Singapore Mee Goreng Mamak | Indian-Muslim style Red Fried Noodles Recipe

How to make the bright red, hawker staple, Mee Goreng Mamak, or Indian-style fried noodles.

Today we’re making Mee Goreng Mamak, which is an Indian-style of fried noodles… that you can’t actually find in India. When immigrants from India arrived in Singapore, they took fried noodles, and gave it their own spin by giving it this fiercely bright, but appetising red colour. Today red-tinged dishes like this Mee Goreng is a staple in Indian-Muslim, or Mamak, hawker stalls throughout Singapore.

By the way, this is exclusive to the Mamak stallls in Singapore. Mee Goreng Mamak is easily available in Malaysia’s hawker stalls too, with one major difference: their Mee Gorengs are not red at all! In Malaysia, the Mee Goreng Mamak do not have this bright red shade.

Bright Red Colour

A bit of a spoiler: that red is from… red food colouring. Yes, it’s not from some sexy chilli ingredient. It’s all food colouring but that’s how they do it in the stalls. If you’re iffy about using food colouring, you can skip it… but then it becomes quite ordinary fried noodles. It will still taste good; it’s just not the same vibes.

If you want to use a more natural alternative, look for beetroot food colouring. If you’re in Singapore, the only place I’ve seen that sells this is at Scoop Wholesale stores. Another alternative is Paprika powder, although quite a bit is required to get the red to come through, in which case the taste will differ slightly, albeit not a bad taste.

Singapore and Malaysian cuisine tend to overlap a lot. This is the one time that the food difference is so stark. In Malaysia, Mee Goreng Mamak is done this same way, except there is no red food colouring added.

Check out my Mee Goreng recipe here

Noodles

Yellow noodles are the standard noodles that is used, but you can order up a variation in your favourite noodle type – such as kway teow rice noodles, vermicelli, and instant ramen noodles.

The instant noodles – also known as Maggi Goreng, after the Maggi brand of instant noodles – are one of the more popular noodles. It’s not a fave of mine, but when I go for late night Mamak stall suppers, you can be sure someone at the table ordered up a plate.

Spiciness

Despite how it looks, this is not actually spicy. In fact, spice lovers would have to ask for their order to be “extra spicy” at the stalls to get a more satisfying kick out of their noodles. For this, the hawker uncle would usually toss in freshly chopped bird’s eye chillies – which you can most certainly do here as well.

Cucumber Relish

The Mee Goreng is usually served with a side of cucumber relish, and I made it sound fancier than it really is. In reality, it’s literally slices of cucumber, squeezed over with tomato ketchup. Some places make it a bit more elaborate by tossing in some sliced onions.

If you want to complete your hawker centre experience, then simply slice up some cucumbers and onions, toss it in tomato ketchup and keep this in the refrigerator for at least an hour, overnight best. This makes the cucumbers and onions wilt, while drawing out liquid, which is how you get the more watery consistency.

Check out my other recipes!

• Halal Bak Chor Mee (Singapore minced meat noodles)
• Mee Rebus (Noodles in a savoury sweet potato gravy)
• Char Kway Teow (Singapore fried rice noodles with blood cockles)
• Singapore Hor Fun Noodles (Singapore noodles in egg gravy)
• Halal Kolo Mee (Dry egg noodles in savoury chicken oil with char siu chicken and minced meat)

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 600 grams Yellow Noodles
• 100 grams Protein of choice: Tofu, fish cakes, sliced chicken, prawns, mutton mince
• 50 grams vegetables of choice: beansprouts, sliced cabbage, bok choy
• 1 tbsp Salt to taste
• Red Sauce (4 servings)
  • Dried Chilli Paste Blend (or see my Dried Chilli Paste Recipe)
    • 20 grams dried red chillies (soak in boiling water)
    • 60 grams Shallots or 1 medium-sized Onion
    • 4-5 Garlic Cloves
    • 1/4 cup Water
  • Seasoning Sauce
    • 4 tbsps Dark Sweet Soy Sauce or Kicap Manis
    • 4 tbsps Tomato Ketchup
    • 2 tsps Red Food Colouring

Directions:

1. Blend together dried chillies, shallots and garlic. Add water so it blends easier.
2. In a pan, add plenty of oil, and saute the dried chilli paste blend first. Stir-fry over low heat until it cooks, that’s when it turns dryer and “breaks oil”. This is when the dried chilli paste would have red oil floating on top of it. Add more oil if needed.
3. Once cooked, add in dark sweet soy sauce, tomato ketchup and food colouring. Stir through and keep to one side.
4. In a wok or large frying pan, add oil.
5. Once hot, add in protein of choice and let it cook.
6. Add in cabbage next, and let wilt.
7. Scramble in eggs.
8. Toss in noodles, leafy vegetables, and red sauce.
9. Stir-fry to mix through. Add in a splash of water if it gets dry.
10. Done when noodles are hot and red!

Mee Goreng Mamak

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Uncategorized

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 600 grams Yellow Noodles

• 100 grams Protein of choice: tofu, fish cakes, sliced chicken, prawns, mutton mince

• 50 grams vegetables of choice: beansprouts, sliced cabbage, bok choy

• 1 tbsp Salt to taste

• Red Sauce

• 20 grams dried red chillies (soak in boiling water)

• 60 grams Shallots or 1 medium-sized Onion

• 4-5 Garlic Cloves

• 1/4 cup Water

• 4 tbsps Dark Sweet Soy Sauce or Kicap Manis

• 4 tbsps Tomato Ketchup

• 2 tsps Red Food Colouring

Directions

• Red Sauce
• Blend together dried chillies, shallots and garlic. Add water so it blends easier.
• In a pan, add plenty of oil, and saute the dried chilli paste blend first.
• Stir-fry over low heat until it cooks, that’s when it turns dryer and “breaks oil”. This is when the dried chilli paste would have red oil floating on top of it. Add more oil if needed.
• Once cooked, add in dark sweet soy sauce, tomato ketchup and food colouring. Stir through and keep to one side.
• Noodles
• In a wok or large frying pan, add oil.
• Once hot, add in protein of choice and let it cook.
• Add in cabbage next, and let wilt.
• Scramble in eggs.
• Toss in noodles, leafy vegetables, and red sauce.
• Stirfry to mix through. Add in splash of water if it gets dry.
  Done when noodles are hot and red!

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