Recipe: Singapore Rice Noodles

Singapore Rice Noodles
rec.food.cooking/Olgster (2000)

My mom taught me how to make this dish. It is typically found on menus in Chinese noodle shops and is one of my favorites. Sorry, but my recipe is by approximation - mom was an old world cook!

First, take the rice noodles (also called "rice stick") and soak them in room temperature water for a few hours, or in hot water (not boiling) for a few minutes. Do not boil these noodles like you would pasta or regular egg noodles, as you will end up with a pile of sticky mush.

Prep the following items:

-Chinese pork sausage or barbequed pork, in medium slivers. Quickly toss these in a wok till brown.
-Fried scrambled egg, in bite sized pieces
-Bean sprouts that have been tossed around in a wok with some ginger, 95% cooked through
-Sliced slivered green peppers, lightly tossed in a wok
-Sliced onions, stir fried in a wok
-Scallions sliced on the diagonal, in slivers (reserve some for garnish)

I usually brown the pork sausage first, as it renders enough (a tiny bit, for my non stick wok) fat to fry the egg in next. After the egg, I do the veggies.

When you have the rice stick and the prepped items ready, it is time to make the seasoning.

Take approximately 3/4 cup of hot water, add chicken bouillon to taste until dissolved. You might have to add a bit of soy sauce for salt, remember that this seasoning will give the whole noodle dish it's flavor.

Keep in mind that this will season one package or so of the rice stick.

Add two or more tablespoons of curry powder or however much you like, to taste. I prefer the curry powder that is sold in Chinese supermarkets, packaged as "Madras Curry Powder".

Pour this mixture in your wok and let it heat up till almost boiling.

Quickly add the softened rice stick and toss thouroghly, and keep it moving as the rice stick absorbs the seasoning mixture. The key is to estimate the correct amount of water to add so that the rice stick will not go gluey or soupy because there was too much water, or stay chewy because there wasn't enough.

After the rice stick has softened to the point of being edible, and you have determined that the seasoning is alright, add all of the prepped items to the wok and toss quickly, enough to heat, then turn the flame off.

Garnish with reserved scallions.You can add shrimp to this if you want.

I know that this "recipe" is a lot of guess work, but if you mess with it enough times, it starts to click.