Bak Chor Mee Soup
The dry version of minced meat noodles or better known as bak chor mee is a ubiquitous Singapore hawker dish. There is almost bound to be at least one stall selling dry bak chor mee in every food court or hawker centre. On the other hand, the soup version of bak chor mee (肉脞面汤) is not as common and usually found only at the older food centers. Some people even call bak chor mee soup a “Bedok phenomenon”, with two famous stalls located side by side at Blk 85 Bedok Fengshan Market. Luckily for me I stay in the East. But if you don’t, the good news is that the soup version is relatively easier to prepare at home than the dry version.
Related Recipes:
This is a truly porky dish with lard, minced pork and pork balls. But if you don’t consume pork, you can substitute this recipe with fried shallots, shallot oil, minced chicken and chicken balls.
The soup dumplings are optional, since you may not want to buy a whole packet of wonton (dumpling) skin just to make a few dumplings. If you do, however, check out the crispy fried wontons or money bag wontons recipes for ideas to use up the remaining dumpling skin.
Bak Chor Mee Soup Recipe
The pork dumplings are optional. Check out easy fried wonton recipe for leftover wonton wrapper skins ideas.
If you don’t consume pork, you can substitute this recipe with fried shallots, shallot oil, minced chicken and chicken balls.
Ingredients:
- 60 grams minced pork (chicken)
- 6 square wonton skin wrappers optional
- 8 pork (chicken) balls
- 2 bundles (50 to 70 grams for each bundle) fresh “mee kia” (thin egg noodles) you can also use mee pok
Soup stock
- 50 grams ikan bilis rinsed once and placed inside disposable soup pouches
- 750 ml water
Note: You can also use 600ml of any clear soup stock (such as chicken); or cheat with instant soup cube.
(A) Marinade
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil
- dashes white pepper powder to taste
- 1/2 tsp corn flour
(B) Garnish
- Sliced red finger-length chilli
- chopped spring onions
- 1/2 tbsp lard oil may replace with shallot oil
- 1 tsp fried lard croutons may replace with fried shallots
Directions:
- Marinade pork with (A) in a bowl for 15 minutes.
- In a soup pot, add ikan bilis pouches and water. Simmer the stock for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, wrap wontons using 1 tsp marinated pork for each wonton skin.
- Add pork balls and continue to simmer the stock for another 5 minutes. Discard soup pouches. Keep the soup bubbling at a low heat.
- Ladle one scoop of hot stock over the bowl of remaining marinated pork. Let the pork cook on the surface briefly, then return the partially cooked pork back to the main soup pot to cook completely. Reheat the soup when ready to serve.
To Serve
- In the meantime, bring another small pot of water to boil. Boil the wontons until they float up, about a minute or two. Transfer cooked wontons to serving bowls.
- Cook one bundle of noodles at a time through a slotted ladle, until just cooked but still firm. Transfer drained noodles to serving bowl. Top each bowl with pork balls, minced pork, hot soup and (B).