Inspired by Singapore’s very own Bak Chor Mee, this Singapore-Inspired Minced Meat Noodles are to die for! Chewy noodles tossed in the most delicious savoury-vinegary soy-based sauce and topped with braised mushrooms, minced pork, steamed vegetables, a poached egg and crispy shallots. Sambal (the holy grail of Asian chilli sauces) optional but highly recommended!
Just imagine the most incredible dipping sauce you’ve ever had for Asian dumplings like jiao zi or gyoza – it should be salty, savoury and sweet all at once. Sometimes a little bit spicy too. Now picture a bowl of freshly boiled chewy noodles dry-tossed in that delicious sauce. Oh my god, this actually making me go weak in my knees.
This Minced Meat Noodles recipe is inspired by Singapore’s one and only Bak Chor Mee (肉脞面; directly translated into minced meat and noodles). If you ask any Singaporean, it’s highly addictive and definitely irreplaceable. I would never have learnt to cook it if I were still living in Singapore because you can get a bowl of it for less than $5 but as I’m stranded half way across the world, cooking Singaporean dishes reconnects me to my beloved home country. Don’t @ me but the first time I had this was in 2014 (I know I know, what a disappointing Singaporean). Found out then that there were so many variations to it – countless pairings of toppings, different types of noodles, soup or dry-tossed, spicy or not, and that’s probably only half of it!
This is by no means authentic but honestly, SO FRIGGIN DELICIOUS. It’s basically a lighter and simplified version of a Singapore classic (read: easy/healthy enough to have it every day). You’re welcome.
Breaking down the mega delicious Singapore-Inspired Minced Meat Noodles
There are three key components to this dish – the sauce, noodles, and toppings.
The Sauce: The sauce is really easy to make – just a matter of mixing a couple of ingredients together! One of the ingredients is Shallot Oil which you may not have on hand. You can typically buy this in most Asian supermarkets or can just easily make your own. I’ve jotted down how you can make it at home in the Notes below the recipe card. Another really key component here is sambal. Again, you’ll be able to find this in most Asian supermarkets but do note that there are several kinds. I recommend Sambal Oelek or Sambal Tumis.
The Noods: Traditionally, you use egg noodles for Bak Chor Mee but because I’m not a fan, I decided to use fresh knife-cut noodles (aka ribbon noodles). Picked these bad boys up in the refrigerated aisle of my local asian grocer but you could also go for any other flat dried Chinese noodles like la mian or Shanghai noodles. Heck, you could even use dried udon! All you need to remember is NOT to overcook so that it still has a nice bite to it, and toss it with the sauce immediately after it’s cook. This is really key so that they don’t clump together.
The Toppings: As you can tell from the photos, I went a little nuts and added loads on. Out of everything though, my favourite has to be the braised mushrooms. It’s juicy, sweet and savoury and just ridiculously delicious. You could also add meatballs, fishcakes, prawns, tofu… you do you!
Inspired by Singapore’s very own Bak Chor Mee, this Minced Meat Noodles are to die for! Chewy noodles tossed in the most delicious savoury-vinegary soy-based sauce and topped with sliced braised mushrooms, minced pork, steamed vegetables, a poached egg and crispy shallots. Sambal (the holy grail of Asian chilli sauces) optional but highly recommended! In a bowl, mix together the minced pork, fish sauce and white pepper. Place the dried shiitake mushrooms in another bowl and pour in enough water to cover the mushrooms along with the light soy sauce, sesame oil and sugar. Mix well. Refrigerate both bowls and leave to marinate for at least 30 minutes or ideally, overnight. When ready to cook, slice the mushrooms into thick slithers. Add both the sliced mushrooms and soaking liquid into a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer over medium-high heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside until ready to use. To poach the eggs, pour 1 litre of water into the pot and bring it up to a boil. Take it off the heat and add 200g of room temperature water. Place the eggs into the pot, cover, and let it sit for 7 minutes. When ready, remove the eggs and place it into an ice bath. While the eggs are cooking, combine the ingredients for the sauce and divide into your serving bowls. Bring another pot of water up to a boil and blanch the minced pork or 1-2 minutes or until cooked. Use a sieve to remove the pork and set aside until ready to plate. Do the same for the bok choy. In the same pot, cook the dried noodles as per package instructions and drain when ready. Be sure to shake off any excess water so that it doesn’t dilute the sauce. Portion the noodles into your serving bowls and mix well with the sauce. Top with the poached eggs, minced pork, cooked vegetables, spring onions and fried shallots. Serve immediately. You can use either homemade or store-bought. To make it at home, peel and thinly slice some shallots and dry them with a paper towel. Heat up some oil (enough to cover the shallots) in a pan/pot over medium-heat before gently adding the sliced shallots in. It’ll start bubbling a little. Let it cook for 8-10 minutes and once about half of them are slightly golden, remove them from the oil and drain on a paper towel. Do NOT throw away the remaining fragrant shallot oil!!! The shallots will continue to brown and crisp up while they cool. They store wonderfully well so you can make as much or as little as you want. You can also keep the fried shallots in the oil or store them in separate containers. Singapore-Inspired Minced Meat Noodles
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
Sauce Instructions
Notes
