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Singapore Noodles

Singapore Noodles are Asian comfort food at its best. They are a popular Chinese dish from Hong Kong characterized by their curry infused rice noodles, juicy shrimp, vegetables and eggs, all bathed in a light umami, garlic, ginger sauce laced with fragrant curry. It is a hypnotic symphony of tantalizing flavors and textures and one of my favorite recipes EVER! This Singapore Noodles recipe is not only bursting with authentic flavor, but is easily adaptable to whatever veggies or protein you have on hand. Once all of your ingredients are prepped, these Singapore Rice Noodles come together in less than 15 minutes!
Course Main Dish
Cuisine Asian
Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Servings 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

SHRIMP

  • 12 oz. medium shrimp peeled, deveined, patted dry
  • 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
  • pinch sugar
  • 1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil

SAUCE

STIR FRY

  • 6 oz. rice vermicelli noodles
  • 2 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil divided
  • 2 eggs beaten
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 1 jalapeno pepper seeded, thinly sliced
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder
  • 1 red bell pepper thinly sliced
  • 3 oz. snow peas (approx. 1 cup) trimmed, julienned
  • 2 medium carrots shredded
  • 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger
  • 4 cloves garlic minced

Instructions

  • Add shrimp to a medium bowl and toss with ½ tablespoon fish sauce, ½ teaspoon curry powder and a pinch of sugar. Set aside while you chop your veggies, make the sauce and soak the noodles.
  • Whisk the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.
  • Place rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot boiling water. Soak per package instructions just until al dente, drain, rinse in cold water; set aside. Toss with a drizzle of sesame oil if not using immediately.
  • Heat 1 teaspoon vegetable or peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat (the same skillet you will cook everything in). Add eggs and tilt the pan to spread out. Let cook undisturbed until set, about 15 seconds, then break the eggs into small pieces using your spatula, remove to a plate.
  • To the now empty skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the shrimp in a single layer and cook 3-4 minutes, just until shrimp are opaque and cooked through, flipping half way through. Remove to a plate. After shrimp is cool enough to handle, you can chop tails off if you desire.
  • Heat 1 tablespoon oil in the now empty skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, jalapenos and curry powder and cook for one minute. Add red bell pepper and snow peas and cook 1 minute; add carrots, ginger and garlic and cook 30 seconds.
  • Add the sauce and noodles and toss to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook until thickened, while tossing noodles, about 2 minutes. Stir in the egg and shrimp and toss until heated through.

Notes

Tips and Tricks

  • Rice vermicelli:  should be easy to find at your grocery store or purchase them on Amazon.  They are a very thin form of rice noodles, like linguine, sometimes simply referred to as rice noodles, thin rice noodles or rice sticks, just don’t confused them with thicker rice noodles like the ones used in Pad Thai which are closer to ¼” wide (like fettuccine) or with cellophane noodles used in my Korean Noodles.  If you aren’t sure which noodles you are looking at, just make sure they are thin and then check the ingredient label for rice flour.
  • Curry powder:  we are going to use yellow curry powder and NOT Madras curry powder which is MUCH hotter than traditional curry powder because it contains a higher percentage of ground red chilies.
  • Prep. Like all stir-fries, these Singapore Rice Noodles come together very quickly once you start cooking, so you will want all of the vegetables chopped and the sauce whisked together before you start cooking.
  • Customize.  Feel to customize the veggie and use your favorites.
  • Use a nonstick pan. A large nonstick skillet pan is ideal so you can make the entire dish in one pan from eggs to shrimp to stir fry.
  • Don’t overcrowd shrimp.  Wait until the pan is nice and hot then spread the shrimp out into an even layer so they will sear and not just steam.
  • Don’t over-cook shrimp.  Cook shrimp just until opaque for the juiciest shrimp.
  • Cook shrimp with tails on.  I recommend cooking your shrimp with the tails on because the tail shells contain flavor that seeps out and we get more robust shrimp flavor. Once your shrimp is cooked and resting you can remove the tails if you desire.
  • Don’t overcook noodles. I recommend testing your noodles 2 minutes before the package recommends because we want them to be pliable but on the firmer side of al dente because they will continue to cook in the sauce.
  • Stop noodles from cooking.  If your noodles are done before your stir fry is ready to receive them, rinse them in cool water to prevent them from continuing to cook.  Don’t worry about the pasta being cold because the sauce will warm it right up once combined.
  • Prevent noodles from clumping.  If you’re not using the noodles right away, toss them with a little sesame oil to prevent them from sticking together.
  • Dry vegetables.  It is important that the vegetables are very dry or they will steam and not get the characteristic stir-fry texture. To dry vegetables, pat them thoroughly with a kitchen towel or use a salad spinner.
  • Don’t overcook veggies.  I suggest actually setting the timer when you stir fry the vegetables – the time can go fast and you don’t want to overcook them initially because they will continue to simmer in the sauce.

PREP AHEAD

Yes!  You can prep all of the ingredients ahead of time so these Singapore Style Noodles can literally come together in minutes:
  • Noodles:  Soak the noodles, rinse and drain, then toss with a drizzle of sesame oil.  Store in an airtight container/plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to one week.
  • Sauce:  Whisk the sauce ingredients together and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  Let the sauce sit at room temperature while preparing the stir-fry; whisk again before using.
  • Veggies:  Chop the veggies, garlic and ginger and store in separate baggies/containers in the refrigerator.
  • Eggs:  Cook and chop the eggs and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
  • Within the next 48 hours, proceed with the recipe as outlined.