Ask for Hokkien mee in Kuala Lumpur and you get thick noodles in dark soy. Ask in Singapore and you get something else entirely: a tangle of yellow egg noodles and rice vermicelli, pale gold and glistening, fried hard with egg and garlic and then simmered in ladle after ladle of rich prawn stock until the noodles are soft, slippery and soaked with flavor. Prawns, rings of squid and slices of pork belly are folded through, and the plate arrives with a dab of sambal chili and half a calamansi lime on the side.

The best known story places its birth in the years after the Second World War, when Hokkien sailors from Fujian gathered along Rochor Road in the evenings and fried surplus noodles from nearby factories over charcoal stoves; there are rival accounts, as there always are with dishes this loved. Hawkers still guard their stocks closely, simmering prawn heads and pork bones for hours, and the best stalls draw queues that would not disgrace a pit lane. Some still serve it on a square of opeh leaf, the soft bark of the areca palm, which adds a faint woody fragrance.

The secret is not the wok but the stock. Make a good one and the rest is a few minutes of brisk frying, comfortably done during the formation lap.

The prawn stock

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) whole shell on prawns
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) neutral oil or lard
• 1 lb (450 g) pork bones or pork ribs
• 8 oz (225 g) pork belly
• 2 tablespoons (15 g) dried shrimp
• 10 cups (2.4 liters) water
• 2 medium squid
• 1 tablespoon (15 ml) fish sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

Method

1. Twist off the prawn heads and peel off the shells, keeping both. Leave the tails on if you like. Cut a shallow slit along the back of each prawn and pull out the dark vein. Put the peeled prawns in the fridge.
2. Heat the oil in the stockpot over medium high heat. Add the prawn heads and shells and fry them, stirring and pressing the heads with the spatula to squeeze out their juices, for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Add the pork bones, pork belly, dried shrimp and water. Bring to a boil, skim off the grey foam with the slotted spoon, then lower the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 45 minutes.
4. Lift out the pork belly and set it aside to cool. Drop the peeled prawns into the simmering stock for 1 1/2 minutes and lift them out, then the squid for 1 minute and lift it out. Cut the squid into rings and the cooled pork belly into thin strips.
5. Pour the stock through the sieve into the heatproof bowl, pressing on the shells, and discard the solids. Stir in the fish sauce, sugar and white pepper. Taste: it should be rich, sweet and well seasoned. Keep it hot.

Frying the noodles

Ingredients

• 5 oz (140 g) dried thick rice vermicelli
• 14 oz (400 g) fresh yellow noodles
• 4 tablespoons (60 ml) lard or neutral oil
• 6 garlic cloves
• 4 large eggs
• 3 cups (750 ml) hot prawn stock
• 2 cups (150 g) bean sprouts
• 1 small bunch garlic chives or scallions
• to taste fish sauce

Method

1. Put the rice vermicelli in the large bowl, cover with room temperature tap water and soak for 15 to 20 minutes, then drain. Put the yellow noodles in the colander and rinse them under hot water for 30 seconds to remove the oily coating, then drain well.
2. Heat the wok over high heat until it just begins to smoke, then add half the lard. Add half the garlic and stir for 10 seconds, then crack in 2 eggs and scramble them roughly with the spatula, letting them catch and brown at the edges for about 30 seconds.
3. Add half of each kind of noodle and toss them with the egg, lifting and flipping with the spatula rather than stirring, for 1 to 2 minutes, so they fry in the hot fat.
4. Ladle in 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) of hot stock. Cover the wok with a lid or a large baking sheet and let it bubble for 1 minute, then uncover and toss. Keep tossing over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes, adding a splash more stock if the pan dries out, until the noodles have soaked up almost all the liquid.
5. Add half the prawns, squid, pork belly, bean sprouts and chives. Toss for 1 minute until heated through and the bean sprouts have just softened. Taste and add a dash of fish sauce if needed. Tip onto two plates and repeat the frying with the remaining ingredients.

To serve

Ingredients

• 4 teaspoons sambal chili
• 4 calamansi limes or lime wedges
• 2 tablespoons crisp pork lard cubes

Method

1. Put a teaspoon of sambal and a halved calamansi or a lime wedge on the side of each plate, and scatter over the crisp lard cubes, if using. Tell everyone to squeeze the lime over and stir in as much sambal as they like.

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