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 recipe
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 elude 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 things that go 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!
Singapore Noodle Sauce
Singapore Noodle Sauce is made with soy sauce, Chinese Cooking Wine, curry powder, sugar and pepper.
It’s the curry powder that’s the signature flavour in Singapore Noodles. While it might seem out of place in an Asian recipe, it’s actually not. It’s used in all sorts of recipes, not just Indian curries, including:
-
Everyday Chicken Curry – a mild creamy Western style curry
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
Great noodles from around the world
-
Pad Thai and Pad See Ew (Thai Stir Fried noodles)
-
Browse the Noodle recipes collection!
And the quick ramen noodle collection
-
Asian Mushroom Ramen Noodles – caramelised mushrooms in a sweet-savoury glaze tossed through ramen noodles
-
Noodle Salad with Creamy Sesame Peanut Sauce – terrific for work lunches!
WATCH HOW TO MAKE IT
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Singapore Noodles
Ingredients
Sauce
- 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)
Stir Fry
- 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)
Instructions
- Combine the Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix.
- Place rice vermicelli noodles in a large bowl filled with boiled water and soak as per packet instructions. Drain and set aside.
- 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.
- 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).
- 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.
- Add capsicum and cook for 1 minute.
- 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.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
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!
Nutrition Information:
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. 😂
Annette says
Wow what a fantastic and delicious recipe! Added some sliced fillet seak and veges and instead of rice vermicilli i added sweet potato noodles, so still gluten free!
Sarai says
Hello! When you add the pork, is it already cooked? Thank you
Adam says
This was absolutely awesome. As close to Asian store bought stuff! Although I didn’t use vermicelli noodles it was still just as tasty! 11/10
Melissa T says
Absolutely delicious, perfect amount of spice. Couldn’t get pork, so used chicken. Worked a treat, but will try pork next time.
David Yaskin says
Love your detailed, well written recipes. My version was delicious, thank you. Tasted just like a restaurant with a distinct curry flavor. But the noodles were more brown than yellow. Any ideas why? I have clear and brownish Chinese Cooking Wine. Should I have used the clear one?
Rhiannon says
Hi David,
A little turmeric (1/4 to 1/2 a tsp) will give the yellow colour you’re looking for 😉
Nagi says
That could be the reason David. Try the clear one next time. N x
Carla says
Made this last night for dinner – fantastic. Spicy yes, but in a good way. Question Nagi, can this be frozen?
Natalie says
Delicious!
Stuck to the recipe except for the curry after reading reviews. Doubled it for 4 but not the curry and I’m glad I did. It was perfect with half the amount. Bought the pork from a Chinese restaurant.
Definitely becoming a regular in our house!
L Marie Thomas says
Super flavorful recipe. I made this for the 1st time for dinner.
It tasted just like the best Singapore Chow Mei Fun that I like at a Chinese restaurant nearby.
Thank you for all the work on your website. I wish you great success for your new cook book.
Taysia says
This went straight into my favourite recipe list after making it last night for the first time I made this it the Char Siu chicken recipe instead of pork and it was perfect in every way. This is one of those unicorn recipes that is incredibly flavour packed but super quick and easy to make.
Amy says
Thanks for this recipe. I substituted the meat for tofu to make it vegetarian. I read some of the comments and it seems that some people were not aware that this dish is named correctly as ‘Singapore Noodles’ in Australia. Nonetheless, it was delicious and will be making this again!
Nagi says
So glad you enjoyed it! N x
Vanda Horne says
Absolutely amazing, my first try at making this dish and absolutely delicious.
Ash says
My first time cooking this meal. I absolutely loved it !!! Even my sister went for a second round and that doesn’t normally happen 🤣🤣
Joanne says
Love this recipe – made over 10 times now! It’s just perfect. Another absolute winner Nagi thank you 🙂
Tiffany W Parsons says
Awesome Recipe!!! This was so delicious! I used mirin instead of Chinese cooking wine and seitan instead of meat and it still was great! This recipe is definitely a keeper!!
Rachel says
Very nice, too spicy for the kids though. I’ll add less pepper and curry next time.
David says
I’ve made this recipe three times now–and perfected it for my tastes. I use a little more sugar (a heaping ½ teaspoon) and substitute dark soy sauce for the “regular” soy sauce. I also mince a shallot instead of onion, as it seems to add a little more sweetness to the dish–plus I find shallots more tender. It’s easy to make this dish as along as you have mixed the sauce together first and chop all the veggies and pork first! Delicious.
Chris says
Absolutely delicious! Thanks for another great recipe. My other half loves spicy food and loved it. He’s taking the leftovers to work for lunch tomorrow.
Alison says
This was delicious. But oh my goodness why was mine soo spicy haha. I’m sitting here dying 😂 my kids couldnt touch it? I think maybe the white pepper? Luckily I gave the leftovers to me ex.
Janet says
My hubby and kids loved this dish. Thanks Nagi for all your great recipes! I discovered your blog during the pandemic and it’s really made cooking fun again.
Richard says
Have you ever had noodles that look and taste like soggy rice? My fail began by leaving the noodles in the bowl w the boiling water for about 10 minutes ha ha waiting for our friends to arrive and me Not even reading the packet instructions as the writing was so small! Fortunately this recipe had the wai wai noodles pack (big and cheap, not like me, well maybe, sometimes like that huge pack of Costco toilet paper!), so that meant I could do the noodles again for about two minutes. We love how the noodles go kinda dry on the outside w all the flavours. Served it w tineats’ Mongolian Lamb (another winner!) 🚴♂️