Mee Rebus | Malay Sweet Potato Curry Noodles | noodles in sweet potato gravy

Mee Rebus, which literally translates to “boiled noodles” in Malay, is a beloved noodle dish in Southeast Asia. It has a rich and savoury broth that is made from a blend of spices, herbs, and sauces. This is a Malay dish of blanched yellow noodles topped with a lusciously thick, yummy sweet potato gravy. This is a hawker centre staple in Singapore and Malaysia, and eaten typically for breakfast and lunch.

The dish is typically served with yellow egg noodles, boiled potatoes, bean sprouts, tofu, hard-boiled eggs, and garnished with chopped scallions or cilantro.

Key Components & Ingredients for Mee Rebus

A perfect bowl of Mee Rebus comes down to four main elements: the noodles, the thick sweet potato gravy, the aromatic spice paste, and the toppings.

Each one brings something special to the dish, and here’s what you need to know.

1. The Noodles

Traditional Mee Rebus uses fresh yellow noodles: thick, bouncy, and perfect for catching all that luscious gravy. These are sometimes labeled as egg noodles or wheat noodles.

If you can’t find fresh yellow noodles, don’t stress! I’ve even used spaghetti and other pastas before, and they work surprisingly well! The key is to use noodles that can hold up to the thick sauce.

3. The Sweet Potato Gravy

The gravy is what truly defines Mee Rebus: thick, rich, and full of depth. It gets its signature consistency from mashed sweet potatoes, which are blended with stock and the spice paste to create that luscious texture.

Sweet Potatoes:

Sweet potatoes add natural sweetness and body to the gravy. I like using a mix of orange and purple sweet potatoes, which gives the sauce a darker, richer colour.

You can also use regular potatoes. They taste slightly different but still delicious. Sometimes I’ll even do a half-and-half mix of potatoes and sweet potatoes.

I usually steam my potatoes since it preserves their natural sweetness, but boiling them works just as well.

Can You Use Other Starches?
Yes! And it’s fun to experiment. I’ve made this gravy with pumpkin, and it turned out surprisingly good: lighter in flavour, with a subtle natural sweetness. It won’t be as thick as when you use potatoes, so just reduce the amount of stock slightly to balance the consistency.

Beef Stock:

My personal shortcut — and a very hawker-style one — is to use bouillon cubes for the stock. Most hawker stalls do this too since Mee Rebus is sold at an affordable price point, and it’s not practical to use expensive homemade stock.

That said, if you want to take it up a notch, homemade beef stock adds incredible flavour. Simply boil chunks of beef (like chuck) in water until tender and the stock is well-infused, about 1 to 2 hours. For a faster option, use a pressure cooker and cook for 30 minutes. You’ll end up with a deeply flavourful stock and delicious beef pieces you can serve with the noodles.

3. The Spice Paste (Rempah)

The spice paste is the heart of the gravy and what gives Mee Rebus its distinctive aroma. It’s made by blending:

• Shallots or onions
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Dried shrimp (optional, but adds a wonderful umami flavor)
• Dried Chilli Paste (optional): This adds richness and a hint of spice to the dish.
• Salted soybeans or taucheo
• Meat curry powder
• A bit of water to help it blend smoothly

Taucheo or Salted Soybeans:

Taucheo is the secret to that deep, umami flavour that makes Mee Rebus so addictive. It’s salty, slightly funky, and full of umami. You’ll find it sold in glass jars at most Asian supermarkets in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, or Indonesia.

If you can’t find taucheo, you can try using miso paste, non-spicy doubanjiang, or Korean doenjang as alternatives. I haven’t personally tested these swaps, but they should work similarly since they’re all fermented bean pastes.

Meat Curry Powder:

Any store-bought curry powder works, but I recommend using one that’s blended for beef or lamb as they tend to have a deeper, more robust spice profile. I personally use I use Baba Meat Curry Powder. Chicken curry powder works too if that’s what you have on hand.

4. Toppings & Garnishes

No Mee Rebus is complete without its finishing touches! Traditionally, it’s topped with:

• Hard-boiled eggs, halved

• Bean sprouts (taugeh) or leafy greens: I like to use bok choy for a twist — it still keeps the freshness but feels a bit more substantial

• Fried tofu cubes

• Fried shallots, green chilies, and spring onions

• And finally, a squeeze of lime to cut through the richness

• Not as common these days, but the can be served with sliced boiled potatoes too.

Key Steps to Making Mee Rebus

1. Cook the Sweet Potatoes

• The first step is to cook the sweet potatoes until they soften. To do this, you can either boil or steam the potatoes. I prefer to steam the potatoes, since it would retain all the nutrients that otherwise might have been lost from boiling.

• Once sweet potatoes cook, mash it and keep to one side.

2. Blend the Spice Paste

• While potatoes are cooking, make the spice paste. Throw the ingredients in a blender and blend!

3. Make the Gravy

• Add oil to a pot, and heat over low to medium heat. Once hot, add the spice paste, along with a bruised lemongrass (see post on how to bruise lemongrass here). Stir fry until fragrant, and paste dries out slightly.

• Add stock next and allow to boil before adding the mashed potatoes.

• Let it stew until it reduces to desired consistency. Season with salt and sugar, and the gravy is done!

4. Blanch Noodles and Vegetables

• If you have a noodle sieve strainer, you can cook your noodles and vegetables at the same time!

• I don’t, so I like to blanch my vegetables first and keep that to one side. Using the same post of boiling water, I blanch my noodles next.

5. Add Toppings and Serve

• Prepare your toppings – I recommend serving them in small bowls so that everyone can customise their own bowl!

• Add noodles to a bowl, top with the gravy and add toppings of choice.

Can I make this Mee Rebus Vegetarian or Vegan?

• This recipe is not vegetarian nor vegan, but it could very well easily be!

• I’ve made so many versions of it that is vegan. Swap out the beef stock for vegetable stock, or even with just water. Omit the dried shrimps and the boiled eggs, and you won’t miss much, I promise. The bulk of the flavour comes from the sweet potatoes, taucheo and the meat curry powder (which has no meat ingredient).

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