Hairy Bikers Singapore Noodles

Curry-spiced egg noodles, roasted pork fillet and prawns make Hairy Bikers Singapore noodles, tossed with red pepper, shiitake and 10 spring onions. And their recipe in Great Curries, also on BBC Food, makes 4 bowls of around 380 calories, ready in roughly 1 hour 10 minutes.

In Great Curries, Si and Dave admit its “origins are hazy”, but say “when done right it makes a fantastic lunch or supper”. So rather than stir-frying raw strips, they marinate a whole pork fillet in soy, sherry and five-spice, then roast it whole in the oven.

The marinade does two jobs, so drain it off the pork and keep every drop before the fillet goes in the oven. Then that marinade goes into the wok with the noodles at the end, bubbling down into the only sauce this dish gets.

Hairy Bikers Singapore Noodles

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Stir-frying Cuisine:British Chinese Courses:Main Course

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time: 25 minutesRest time: 30 minutesTotal time:1 hour 10 minutesServings:4 servingsCalories:380 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

A takeaway favourite made at home, with Madras curry powder coating soft fine egg noodles, sweet red onion and meaty shiitake. Then the pork marinates for 30 minutes before roasting, so thin soy-dark slices and pink prawns go in just before the noodles.

Ingredients

For the pork

• 300g pork fillet, trimmed of fat and sinew
• 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp dry sherry
• 2 tsp soft light brown sugar
• ½ tsp Chinese five-spice powder

For the noodles

• 3 tbsp sunflower oil
• 100g fine egg noodles (vermicelli egg noodles)
• 1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 100g shiitake mushrooms, wiped and sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 20g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
• 2 tsp medium Madras curry powder
• 200g cooked cold-water peeled prawns (the small pink ones), thawed if frozen and drained
• 10 spring onions, trimmed and sliced diagonally

Instructions

1. Marinate the pork: Put the pork fillet in a bowl, pour over the soy sauce and sherry, then stir in the sugar and five-spice. And leave it for 30 minutes, turning it in the marinade every 10 minutes.
2. Heat the oven: After 15 minutes of marinating, preheat the oven to 200°C, 180°C fan, Gas 6. Meanwhile, prepare all the vegetables, since the stir-fry moves fast once it starts.
3. Roast the pork: Lift the pork out of the marinade and keep the marinade in the bowl. Then put the fillet on a small foil-lined tray, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and roast for 12 minutes. After that, take it out and leave it to stand. And it may still be slightly pink in the centre, which is fine, since the thin slices finish cooking in the pan.
4. Cook the noodles: While the pork roasts, cook the noodles following the packet instructions. Then drain them well in a sieve and give them a shake every few minutes, so they don’t stick together.
5. Stir-fry the veg: Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large non-stick frying pan or wok over a medium heat. Then stir-fry the onion, pepper and mushrooms for 5 to 6 minutes, until they soften and colour lightly. Add the garlic and ginger for 1 minute, then sprinkle in the curry powder and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring.
6. Add the pork and prawns: Cut the pork in half lengthways, then into thin slices. And add it to the pan with the prawns and spring onions, stir-frying for 1 minute, so the slices start to lose any pink.
7. Toss it all together: Add the drained noodles and the reserved marinade. Then toss everything with chopsticks or two forks for 2 to 3 minutes, until no pork is pink and it’s all bubbling and piping hot. And serve straight away.

FAQs

Is there an easy Hairy Bikers Singapore noodles recipe?

Yes, in One Pot Wonders they call it “Dave’s go-to dish in Chinese restaurants” and cook it in one wok, with no oven. So there’s no marinating either, because the pork goes into the wok raw and finely sliced.

First 200g of rice or egg vermicelli soaks for a minute, while 200g of pork tenderloin stir-fries with onion, carrot and pepper. Then a 225g can of bamboo shoots, 25g of peas, 2 tsp mild curry powder, 1 tsp five-spice and 2 tbsp light soy go in. And after 1 tbsp each of rice wine and rice wine vinegar, 75g of cooked prawns go in last.

Should I use egg noodles or rice vermicelli?

They say in One Pot Wonders that it’s traditionally made with rice vermicelli, which just soaks in freshly boiled water for a minute. But egg noodles give it “a bit of a chow mein vibe”, which is the route this Great Curries version takes.

Rice vermicelli works in this version too, so just soak it instead of boiling. But 100g of dried noodles makes a light bowl, so double it for about 90 calories more each. And their pork chow mein in Meat Feasts goes further with egg noodles, boiling, cooling and frying them so some turn crispy.

Can I use char siu pork instead?

Yes, because their char siu in Meat Feasts simmers a pork loin for a couple of hours in soy, sake, mirin, hoisin and star anise. And they write that “any leftovers make a tasty base for a stir-fry”.

So about 300g of thin slices can replace the roast fillet, which means skipping the marinating and the oven. Then add a splash of the char siu cooking liquid at the end, in place of the reserved marinade.

Is the marinade safe to use, and how long do leftovers keep?

Yes, because it cooks in the hot pan for the full 2 to 3 minutes, though the noodles soak it up fast. So if your pan isn’t sizzling, boil the marinade in a small pan for a minute while the veg cooks.

Cool any leftovers and refrigerate them within 2 hours, then eat them within a day, because they hold prawns. But reheat them only once, stirring until piping hot, and add a splash of water if the noodles have dried out.

Are Singapore noodles really from Singapore?

Not according to Si and Dave, who write in One Pot Wonders that nobody in Singapore knows the dish. And they think it was invented in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, BBC Food tags its copy of this recipe with their Best of British TV series.

For more takeaway-style cooking, their sweet and sour pork from Meat Feasts marinates fillet strips in ginger juice, with no ketchup. And their Chinese chicken curry builds that takeaway curry flavour with star anise, orange peel and cinnamon.