A typical Singapore hawker staple (street food) that I had always enjoyed and have missed so much. This has to be the only kind of food that I can have for any meals of the day. In Singapore, it’s not often that people tend to cook this from home, partly because of the much efforts involved, partly because it doesn’t make economic sense as it is available for any hawker stalls conveniently located in most of the neighborhoods.
Properly braising mushrooms is the key to make a good bowl of the noodles. The mushrooms have to be simmered long enough to absorb all the flavors. In the hawker center, very often you will see a slow cooker that’s used to simmer the mushrooms for hours and are kept warm all the time so that the mushrooms just get tender and softer.
Although it might seem too cumbersome a dish to prepare at home, but all in all, I took less than an hour to serve up this dish from simmering the mushrooms, to boiling the soup to preparing the noodles. It’s not as intimidating as it seems after all.
Serve 1 (this is the recipe for 1 serving, just multiply the quantities of the ingredients if you wish to have more servings.)
- 100g Chinese egg noodles (click here for homemade egg noodles)全蛋面
- 50g minced/ground pork猪肉末
- 3 pieces meatballs肉丸 (available at the frozen section of Asian market)
- 5 slices fishcake鱼饼 (available at the frozen food section of Asian market)
- Some lettuce
- 1/2 cup mung bean sprouts (optional)豆芽
For the Braised Mushrooms
- 4 pieces dried shiitake mushrooms, rinsed and soaked in hot water. Remove the stem and sliced thinly， 干香菇泡发切丝
- 250ml mushroom water, retained from soaking the mushrooms
- 200ml water
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce蚝油
- 1 teaspoon light soy sauce生抽
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce老抽
- 10g r rock sugar冰糖
- 1 star anise八角
- 3 slices ginger生姜
- 3 cloves garlics, slightly crushed蒜头
- 2 piece dried orange peel (optional, to add some tanginess to the sauce)陈皮
For ground pork marinade
- ½ tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon corn flour
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- A pinch of white peppercorn powder
For the soup base:
- 300ml stock
- 300ml water
- 1 tablespoon shallots oil (fry the slices of shallots in the oil over low medium heat) or just use a tablespoon of cooking oil
- A pinch of salt + white peppercorn powder
For the noodles sauce (mix all together):
- 1 tablespoon sambal paste (this is a spicy paste, optional)
- 1 tablespoon shallots oil (fry the slices of shallots in the oil over low and medium heat) or just use a teaspoon of sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon braised mushroom sauce
- 1 tablespoon soup base
- 1 teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar
Method
- Combine the mushrooms and the braised sauce together and simmer over medium low heat for at least 30 minutes or more. Top up with more water if the sauce gets dry out too fast. You can also braise the mushrooms over a slow cooker for at least 2 hours.
2. Combine the ground pork together with the marinade ingredients, mix well and set aside in the fridge.
3. Combine the stock and water with the shallot oil, salt and white pepper corn powder to make the soup base. Cook till it boils. Add in the meatballs and fish cakes. Cook about 3-5 minutes. When all has floated to the surface of the soup, drain them and set aside. Add in the minced pork into the soup. Cook it briefly till done and drain. Blanch the mung bean sprouts. Drain.
4. Heat up another pot with some water and cook the noodles in the boiling water. Drain once cooked.
5. To serve, get a big serving bowl. Add the noodles sauce to the noodles and stir to mix well, place a few lettuce leaves and some mung bean sprouts. add into the noodles. Top the noodles with braised mushrooms, meat balls and fish cakes. Garnish with some minced spring onions, but this is optional. Serve hot.
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