Saturday, April 17, 2010
Food in Singapore 4: Hokkien Mee

This post shall be talking about Hokkien Mee. (or Fried Prawn Hokkien Mee,which ever name you prefer)

The Hokkien Mee

As the name suggest, this dish is of Hokkien origins. It is a dish of fried noodles that originates from the FuJian Province in China. This dish is mainly served in Singapore and Malaysia. There are two types of Hokkien Mee:

1. Hokkien Prawn Noodles (Hokkien Hae Mee): Common in Singapore
2. Hokkien Fried Noodles (Hokkien Char Mee): Common in Malaysia

The Hokkien Fried Noodles

For this post I will be mainly talking about the Singapore variation, the Hokkien Prawn Noodles.

What makes up the Hokkien Prawn Noodles
The noodles used to cook this dish are yellow egg noodles and white rice noodles. It is stir fried with lard and together with other ingredients such as shirmps, dried prawns, sotong, and fried pork fat (however, several stalls are no longer adding the last ingredient due to health issues). It is usually served with fresh lime and sambal chilli.

Personal Opinion
I don't really have alot to say about this dish. Even though it is very common in Singapore, most of the Hokkien Mee that I have eaten don't really taste horrendous - they either taste good or they taste average. However, I feel that something important about this dish is the sauce/stock that comes with it. I find this sauce/stock very tasty and feel that it is what gives the dish it's flavour. Without this sauce/stock (in other words the noodles is too dry), I doubt the dish will taste the same.

Another thing I feel is important is the samba chilli. This is due to my personal preference to spicy food - I always request for chilli whenever I eat Hokkien Mee. Lastly, I feel that the sotong is also important - because I like sotong.

Food for thought

Compare this dish to other local delights, such as Char Kway Tiao(fried noodles with soy sauce) and Chai Tow Kway (carrot cake). Which do you prefer, and why?

Kim Yao

Credits:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Newton_HokkienMee.JPG
http://www.grampianspyreneespcp.org.au/Image/Agency%20Logos/Food%20For%20Thought%20Logo%20Reversed.jpg
http://theeatenpath.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/taste_good_malaysian_hokkien_char_mee.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8293634@N07/3488010240/