Fried Bee Hoon (Singapore breakfast beehoon)

I loovvvvve Singapore fried beehoon. The one that i used to eat for breakfast in Singapore and you have a choice of side ingredients like ngo-hiang, fish cakes, fry egg and lots of sambal. Hmmmmm. I have been trying and trying to emulate this dish forever!!! Partly cos' my husband and i eat this dish for breakfast almost every morning and I thought it was rather a waste of money. If i can cook it, then we could save quite a lot of breakfast money. But it just never, ever turned out the same!! And my husband liked to point out that fact :(

We used to live in Bedok North, there's this hawker place a couple of blocks from where we lived, near to the Bedok Police Station and there, you can find the famous minced-meat noodle, bbq chicken wings, satays and it is a very popular place. Everybody from all over Singapore goes there for dinner and supper and it's always packed. We have the luxury of walking there whenever we felt like it. However, the bee hoon store (which recipe i'm about to share with you) is not located in Bedok North. It is actually located in Bedok central, where the bus terminal is. Kai and I normally have to take the feeder bus to the bus terminal and switch to the MRT to get to work. And there, you will find another hawker centre where mouth-watering foods are served. From the basic kaya toast with half-boiled eggs and local kopi (coffee) to the fried bee hoon and all its toppings, to Chui Kuay with its fragrant radish toppings and fiery sambal, to the dark and wonderfully delicious fried carrot cake. Let's not forget the muslim dishes like Mee Rebus and Mee Siam too, or even the wonderful and rich Indian rojak. I normally get lots of SMS in the mornings from my colleagues at work, ordering for Chui Kuay, bee hoon and carrot cake to go....that's how popular it is to live in Bedok!

How could anyone make a comparison about living in...i don't know, Paris or Europe or US when you have lived in a multi-cultural country like Singapore and Malaysia and being exposed to these kinds of food everyday, and cheap too come to think of it. I remember a few westerners who relocated to Singapore but refused to touch any local food. Their diet consisted of burgers, pizzas, pastas and potatos, the same kind of food from their homeland. I think that's really a shame, they really do not know what they are missing. Part of relocating to this part of the world is the acceptance of the culture and the readiness to be adventurous with the local food. It's one of life's greatest pleasures to be able to experience these food, rich in spices and lifting one's senses to new heights.

OK, here comes the recipe. This dish can be accompanied by ngo-hiang, fish-cakes, fried egg or anything you can find in your fridge. I will post the ngo-hiang recipe in the next post.


Bee Hoon preparation
½ packet bee hoon
2-3 tbsp cooking oil
2-3 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1-2 tbsp ground dried shrimps (hay bee)
A little ajinomoto or Maggie Chicken granules
Bean Sprouts (lots of it)
Baby corn (optional)

Garnish
Finely chopped spring onion
Omelette, cut into fine strips

Seasoning A
3 tbsp dark soya sauce
3 tbsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp sesame oil

Seasoning B
3-4 tbsp Fish sauce (according to your taste)
2-3 tbsp black sweet sauce (kicap manis)


Here's how
1. Boil a kettle of water. You can either use half a packet or whole packet of bee hoon. I used half a packet. Put half a packet into a pot and pour over hot boiling water into the bee hoon. Let the water just covers the bee hoon. Pour Seasoning A into the bee hoon, mix it evenly and let it marinade for 1 hour.

2. After 1 hour, heat a wok with oil and add the garlic. Make sure the wok is not smoking hot or you'll burn the garlic. The trick is to put the garlic in when the wok is heating up.

3. If you have chicken pieces and baby corn, now is the time to add it and fry it first. Otherwise.....

4. Add in the bee hoon with all its marinade juices. Add Seasoning B and keep frying on high heat. Make sure you have 2 spatulas or spades and keep frying and lifting up the bee hoon and turning them over so at to coat them evenly. This also avoids burning the bee hoon. It is inevitable that some of this will be burn or stick to the wok. It's ok!! Don't fret. Keep frying till almost all the gravy has dried up but the bee hoon is still wet and moist. Add some chicken granules or ajinomoto and fry somemore.

5. At this point, you can taste and see if you prefer to add more fish sauce and kecap manis.

6. Last but not least, add your bean sprouts, fry for another 1 minute before lifting them up to the serving dish. The bean sprouts have still be crunchy but cooked.

7. Garnish with spring onions and omelette strips.

This dish HAS to be accompanied by sambal belacan or chilli sauce. homemade sambal belacan

Tips 1: You can get fish-balls or fish cakes from the local Chinese store or even frozen ngo-hiangs but it's not as tasty as homemade ones, of course.

Tips 2: For the kecap manis and fish sauce, quality is very important. I use the ABC brand for the kecap manis. It is produced in Indonesia. The fish sauce has to be produced in Thailand and not somewhere in Europe.

Good luck!