Authentic Asian noodle soup cooks with many spices and herbs. In Malaysia and Singapore, prawn noodle is a thick prawn flavoured savoury soup served with yellow noodles (shanghai noodles) or vermicelli.
What is Prawn Noodles ?
Prawn Noodles are also known as 蝦麵 Hae Mee and are well known among the Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese. As a result, I can find them sold and served and at hawker centers, food courts and restaurants.
What is so special about prawn noodles? It is because of the delicious soup base. Many spices and ingredients go in the soup and then cook for hours. Usually, the soup goes with yellow noodles or vermicelli. The common topping is prawns, sliced fish cakes, hard-boiled eggs, bean sprouts, water spinach or Kang Kong. Shredded chicken or pork slices are also common toppings.
Even though this is a specialty noodle soup, You can spice up the noodles with additional chilli paste and soy sauce, then serve the soup separately.
Preparing Soup Base for Prawn Noodles is Time Consuming
As we mentioned earlier, the uniqueness of this dish lies in the soup base. It is cooked with a combination of spices, herbs, lots of prawn heads, and shells, together with pork loin and ribs. The mixture is then cooked for a couple of hours to obtain the dense fragrant broth.
Authentic Instant Spice Paste You Should Try
Do not have time to prepare the soup base? Don’t worry, there is an easy way to cook a delicious prawn noodle soup using instant spice paste.
There are a few brands of prawn noodles spice paste in the market. Always look for natural flavours in the paste. The artificial flavour is not going to taste the same.
There are many ingredients in the paste. If you are allergic to a certain food, remember to look at the ingredients when shopping for the paste.
It is very easy to prepare and cook this noodle using instant spice paste.
Ingredients and Preparation
- 1 packet of Heng’s Prawn Noodle Paste
- Water 1800 ml
- Yellow noodles, vermicelli
- Prawns/shrimps, sliced fish cakes, bean sprouts, hard boiled eggs (halved or quartered)
- Shredded cooked chicken (optional)
- Sliced pork (optional)
Cooking Instruction
- Mixed Heng’s Prawn Noodle Paste and 1800 ml of water in a pot and bring to boil
- Blanch prawn, slice fish cake, and put aside as toppings
- Blanch noodles or vermicelli, bean sprouts, and place in bowl
- Add in prawn soup and top with prawns, fish cake, hard-boiled egg, chicken, pork slices
- Served while hot
We recommend a few authentic instant spice pastes for cooking prawn noodle soup. You can find them at this store. Learn how to make yellow noodles at home.
Prawn Noodles
Equipment
- Prawn Noodle Paste
Ingredients
- 1 packet of Heng’s Prawn Noodle Paste
- 1800 ml water
- 1000 g yellow noodles vermicelli
- 200 g prawns/shrimps
- 200 g Fish cake
- 100 g bean sprouts 100 g
- 100 g spinach
- 3 hard-boiled eggs
- Cooked shredded chicken optional
- Cooked pork slices optional
- Fried shallot optional
- Cut chillies optional
Instructions
- Mixed Heng's Prawn Noodle Paste and 1800 ml of water in a pot and bring to boil
- Blanch prawn, fish cake and put aside as toppings
- Blanch noodles or vermicelli, bean sprouts, and place in a bowl
- Add in prawn noodle soup and top with prawns, fish cake, hard-boiled egg, chicken, pork slices
- Garnish with fried shallots
- Served while hot with cut chilies
I bought heng’s prawn noodle paste and tried with shanghai noodles. It is good, not too hot, tastes like what I had in Singapore two years ago.
I like Tean prawn noodle paste. It is hot and spicy