The words “Mee Siam” literally means “Siamese noodles” and is said to
have originated in Thailand, even though it now seems to be more popular
in Singapore and southern Malaysia. Mee siam is prepared from rice
vermicelli (bee hoon) and is great food for parties because of its
relative low cost, its exquisite taste and the fact that it can be
prepared beforehand. The peculiar taste of this dish is brought by a few
ingredients such as preserved soya beans, chilli and dried prawns. More
complex recipes involve the addition of tamarind gravy. Mee siam gives a
combination of spicy, sweet, and sour tastes which many people enjoy.
Ingredients:
For Preparation of the Noodles
450g Rice Vermicelli
1 tablespoon Shallots (thinly cut)
10 dried red chillies that have been soaked and finely cut.
1 tablespoon Blachan
3 tablespoons Vegetable oil
2 tablespoons dried shrimp paste
1 ˝ cups of Water
1 teaspoon Salt
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 teaspoon Oyster sauce
2 cups bean shoots
For Preparation of the Sauce
4 tablespoons preserved soya beans
2 tablespoons Sugar
1 finely sliced onion
2 tablespoons Tamarind water
4 cups of Water
For Preparation of Garnish
3 hard-boiled eggs
8 Prawns that have been cooked and halved
2 Lemons cut into four
1 tablespoons fried shallots
2 Spring onions
Steps:
The noodles are placed in boiling water and allowed to cook for
about 20 minutes, after which they are drained.
Shallots, chillies and blachan are ground into a fine paste.
Oil is heated in a frying pan and used to fry shrimps for about
1 minute.
The paste is added and frying is continued until the oil is seen
to separate from the paste.
Preserve 1 ˝ tablespoons of this paste and some of the oil for
later use.
Put water, salt, sugar and oyster sauce in a wok and boil the
mixture.
Throw in the bean shoots and allow cooking for up to one minute.
Place the noodles and fry while stirring continuously over a
high heat. Mix all ingredients well.
Reduce the heat and continue frying and stirring until the
noodles have dried up.
Allow cooling.
Mashed soya beans, sugar, onion, tamarind water and water are
blended and then boiled in the wok. The paste and oil that had been
preserved beforehand are added and the mixture is cooked for 5
minutes.
The noodles are placed in a large placed and garnished with
eggs, prawns and lemon. Shallots and spring onions are scattered on
top and the sauce is sprayed.
The key to cooking great
Mee siam is using a stove which produces high heat and to use very thin
rice vermicelli. High heat enables the vermicelli to be cooked very
rapidly so that it does not break up during the cooking process. Thinner
vermicelli is preferable because it has better taste than thicker ones
(but this is subjective!). There are of course many variations of “Mee
Siam” nowadays depending on who is cooking it. In Southeast Asia, all
communities have their own versions of the dish. For example, Chinese
Singaporeans have a gravy version while Indians serve it with dried bean
curd.
