Everytime I chomp on a plate of smoky and well fried Hokkien prawn mee, there is this irritating question blaring out from the back of my cranium asking “so which came first, the Nonya mee, cha hae mee(fried prawn noodles) or the hylam noodles,” they are, after all, very similar in concept and taste. The all use a good prawn stock and fry it into the yellow noodles. On days when the mind is having day off, you may be confused and think that a good Nonya mee is a strange cha hae mee and that the Hylam(Hainan) noodle hawker is actually attempting a lazy Nonya mee. The Hainanese, after all, did inherit some culinary heritage from the Peranakans when they worked for and served in the households of wealthy Peranakan merchants way back then.

If you’ve ever fried a platter of cha hae mee, with all that prawn head stock, where you first fry the egg, wok sear the noodles and then braise them in with some stock for texture before you add the ingredients in, then you can appreciate just how different the “similar” Nonya mee is. For starters, egg is used as a topping and not fried into the noodles. And trust the Peranakans, they take a simple noodle dish and lend it class by insisting on technique and presentation.

This year’s Singapore Food Festival is just around the corner, I hope you all can go out there and devour the Nonya mee, plus confuse yourself with the cha hae mee and Hylam noodles (found at a few remnant Hainanese eateries at Purvis Street sold as off menu specials on certain days.). I’ll attempt to leave you with a Nonya mee recipe, deconstructed where necessary to highlight the fussiness behind this simply adorable dish, which I made just last week, complete with a fussy Nonya cook supervision.

"Must present the Nonya mee nicely ah, layer the topping and the noodles must not be soggy hor!" my fussy Nonya makan coach says

Nonya Mee(for four)

Ingredients:
500gm yellow Hokkien noodles
300gm fresh prawns
200gm belly pork (sliced into thin strips)
200gm squid (ringed)
200gm each of chye sim and bean sprouts
Half teaspoon salt, and sugar to taste
2 tablespoon chopped garlic, 2tablespoon taucheo(bean paste)
1.5cm knob of belacan

Method:
Deshell and fry the prawn heads with some oil (must be fragrant ah!) and then boil them in 700ml of water( so you get the red colour, if not…fail!)
Fry garlic, taucheo and wet mashed belacan (watch the colour and smell, must be strong), then fry the prawns, squid and pork (absorb all the flavor first), till almost cooked, then pour the prawn stock in (slowly hor).
Now introduce the chye sim and bean sprouts. Immediately after, push all ingredients on the wok around the sides and create a “hole” of stock in the middle and put the noodles into it (very important, so you can boil the noodles in the soup and not overcook the other stuff la). Salt and sugar it to taste then let it simmer for 20 seconds or so (don’t cover with lid ah!) and stir them up (make sure you don’t overcook the noodles hor, if not, afterwards become too soft and soggy…., fail again. This one not cha hae mee, no need to braise).

Now you serve (but wait, got some more). Fry a thin egg omelet, then cut it to thin 4cm long shreds, set aside. Then cut one cucumber (without the core, and cannot use shredder ah, wait got no crunch), into similar 4cm thin shreds and soak in cold water and set aside. Do the same for two deseeded long red chillis and turnips (bangkwang), about one rice bowl full. Lay them all prettily on top of the Nonya noodles( cannot anyhow ah, must be layer and row by row and color coordinate) and voila…shiok nia!