Singapore Curry Noodles (35g Protein)

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Singapore noodles is a Hong Kong invention; order it in Singapore and you will get a puzzled look. Naming aside, the dish is a keeper: thin rice vermicelli stained gold with curry powder, tossed with prawns, chicken, and ribbons of egg. Running both proteins at once is what pushes each serving to 35g of protein, roughly double what the takeout carton manages.

It also reheats better than almost any other noodle stir fry, which makes it sneaky good meal prep.

Why this works

Two technique points carry this dish. First, the vermicelli soaks in hot tap water instead of boiling, so it goes into the wok firm and finishes cooking in the toss without clumping or breaking. Second, the curry powder is mixed into a wet paste before it touches the noodles. Dry spice thrown into a hot wok scorches in seconds and leaves bitter pockets; the paste coats every strand evenly and blooms as the water cooks off.

Ingredient notes

Use the thinnest rice vermicelli you can find, often labeled rice stick or mai fun. A Madras style curry powder is traditional for this dish; whatever yellow curry powder is in your cupboard will work, and the extra turmeric is purely for that taxi-yellow color. Prawn sizes are flexible, but pat them dry or they will steam grey instead of searing. If prawn noodles are your thing, the protein edition shrimp pad thai uses the same soak-not-boil trick with a tamarind sauce.

Singapore Curry Noodles

Turmeric-gold rice vermicelli tossed with prawns, chicken breast, and egg, with double protein doing what the takeout version never does.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 30 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 450

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 200 g dried thin rice vermicelli
• 350 g chicken breast sliced thin
• 250 g raw prawns, peeled thawed if frozen, patted dry
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2.5 tbsp neutral oil divided
• 1.5 tbsp curry powder a Madras style blend
• 1 tsp ground turmeric for color
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 150 g bean sprouts
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 0.25 tsp white pepper
• 2 scallions, cut into lengths

Method

 

1. Soak the vermicelli in hot tap water for 8 to 10 minutes until pliable but still firm, then drain well. Do not boil it; the noodles finish cooking in the wok and boiled vermicelli turns to mush.
2. Mix the curry powder, turmeric, soy sauce, sugar, and white pepper with 3 tbsp water to make a loose paste. Pre-mixing means no raw spice pockets later.
3. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a wok over high heat. Stir-fry the chicken until just cooked, about 3 minutes, and set aside. Add the prawns, 90 seconds per side until pink, and set aside with the chicken.
4. Add 1/2 tbsp oil and pour in the eggs. Let them set halfway, then scramble into ribbons and push to the side of the wok.
5. Add the last 1 tbsp oil with the onion and bell pepper and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the drained noodles and the curry mixture and toss constantly with tongs or chopsticks for 2 to 3 minutes until every strand is evenly yellow.
6. Return the chicken and prawns, add the bean sprouts and scallions, and toss for a final minute. The sprouts should stay crunchy. Taste; it usually wants a last splash of soy.

Tips and storage

Keeps 3 days refrigerated and reheats well in a hot pan with a splash of water; the microwave works too, though the prawns pay for it slightly. Vermicelli absorbs flavor as it sits, so day two is often better than day one. For other quick wok dinners that hold up across a week of lunches, high-protein chicken fried rice is the rice version of this exact formula, and garlic butter prawns with rice is where the rest of a bag of prawns should go.