Mee Siam Kuah Singapore (Rice Vermicelli in Gravy)
Azlin Bloor
Singapore Mee Siam Kuah recipe, a hawker dish of lightly fried noodles in a gravy that's a touch sour and a touch sweet, with a whole host of toppings.
First of all, soak the dried chillies and the dried shrimp in very hot water (just off the boil) in 2 separate bowls, while you get all the other ingredients ready.
Dry toast the peanuts if not ready toasted. Set aside to cool.
Place the onions, garlic, chillies, dried shrimp, shrimp paste, taucheo and peanuts in a chopper and chop until fine.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the chopped ingredients for about 3 minutes on medium heat until you get a lovely aroma coming off it.
Add the tamarind, sugar and the water, stir and bring to boil.
Lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, taste the seasoning. Add some salt if you think it needs it. Turn the heat off and let it sit for a couple of hours at least.
The Noodles
Place all the ingredients to be ground in a chopper and grind to a fine paste.
Heat the oil in a large wok and sauté the ground spices for a couple of minutes on medium heat until you get a lovely aroma off it.
Add the noodles, bean sprouts and salt and mix it all up and fry until the noodles are done, about 2 minutes.
Check the seasoning. It should be tasty but just on this side of full on flavour as that will come with the gravy.
Add the chives and mix.
To serve
Heat the gravy up.
Place the noodles in a bowl.
Ladle some gravy over.
Top with all or the toppings of your choice, whether it's the egg, the sambal, the tofu, etc. All noodle dishes are made better with a squeeze of lime juice!
Notes
Prep and Total Time = I've given you a combination of actual hands on time for making the gravy and the noodles. The noodles only take 5 minutes to cook.
Total time does not take into account the resting time for the gravy, before serving.