I posted about this bowl of noodles soup quite some time ago and since then I've made a few changes and this has became my go-to dish on days when I'm lazy to whip up more elaborated meals. It is essentially a one-pot healthy and tasty noodles soup, with a very simple home-made broth.
The broth is very simple - flavored with silverfish icefish, onion and prawn heads, and it doesn't need hours on the stove cooking. You can also use chicken stock, pork stock or vegetable stock instead - will talk about the substitution how-to at the end of the post.
Ingredients wise I am now sticking to minced pork (marinated first), carrot, prawns and egg. If I have other vegetables I'll also add them in if I feel like doing so - so it's a really versatile dish!
Let's make some right now!
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| 1) Season the minced pork with light soy sauce. | 2) And some sesame oil. | 3) With a dash of white pepper. |
I always marinate my meat first - it gives them flavour and some of the marinade will go into the soup eventually, giving it flavour as well. Light soy sauce, sesame oil and a dash of white pepper - all these can be found easily in the supermarkets. You can substitute with minced chicken if preferred.
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| 4) Mixing in water. | 5) Stir-frying the | 6) Sweating the onion and the carrot. |
In order to get soft lumps of pork (like those we usually eat in hawker centers), mix in water to the minced pork until the consistency is slightly loose and sticky, a trick I learned from my mom.
Silver fish Icefish, as I've mentioned in my Ee Mein Soup post, they are freshwater fishes that are more commonly used in Asian dishes. In Asian markets, we are able to get them fresh or dried. The fresh ones are translucent (a little milky in colour) and are used mainly in stir-fry dishes. The dried ones are white in colour and are used mainly in soups for flavour. In Chinese, they are called yin yu (银鱼). The one that I'm using are dried icefishes.
If you don't have icefishes and/or are lazy to chop some onion, simply heat up some chicken or vegetable stock (home-made stock is the best!) in the pot and proceed from there.
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| 7) Add in water and bring it to a boil. | 8) Adding in the prawn heads. | 9) After simmering, add in the pork. |
Prawn heads are amazing at giving the soup sweetness and depth of flavour - not sure whether frozen prawns will be able to impart the same flavour to the soup...
Do check out my post on how to peel and devein prawns (it's real easy!) - you'll never need to buy peeled prawns again 😉
Scoop lumps of pork into the boiling soup, making sure they are not dropped in the same place, otherwise the pork will stick to each other.
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| 10) Add in the mee sua. | 11) And the egg. | 12) And the prawns! |
The mee sua cooks real fast, about 2 to 3 minutes. Mee sua is a type of Chinese noodles made from wheat flour. It is very thin and brittle, but it’s an important food during Chinese festivals/banquets. This is because Mee Sua is also known as “Longevity Noodles”, hence many Chinese eat Mee Sua on their birthdays. You can substitute with other noodles - like udon, ramen, bee hoon (rice vermicelli). If you are using bee hoon, soak them in warm water until they have softened thoroughly before adding into the soup to be reheated.
I love my egg to stay whole, with the yolk semi-cooked. X likes his egg to be scrambled into the soup. Use whichever way that you like! (I crack the egg into a bowl before adding it in just for photo purposes - but it is also easier to help keep your egg whole.)
Ladle into soup bowls and serve!
Mee Sua Soup
INGREDIENTS
Meat
- 200 grams ground pork / chicken
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- Dash of white pepper
- About 3 to 5 tablespoons of water
Soup
INSTRUCTIONS
- Meat: In a medium bowl, combine the minced pork / chicken, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and 3 tablespoons of water. Add more water until you achieve a slightly loose but still sticky consistency. Set aside.
- Soup: Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add in the oil and icefish. Fry on medium-low heat until the icefish turns a very light golden colour (they don't have to be crispy). Add in the onion and fry over medium-low heat until the onion is translucent. Add in the water and bring to a boil.
- Once the water has come to a boil, add in the reserved prawn heads, cover, lower the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Season the prawns with a little salt and leave it aside for 10 minutes. Rinse the prawns and drain. Set aside.
- Remove the prawn heads from the soup with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat up to a medium-high until the soup is gently boiling. Scoop the pork/chicken mixture into the soup. Give the soup a stir. At this point you can turn off the heat, cover and set aside until needed.
- Add in the mee sua and eggs, when they are about to cooked, add in the prawns. Taste and season the soup according to your preference. Ladle into a bowl and serve immediately.
NOTES
- Recipe adapted from my Mom
Gin says
Thank you for the Mee Sua recipe. Forgive me for wondering what is Silverfish. According to Wikipedia A silverfish is a small, wingless insect. I think you meant Salangidae.
Jasline N. says
Hi Gin, yes silverfish is a very disgusting insect. I erroneously called them silverfish because in Chinese they are called 银鱼 (yin yu), which directly translates to silver fish. I've corrected the name to icefish now!
Nagi@RecipeTinEats says
I love mee sua! I always find it very interesting. This is a gorgeous soup!
rsmacaalay says
Yummy! We use to make this a lot we also add luffa (patola) to it
Barbara Bamber | justasmidgen says
I've never heard of this dish but I know I'd love, my daughter as well. I've pinned your recipe, I would love to have a warm bowl of this on the weekend! xx
Sammie says
Oh my! I looove mee sua! My grandma makes the best so I've never actually attempted to make it myself! Gotta try your version for sure. Absolutely love the shrimps you cooked it with!
hui says
growing up, we never had mee sua at home.. my very first mee sua soup was made by a friend at uni with anchovy stock cube, topped with an egg.. cooked in a rice cooker! simple yet delicious.. though not so nutritious ^^||! yours looks delicious and is definitely more healthy and balanced with real flavors! ^^ yums!
rabbitcancook says
I love mee sua soup, it's my comfort food whenever I am down with flu or the weather is chilly.
Jasline says
Hi Bobbi! I'm receiving your comments just fine! 🙂
Bam's Kitchen says
Warm and cozy soup! It really hits the spot on these cooler days. Can you please let me know if you are receiving my comments as they seem to be going to everyone's spam box? Take care, BAM
yummychunklet says
Yum!
Jessie Ng says
Hi, Jasline, thanks for the drop by earlier. This bowl of mee sua looks so mouth-watering to me. Using the prawn heads to make the stock must taste awesome! By the way, if you want to open the follower option pls let me know as I want to follow you. I don't do it in other channels, sorry.
Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy says
Thanks! I hope to try it soon....
Jasline says
Hi Natalia! You can omit the silverfish and use chicken or vegetable stock, equally delicious!
ChgoJohn says
This sounds like a very flavorful bowl of soup, Jasline. 2 of the Asian markets near here have rather extensive displays of frozen fish. Next time I'm in one, I'll look for silverfish. I might get lucky!
Choc Chip Uru says
What a healthy but flavoursome warm soup my friend 🙂
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy says
What a beautiful post! Yum! I wonder what I would use for "silverfish'?
kitchen flavours says
A bowl of deliciousness! I've made fried mee suah for our dinner today, a break from the usual rice meal! Mee suah is one of our family's favourite. I love both the soup and fried version! Yum!
Suzanne says
Wow, such a gorgeous soup. Simple and comforting. I just saw a recipe on food52, one of the cooks made the "longevity noodle" I marveled at the technique. I should start saving and freezing the prawn heads, I have been throwing them out, my bad!!