A firm takeout favourite! With its signature curry flavour and yellow hue, Singapore Noodles are made with thin rice noodles, prawns/shrimp, Chinese BBQ Pork, egg and red capsicum/bell peppers. Don’t fret if you don’t have all the ingredients – this is worth making with whatever you have!
Singapore Noodles are so popular here in Australia that it appears on the menu of most suburban Chinese restaurants, whether they serve other Singaporian dishes or not.
Though if you seek out Singapore Noodles in Singapore, it will allude you as much as the mythical notion that there are koalas in every Aussie backyard.
And that’s ok.
Singapore Noodles are delicious, and we will always love it!
RICE NOODLES FOR SINGAPORE NOODLES
Singapore Noodles are made with thin rice noodles called vermicelli noodles. They’re very common nowadays, sold at all supermarkets. Wai Wai is my favourite brand – I find that it holds up the best to lots of tossing action – and you’ll find it at Woolies, Coles etc here in Sydney.
OTHER STUFF IN SINGAPORE NOODLES
You’ll almost always find prawns/shrimp and Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu) in Singapore Noodles, as well as egg.
If you don’t happen to have a stash of Char Siu in your freezer, don’t fret! You can make some quickly with pork chops using either a store bought Char Siu Sauce or homemade. Just a 20 minute marinade then pan fry or bake – directions in the recipe for both options.
Or – skip it, sub with chicken/bacon/ham. It’s still going to be a super tasty meal!
As with most stir fries, once you get the ingredients ready, the cooking part is pretty quick. Albeit with this recipe, there are a few more steps than most because the prawns and egg are cooked separately first before proceeding with the recipe.
But it’s still a 20 minute job all up, including prep. And if you’re a fan of Singapore Noodles, irrespective of lack of actual Singaporian roots, you are still going to love this crowd favourite! – Nagi x
One of the most popular stir fried noodles, made at home! Made with Chinese BBQ Pork (Char Siu), prawns/shrimp, egg and vegetables with a signature curry seasoning. See notes for a quick Char Siu and subs. This recipe makes 2 generous servings. Recipe video below.
- 2 tbsp soy sauce (Note 1)
- 2 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (Note 2)
- 2 1/2 tsp curry powder (hot or ordinary, Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp white pepper (black also ok)
- 100g / 3 oz dried rice vermicelli noodles (Note 4)
- 2 tbsp peanut oil , separated
- 8-10 medium raw shrimp / prawns , shelled and deveined
- 2 eggs , beaten
- 1/2 medium onion , thinly sliced (yellow, brown or white)
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 tsp ginger , freshly grated
- 1/2 lb / 250g Chinese barbecue pork (Char Siu), thinly sliced (Note 5)
- 1 cup red capsicum / bell pepper
- 2 tsp thinly sliced hot green pepper (adjust to taste, optional)
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Combine the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix.
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Place rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl filled with boiled water and soak as per packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
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Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a wok or heavy based fry pan over medium heat. Add the shrimp/prawns, cook until just cooked - about 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Remove and set aside.
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Add the egg and spread it out to make a thin omelette. Once set, use a spatula to roll it up, remove from the wok and slice (while still rolled up).
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Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1 tbsp of oil. Add the garlic, ginger and onion, cook for 2 minutes until onion is slightly softened.
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Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute.
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Add noodles and Sauce, give it a few tosses. Then add the egg, pork, shrimp/prawns, chillies (if using). Toss until the sauce coats all the noodles and everything is heated through - about 1 to 2 minutes.
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Serve immediately.
1. I use all purpose soy sauce (Kikkoman) or light soy sauce. I don't recommend dark soy sauce, the flavour is too intense.
2. Also known as Shaoxing wine. Substitute with dry sherry, cooking sake or Mirin. If you can't consume alcohol, use chicken broth.
3. Any generic curry powder is fine here. I use Keens or Clives of India, both general curry powders sold at supermarkets. I use hot because I like the spice!
4. Wai Wai is the brand I recommend if you can get it, for both texture and also it holds up well to lots of tossing action. Rice vermicelli is very cheap - usually $2 for quite a large bag - and nowadays you'll find it at everyday supermarkets.
I know it doesn't sound like much noodles but it expands, almost doubles in weight.
5. If you don't have store bought or homemade Char Siu substitute with diced chicken, bacon, ham or pork, leave it out and/or add more vegetables. For a quick Char Siu, make a small quantity of the Char Siu marinade, marinade pork chops for 20 minutes then pan fry on medium until caramelised, or bake at 180C/350F for around 20 minutes. Then use per recipe.
6. How to tell shrimp/prawns are perfectly cooked: raw prawns hang straight, perfectly cooked prawns form a "C" shape and overcooked prawns are tightly curled into an "O" shape.
7. Adapted from Singapore-Style Rice Vermicelli by Saucy Spatula.
8. Nutrition per serving.
Originally published April 2015, updated June 2018 with new photos, video added and rewritten post. No changes to recipe - it's great as it is!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
LIFE OF DOZER
With all the kerfuffle over his injury, I totally forgot to share THIS – his 6th birthday!!
What started out as a simple doggie birthday cake morphed into a two layer frosted creation, but I think it was that moment as I was making a drippy glaze to drizzle over the top that it truly hit home:
I am that Crazy Dog Lady. 😂
Made this yesterday for dinner, using the Chinese barbecue pork (Char Siu) recipe from the site. Had no white pepper so just used black. And I added the green chilies after the wife dished herself out. Everything else was followed exactly. I used a big Wok and it all worked out wonderfully.
It was very very good! Definitely will make again. Thank you so much!
Thanks for the feedback Curtis! Glad you enjoyed this 🙂 N x
I’ve been a ‘silent’ subscriber for a few years now and enjoyed cooking many of Nagi’s recipes for family and friends. This is one of our favourites and is being cooked again for family tomorrow night. It is easily doubled or tripled for larger numbers. For those that have more ‘delicate’ taste buds you can reduce the curry powder & green chillies. We cook this in a very large pan rather than the wok and this may help with the ‘giant noodle ball’.
Thanks again Nagi.
Glad you enjoyed it McRog! Thanks for letting me know! N x
Hi Nagi,
I’m from Singapore, have lived here all my life, and I must say I have never heard of or eaten “Singapore noodles “, or heard of anyone putting curry powder into fried vermicilli in Singapore 🤣
Having said that, I have full faith in your recipe, having tried dozens of your other recipes myself, and not one has ever failed me. I’m sure it’s delicious, though definitely not from Singapore😄
It’s “Singaporean” though, hope you don’t mind the correction 😁
Agree! I thought I wrote that in this – it is not Singaporean at all!!! N xx
I made these Singapore noodles for dinner last night mostly following the recipe (made the sauce exactly per the recipe and used the rice vermicelli, however used pork mince with some char siu sauce mixed through for the meat, and some carrot and zucchini for the veg – I was cleaning out my fridge!). Anyway, it was very yummy and I will definitely make this my go-to “clean out the fridge” recipe.
One thing I would say is the white pepper in the sauce was a little strong for my taste (generally not a lover of white pepper) so I may adjust it down a little next time.
But as usual, my main issue was mixing the meat, veg, and egg through the noodles. I ended up with a giant noodle ball and everything else at the bottom of the wok – any tips on that front would be appreciated.
Thanks for another yummy recipe Nagi!!