Dry Mee Siam Goreng | Malay stir fried vermicelli

How to make Mee Siam Goreng, or Malay spicy stir fried rice vermicelli.

Mee Siam Goreng, or Stir Fried Rice Vermicelli, is a staple Malay dish and a favourite in Singapore and Malaysia.

I made Mee Siam some time back, and this is the easier, shortcut Mee Siam Goreng! Even though they’re close cousins, Mee Siam Goreng is a dish in its own right. Unlike Mee Siam, this version is dry and uses slightly less ingredients than Mee Siam. The few key ingredients remain for a delicious, complete plate of Mee Siam.

As much as I love Mee Siam, I love Mee Siam Goreng even more! While Mee Siam feels more like a breakfast dish, Mee Siam Goreng feels more like an all-day sort of meal, although it is also a common fixture at breakfast tables. Mee Siam Goreng has the same status as Mee Goreng. It’s one of those dishes that you would find at Malay house parties!

Rice Vermicelli (Bee Hoon Noodles)

The key ingredient for Mee Siam Goreng, would be rice vermicelli or bee hoon noodles. Vermicelli is sold dry, and will need to be prepared before use.

To prepare vermicelli, place the dry noodles in a bowl. Then add warm water and allow it to soak for about 15 minutes, or until the noodles become soft and pliable. I usually do this right at the beginning, so by the time I’m done with ingredient prep, the noodles are ready to go!

Do not leave it for too long though because it can get brittle and break. Setting a timer would be a good idea.

You can also use cold or room temperature water to soften the noodles. It will take longer, perhaps 40 minutes or so. If your ingredient prep will take a longer time, this would be a good option.

Want to shortcut it? Add hot, freshly boiled water. Your noodles will be soft in just 5 minutes. Immediately drain once the noodles are soft because you do not want to oversoak these.

These can’t quite be replaced by any other noodle types – it just wouldn’t be the same effect! Of course, if you want to, you absolutely can. This is essentially Mee Goreng with taucheo.

Taucheo or Taucu for Mee Siam Goreng

Mee Siam Goreng is spicy, sweet and has the same umami flavour that comes from the taucheo or taucu. Taucheo is fermented salted soybeans. It’s easily available in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

Depending on brand, taucheo has varying levels of saltiness. I do not do this, but you can remove most of the saltiness by rinsing it under water. This gives you more control to add salt later on.

To prepare the taucheo, roughly mash the soybeans with a fork. The soft soybeans should mash easily. If you want an even quicker meal, then simply blend the taucheo with the base paste. Doing this will finely mash the taucheo, so that you can’t see the soybeans in the dish. I like to see the soybean bits – and this is the way my Mom makes it – so I prefer mashing it separately.

If you can’t find taucheo, there are some alternatives:

Miso paste: Japanese fermented soybeans.

Doenjang: Korean fermented soybean paste.

Doubanjiang: Chinese bean sauce, the non-spicy version will work best.

Tangy Mee Siam

Mee Siam is tangy, and this is provided by the copious amount of tamarind paste. Tamarind in Mee Siam is essential, without it, it simply is not Mee Siam! Unlike Mee Siam however, Mee Siam Goreng does not include tamarind paste. Or at least the Malay versions of it. I’ve seen recipes floating around that include tamarind paste in Mee Siam Goreng, but I honestly have never detected tamarind at all in the local versions I’ve had. My mom also does not include tamarind.

If there is a sour tang, it comes solely from the squeeze of lime juice at the end. I used calamansi limes in this recipe, as it is what is commonly used. You can use regular lime, or lemon juice – these work perfectly as well.

If you do want to include tamarind, you can – simply add tamarind paste into the sauce, before adding the vermicelli.

Omelette Garnish

Mee Siam Goreng is always served with omelette strips! Cook a basic omelette – I added salt in this recipe, but sometimes I don’t.

Once you’ve fully cooked your omelette, roll it and cut into strips and voila! You’ve got your garnish!

Unlike Mee Goreng, rarely is the egg cooked together with the Mee Siam, but you can. My Mom prefers to cook it together with the noodles since it cuts a step. Add the eggs to the sauce before adding the noodles and allow to scramble and cook.

What is this Served with?

Mee Siam Goreng can be served as is, but it’s even better with a side of Ayam Goreng or Fried Chicken. For those who love some extra bit of spice, serve this with sambal on the side! Both my Nasi Lemak Sambal and Hawker-style Sambal go deliciously well with this Mee Siam Goreng.

More recipes like this:

If you love this Mee Siam Goreng recipe, then you might love these other noodles:

• Macaroni Goreng
• Kolo Mee
• Singapore Hokkien Mee
• Mee Soto Ayam
• Mee Rebus

Dry Mee Siam Goreng | stir fried rice vermicelli

Recipe by Sha

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: Recipes

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 200g Rice Vermicelli or Bee Hoon, soaked in water

• 2 tbsps or 40g of Taucheo or Salted Soybeans, mashed

• 100g or 8 Prawns, peeled*

• 100g Beef, thinly sliced*

• 1/2 cup Water

• 50g Beansprouts or Taugeh

• 2-3 Tofu Puffs or Taupok, cut into finger-lengths

• 2 tsps Sugar, or to taste

• 1/2 tsp Salt, or to taste

• Handful of Chives, cut into finger-lengths

• 2-3 tbsps Cooking Oil

• Calamansi Limes

• Blended Base Paste

• 10g Dried Chillies, soaked in warm water or 50g Dried Chilli Paste

• 30g or 1/2 Onion

• 20g or 2-3 cloves Garlic

• 20g Dried Shrimps, soaked in warm water

• Omelette

• 2 Eggs

• Pinch of Salt

Directions

• Preparing the Rice Vermicelli / Bee Hoon
• Add dry vermicelli to a bowl and pour warm water over it. Allow to soak for 15 minutes to rehydrate. Once, noodles are soft and pliable, drain water and keep to one side.
• Blending up the base paste
• If using dried chillies, soak in boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain the water away, rinse the dried chillies and cut the chillies to small pieces.
• To another bowl, add dried shrimps. Give a quick rinse under water, and pour hot water over the dried shrimps to soften.
• To a blender, add the dried chillies, chopped onion, garlic, and the dried shrimps with the soaking water. Blend to a paste. Add water bit by bit to blend easier if needed.
• Stir Frying the Vermicelli
• Time to cook
  To a pan add oil, and once hot, add the blended chilli paste. Stir fry for about 5 minutes, or until the paste has dried down and is fragrant. See “pecah minyak” post for more information.
• Add mashed taucheo and stir to incorporate.
• Toss in proteins of choice, I have some thinly sliced beef and prawns here. Stir fry with the spice paste until cooked.
• Add water, beansprouts, tofu puffs, and season with sugar and salt. Stir through and allow the sauce to come to a boil.
• Once it boils, add the softened rice vermicelli. Toss through to evenly coat noodles.
• Add chives and toss through evenly.
• Once your noodles are evenly coated, your noodles are done!
  
• Omelette garnish
• Add salt to eggs and mix.
• Add oil to pan, and once hot, add eggs. Cook until omelette is done.
• Roll omelette and cut into strips.
• Garnish omelette strips over the Mee Siam Goreng.

Notes

• *Or your protein of choice. Alternatives include firm tofu strips, sliced fish cakes, chicken strips.

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