Loving these exciting flavours? Try our easy and delicious recipe for Shrimp Chow Mein. If you are not familiar with Singapore noodles, it’s time you give them a try! This Chinese takeout favourite is a delightful, full on flavour and light on the stomach offering. Despite the misleading name, these noodles are not really from Singapore. It’s difficult to say how they came to be but the legend has it that a Hong Kong chef created the dish, and used an exotic name to upsell his stir fried noodles. The most distinct feature of the dish is the use of a curry powder in the sauce. It might sound unusual for a Chinese dish but is easily traced to a plentiful supply of Indian spices via Britain, which colonised both Hong Kong and India. Singapore noodles are not the only dish to use turmeric and other Indian spices. Another example of the curry powder used in a Chinese dish is this chicken curry. An absolute staple in every Chinese restaurant in the UK. My homemade version is a reader favourite and so easy to master!
Ingredients
Apart from the curry powder, another distinct feature of this dish are thin rice noodles also called vermicelli noodles. They have a very delicate texture and only require a soaking in hot water rather than boiling to be ready to eat. They are very popular in South East Asia, and that is probably why a Hong Kong chef used them in his Singapore inspired recipe. Take a look at my version of the popular Indonesian recipe Mee Goreng (Fried Noodles), which also uses rice vermicelli as another example. The rest of the ingredients could vary depending on the cook but here is my version. I love to use a combination of plump prawns/shrimp and pork belly. Traditionally, barbecued pork Char Siu is used but unless you are Chinese, chances are you won’t have it just kicking around your fridge. I didn’t. So instead of char siu, I used cured pork belly, which is basically a big slab of bacon. You can use bacon or pork loin steaks. Heck, you can use chicken if you want! Eliminating pork belly will also significantly cut down on the calories in this dish, making it quite healthy. Needles to say, you can easily turn this recipe into a vegetarian one by using tofu. Scrambled eggs is another staple of most Singapore noodles recipes. The eggs are scrambled and mixed into the noodles at the very end, which is very similar to fried rice recipes. I’ve also added a combination of sliced red peppers and bean sprouts as my choice of vegetables. Many other vegetables could be used from sliced cabbage, bok choy to green beans and broccoli!
More Asian stir fried noodles
Easy Dan Dan Noodles Filipino Noodles with Pork and Shrimp (Pancit) Chicken Yaki Udon Beef Chow Mein Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
