Recipe for the Week - Mee Siam/Stir Fried Spicy Vermicelli

Mee Siam is a spicy vermicelli dish from Singapore, seen in both dry and gravy versions. My grandmother spent several years in Singapore (my Mom was also born there), and she picked up a few tips and tricks from the locals. Mee Siamis one of her dishes that is extremely popular in our household till date, and though we do vary the ingredients time to time, the basic recipe remains the same. And I’m going to share it with you :-).

This is the dry version, generally served garnished with a boiled egg. I have used egg within the recipe and hence omitted the garnish.

What you’ll need:

150 g roasted Vermicelli

1 medium onion - sliced

1 large tomato - chopped

1 tbsp ginger garlic paste

1 green chilli chopped

1 tbsp coriander leaves

150 g peeled prawns/leftover chicken or meat

1 small carrot diced

1/4 cup green peas

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 egg, beaten

juice of 1 small lime

salt

Note: If you have un-roasted vermicelli, simply roast it in a large pan till quite brown like this:

What you’re going to do:

1. Boil 3 cups water with salt to taste. Add vermicelli and cook for 4 minutes.

2. Drain the vermicelli and rinse immediately in cold water. Drain again.

3. Heat oil in a large kadai, add onions and fry till light brown.

4. Add ginger garlic paste, stir fry till raw smell disappears and add tomatoes.

5. Cover and cook till tomatoes are mushy. Break any leftover chunks with the back of a spoon.

6. Add green chillies, prawns, chopped carrots, peas, turmeric and salt to taste.

7. Cover and cook without adding water, till prawns and veggies are done.

8. Add a beaten egg and stir well till egg is scrambled and cooked along with the rest of the masala.

9. Add the drained vermicelli, coriander leaves and lime juice and stir well till completely mixed together.

10. Switch off, cover and let it rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve onto a plate and enjoy!!

This is a very mildly spiced, gentle dish and is great to eat after a long day of fasting. Other advantages, it makes use of regular pantry stuff, leftovers, is really easy and takes very little time to cook (4 minutes for the vermicelli – can it get any speedier?) Bonus: Kids love it!! You can enjoy this dish with tomato sauce, or if you’re the fiery type, try Tabascoor chilli sauce. I love it just as it is, with its gentle, subtle flavours!!

This recipe is a participant for the following events:

30 Minutes Meal at Cooking 4 All Seasons

Joy from Fasting to Feasting – V at Yummy Food

Ramadan Friendly Recipes at the halal Foodie