, I love ‘sg’ fried noodles anyway- delicious! Always order in hk style eateries 🙂 yum!
Hi…I’m a Singaporean and we do have ‘sin chow mei fun’ in S’pore! I normally eats it in the food court or coffee shop which sells freshly fried noodles for you.
I love fried meehoon especially those my mum cooked for me. Your meehoon makes me crave for some.
I love ordering 星洲炒米 when I dine out. THanks to your recipe I can make this at home. 🙂 I don’t know why I haven’t make this yet. Sounds simple and easy and you’re so right, perfect party dish!
Oh yes, we have a huge can of Sha cha sauce especially in hot pot season! My first job in high school (in Japan) was at a convenience store Lawson. I couldn’t stand too long so I didn’t last too long (so weak). Then I worked at a small Izakaya style restaurant. I learned a lot there for cooking (and dealing with drunken Japanese salarymen too – poor me!). Anyway, I love this noodle dish! Gotta find the rice stick next.
Oh Yi! You just reminded me that I have not have this kind of noodles for ages…I like the curry in it…looks delicious.
Have a great week 😀
This looks perfect good, nice job. Love this recipe
Mmmmm…..looks like a terrific noodle dish! My summer jobs included working at a fast food restaurant and detasseling corn in the fields 🙂
Happy Mid-Autumn festival to you and your family! Man can’t live on moon cakes alone so I am so glad you shared your version of chow mei fun. Love the sauce combo. Fast and Fabulous! Have a super holiday weekend. BAM
I have never tasted Singapore Chow Mei Fun before, not even in Singapore :p but I do enjoy a Chow Mei Fun anytime esp when it is fried with a flavorful sauce
This looks so good. I always wanted to be a mystery diner but instead I served pancakes at a breakfast house during high school. Dipping syrup was the worst part!
I prefer this chow mei fun to mooncake, Yi. So much healthier and tastier.
I am so addicted to these noodles because of the curry in them. Gives them such a wonderful color and a real punch of flavor.
I love this dish! And make it often, although yours looks better. Thanks for the curry and BBQ sauce recommendations – I’m not familiar with either brand, but will definitely check them out. Really excellent post – thanks. Oh, and my high school job? I used to sell shoes! Yours sounds like more fun. 😉
I am a big fan of Singapore Fried Meehoon. And I prefer the fine meehon like the one you used here. Am bookmarking this recipe 🙂
Hi Phong, thanks for your visit!
You are wonderful! I love the use of specific brands in order to get the desired result. Looking forward to trying this. Thank you.