Location: My tiny kitchen
I always find something funny about a dish that is named after a region, but in fact doesn’t exist or even known by anyone who lives in that region. If you know someone who grew up in Macau or Hong Kong and ask them about Singapore Fried Noodles, most likely they will tell you, without even a pause, that it is rice noodles stir-fried with pork, shredded onion and flavoured with curry. Grew up eating Singapore Fried Noodles, it was one of the things I knew about Singapore when I was small. All this changed when I first landed my foot in Singapore. After strolling through the long stretch of food stalls, I found different kinds of appetizing stir-fried noodles and not of them was cooked in curry. Disappointed, I found out from ET that Singapore Fried Noodles never existed in Singapore.
Well, if something doesn’t exist in the region after it is named, it doesn’t mean it does not exist at all. Every so often, I will whip up my own version of Singapore Fried Noodles. When you know a place or a person by a certain way, sometimes you want to keep knowing them that way.
This recipe makes 4 servings and you will need:
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 medium onion
- 20 large and thinly slices of pork. I use the pre-sliced pieces that are made for hotpot because they are usually very tender:
- Rice noodles enough for 4 people. I like to use the ones made in Taiwan. Taiwanese people are known for making good rice noodles:
- Chicken stock
- Japanese rice wine
- Ready-for-use curry sauce. I used the one made by Lee Kum Kee:
1. Marinate the pork with:
- 1 tbsp of brown sugar
- 1 tbsp of onion powder
- 1 tsp of salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp of Japanese wine
2. Julienne the bell peppers and onion.
3. Cook the rice noodles in boiling water until soften, which takes about a few minutes after the water boils. Drain the noodles and rinse them under cold water for 5 minutes. Drain them again. Divide the noodles into 3 batches.
4. In a pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil and stir fry the pork until it is almost cook but slightly pink. Set aside.
5. In a pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and stir fry the bell pepper and onion for a few minutes until they just start to become soft. Add in a pinch of salt and black pepper.
6. In a non stick pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil. Add the first of batch of noodles and stir fry for a minute. Add 3 tbsp of curry sauce and thoroughly mix the sauce into the noodles. If the noodles become dry, add in the wine and chicken stock, a few tablespoonfuls each time. When the curry sauce has been thoroughly incorporated into the noodles, add in 1/3 of the pork and 1/3 of the bell pepper and onion. Continue to stir fry until everything is well mixed. The noodles should not be dry. The noodles should be moist but not wet enough to have sauce sitting in the bottom of the pan.
7. Continue step 6 with two remaining batches of noodles.
