| Hokkien mee | |||||||||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 福建麵 | ||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 福建面 | ||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Fujian noodles | ||||||||||||||
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Hokkien mee refers to fried noodles cooked in Hokkien (Fujian) style. Hokkien mee is served in many Southeast Asian countries (mostly Malaysia and Singapore) and was brought there by immigrants from Fujian province in southeastern China.
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There are two types of Hokkien mee: Hokkien hae mee and Hokkien char mee. Hokkien hae mee (Hokkien prawn noodles) is commonly served in Penang and Singapore while Hokkien char mee (Hokkien fried noodles) is commonly served in Kuala Lumpur and the Klang Valley. The dish commonly referred to as "Hokkien mee", depending on the locality, can mean either Hokkien hae mee or Hokkien char mee. For example, Hokkien mee in Kuala Lumpur refers to Hokkien char mee.
| Hokkien hae mee (prawn noodles) |
Hokkien char mee (fried noodles) |
|---|---|
| Refers to either the Penang prawn noodle or Singapore prawn noodle | Refers to the Kuala Lumpur Hokkien noodle |
| Soup based (Penang) and stir fried (Singapore) | Stir fried |
| Egg noodles and rice noodles | Fat yellow noodles |
| No dark soya sauce used | Dark soya sauce is used |
| Prawn is the main ingredient with slices of chicken or pork, squid and fish cake. kangkung(water spinach) is common in the Penang version |
Slices of chicken or pork, squid and cabbage |
Strictly speaking, the Penang and Singapore versions of Hokkien mee are two different dishes, except that they are both prawn noodle dishes and share the name "Hokkien." The ingredients and methods of cooking are different, and the Penang version is cooked in soup while the Singapore version is stir fried. In this respect, the dish Hokkien mee can refer to no fewer than three different distinct dishes: Penang Hokkien mee, Singapore Hokkien mee, and Kuala Lumpur Hokkien mee. Penang Hokkien mee is sometimes referred to in Kuala Lumpur as mee yoke, since in Kuala Lumpur, Hokkien mee means Hokkien char mee by default.
Hokkien hae mee (Hokkien/Fujian prawn noodles; 福建蝦麵) is served in Penang (with a variant served in Singapore and Muar in the southern state of Johor known as Hae mee). It is a dish of egg noodles and rice noodles in a fragrant stock, which is made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns, as well as pork or chicken. Traditionally, small cubes of fried pork fat are added to the soup, but this is now less common due to health concerns. It is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime. The dish is served with sliced red chili, light soy sauce and sambal.
In Singapore, Hokkien mee refers to a variant of the Penang version of Hokkien hae mee. The dish uses the same egg noodles and rice noodles used in Hokkien hae mee, but is stir fried in lard and served dry. The main ingredients are shrimps and small pieces of sliced pork. It is usually served with lime and sambal chilli.
Hokkien char mee (Hokkien/Fujian fried noodles; 福建炒麵) is served in Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding region. It is a dish of thick yellow noodles braised in thick dark soy sauce with pork, squid, fish cake and cabbage as the main ingredients and cubes of pork fat fried until crispy (sometimes pork liver is included). The best examples are usually cooked over a raging charcoal fire.
Although now found on the menu all over Malaysia, and also in Malaysian restaurants around the world, it remains an extremely difficult dish to replicate. Only the ones found in the Klang Valley (KL) have the more authentic taste.
It is usually eaten with "Sambal Belacan" and/or raw garlic.
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