All café dishes › Wok-fried noodles
Singapore noodles
星洲炒米
“The wok has to be hot. It is the breath of the wok that makes it.”
Ingredientsserves 2
Large prawns (fresh, head-on)· peeled and deveined, about 100 g meat; frozen raw prawn meat is fine8
Bean sprouts75 g
Salt½ tsp
Sugar½ tsp
Chicken powder½ tsp
Light soy sauce1 tsp
Cooking oil3 tbsp
Method
- Soak the vermicelli in warm water fifteen to twenty minutes until pliable but not soft; drain well and cut once with scissors so the strands are about 20 cm. Well-drained noodles are what stop the plate ending up as broken bits.
- Heat the wok, add a tablespoon of oil and fry the prawns one minute until pink and cooked through; lift out. Pour in the egg, fry it into a thin sheet, lift out and slice.
- Two tablespoons of oil, then the onion and capsicum for one minute, then the curry powder and turmeric straight into the oil for twenty seconds so they bloom; the curry must be fried in oil, never dusted over dry noodles, or it tastes of powder.
- Noodles in; toss and lift for about two minutes until every strand is yellow. Add the salt, sugar, soy and chicken powder; if it catches, splash two tablespoons of water down the side of the wok.
- Char siu, ham, prawns, egg, sprouts, spring onion and chilli back in; toss one minute and plate.
- The shop soaks a basin of vermicelli ahead, keeps the char siu and ham cut, and fries a plate in ninety seconds over the jet burner; at home it takes twenty minutes and the risk is broken noodles, which the right brand and a good drain mostly settle. Two plates at a time in a home wok.
Take care
- Contains crustacean (prawn), egg, soy and wheat (soy sauce; many curry powders are packed on shared wheat lines, read the label) and pork (char siu, ham). Prawns cooked through; the char siu and ham are already cooked and are reheated to hot in the toss.
The story
There is no such dish in Singapore. Singapore noodles are a post-war Hong Kong café invention, from years when Singapore and curry were the same idea to a Cantonese kitchen, and the Michelin Guide's Singapore edition has had to explain to Singaporeans what the tourists are asking for. In Hong Kong it sits on the board next to 廈門炒米, its sweet-and-sour twin, and neither city has heard of its namesake dish.
Same counter
Lo Fo Tong is cultural food-heritage reference, not medical advice. If you are pregnant, unwell or on medication, talk to your doctor or registered practitioner before changing what is in the pot.