Singapore noodles vs. Ha-Moon noodles

[Big Bunny]

I recently came across the name "Rice Noodle Ha-Moon style."

Can someone tell me what this is?

Thanks,

BB

[dumpling]

"Ha" means shrimp. Ha or Har Moon Noodles are generally large shrimp with rice noodles.

Singapore noodles or mei fun are also rice noodles but they have curry, shrimp, onion, roast pork.

Similar in nature of the noodles, may have some of the same ingredients, but Singapore has the curry.

[Big Bunny]

Thank you!

BB

[trillium]

Just one other thing...you will not find "Singapore noodles" as such in Singapore, contrary to what nearly every Cantonese oriented cookbook will claim!

regards,

trillium

[Big Bunny]

Has there ever been a thread on that?

I mean things like "French toast", "Greek salad".

Apparently they do like Brussels sprouts in Belgium.

BB

[bilrus]

Has there ever been a thread on that?

I mean things like "French toast", "Greek salad".

Apparently they do like Brussels sprouts in Belgium.

BB

That reminds me of the scene in the John Cusack movie Better off Dead where his mother serves the French Exchange Student foods from home: Frahnch Fries, Frahnch Toast and Franch Dressing.

[runninwithscissors]

Just one other thing...you will not find "Singapore noodles" as such in Singapore, contrary to what nearly every Cantonese oriented cookbook will claim!

regards,

trillium

That's correct, trillium--you generally find Singapore noodle in Hong Kong, and Hong Kong noodle in Singapore. Who knows why???

[trillium]

Has there ever been a thread on that?

I mean things like "French toast", "Greek salad".

Apparently they do like Brussels sprouts in Belgium.

BB

They go by "Antwerp stunts" at our house ...

I love Singapore noodles, the Singaporean in the house tolerates them if I call them "trillium mee" instead.

I think there has been a thread on this sort of thing somewhere.

regards,

trillium

[uberleet]

I love Singapore noodles, the Singaporean in the house tolerates them if I call them "trillium mee" instead.

How do you make them? I've made them a few times, and I've never been all that happy (with the noodles, that is)...

[Fat Guy]

Has there ever been a thread on that?

You are hereby nominated to start the thread.

I can testify that during a week in Singapore I never saw Singapore noodles anywhere. And I ate at a lot of places.

[Stone]

How do you make them? I've made them a few times, and I've never been all that happy (with the noodles, that is)...

Yes, like most of my attempts to mimic any Asian foods, there is a missing secret ingredient to this. (Of course, I rarely use actual Chinese roast pork, and probably don't use as much oil as most Asian restaurants use in their noodle dishes.)

[Pan]

My guess is that that stuff just isn't good enough to be served in Singapore. If that sounds like a dis of Hong Kong food, it isn't, exactly. Hong Kong food is delicious! But they don't understand curries the way Southeast Asians do. A Hong Kong curry - even a good one - tends to be something with curry powder added to it. Curries in Singapore and Malaysia tend to have a blend of spices, shallots, and garlic (called a rempah); and coconut milk.

[trillium]

How do you make them?  I've made them a few times, and I've never been all that happy (with the noodles, that is)...

Yes, like most of my attempts to mimic any Asian foods, there is a missing secret ingredient to this. (Of course, I rarely use actual Chinese roast pork, and probably don't use as much oil as most Asian restaurants use in their noodle dishes.)

This is like that comment on one of the epicurious recipes where the cook made some Mexican thing but left out the cilantro and cumin and used tomatoes instead of chillies and then complained that it didn't taste very Mexican! I'm not trying to be harsh, but it is sort of funny...before you worry about secret ingredients, you could always start with the obvious ones.

For um, "singapore" noodles (if I'm divorced over this, I'm blaming you all), you need the style of curry powder used by HK/Cantonese cooks. It's in Asian groceries and comes in a yellow tin and is usually made in Malaysia. Typical noodles would be beehoon, or the rice vermacelli that you soften in warmish water right before you're ready to cook them until they're "al dente" and then drain them. You can make it with fresh rice noodles (fun) if you like. You'll also need peanut oil or lard, light soya sauce, char siu (the BBQ'd pork, don't get siu yuk or roast pork), shrimp, bean sprouts, green onions, and egg omlette or whatever is in your favorite version (sometimes they use bok choy instead of sprouts, or regular onion instead of green onions, etc). The char siu and omlette gets cut into strips, the onions cut into similiar lengths, the bean sprouts rinsed, the shrimp sprinkled with a small amount of sugar and salt to keep them crisp. Because I don't have the fire power the restaurants do, I tend to stir fry the non-noodle part in the all-clad saute pan and the noodles in a nice cast iron frying pan (or steel wok) seperately and mix them together at the end. The trick is to not overload the pans, let the pans and oil get blazingly hot and be quick. If you can get good versions of this in restaurants, it's hardly worth the trouble of doing it at home. I generally fry the noodle with some of the curry powder and soya, and the onion, shrimp and omlette with more curry powder and soya to taste. Toss them together with the bean sprouts and you're done. I like the bean sprouts to be barely cooked, but if you like them more cooked you could add them to the non-noodle part of the stir-fry.

It's true that SE Asian "curries" or noodle dishes tend not to rely just on curry powder and if curry powder is used it's a different animal than the bright yellow stuff. The rempah at our house is made from shallots, chillies, galangal, fresh tumeric, candlenuts, and belecan, but then for Nonya chicken curry we add some curry powder made up to the partner's nonya stepmum's specifications in S'pore and coconut milk. For fish curry, no powder, no coconut, and fenugreek is added. For assam soups or "curries" you add tamarind, etc. I think Singapore noodles get called that because they're yellow and seasoned differently from most other HK/Cantonese food and people think "Singapore" when they see them (why not Indonesia, Malaysia or Macau, I don't know).

regards,

trillium

[uberleet]

you need the style of curry powder used by HK/Cantonese cooks. It's in Asian groceries and comes in a yellow tin and is usually made in Malaysia.

Aha! I've been using Madras curry powder (the british stuff in the green tin). I'm not that fond of the stuff (though it's better than McCormick ).

Thanks for the recipe!

[stet]

well, this is a telling first post.

Has anyone ever used Yeo's brand Singapore Curry Gravy? I tried it, but ended up with a wokful of slop. Maybe I should've tried the two-pan method like Trillium. But am I supposed to stir fry the shrimp, meat and veggies in kind of a lot of gravy (and presumably cook it down a bit), and the noodles in just a little?

Sorry that I'm new and asking pedestrian questions about pedestrian fare. If it's any other hint, I've lurked here for a while after finding great recipes for okonomiyaki, which is in heavy rotation at my kitchen.

Cheers,

Rick.

[Dejah]

well, this is a telling first post.

Has anyone ever used Yeo's brand Singapore Curry Gravy? I tried it, but ended up with a wokful of slop. Maybe I should've tried the two-pan method like Trillium. But am I supposed to stir fry the shrimp, meat and veggies in kind of a lot of gravy (and presumably cook it down a bit), and the noodles in just a little?

Sorry that I'm new and asking pedestrian questions about pedestrian fare. If it's any other hint, I've lurked here for a while after finding great recipes for okonomiyaki, which is in heavy rotation at my kitchen.

Cheers,Rick.

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Don't use gravy! Use dry curry powder.

[chocomoo]

I recently came across the name "Rice Noodle Ha-Moon style."

Can someone tell me what this is?

Thanks,

BB

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I thought "Ha Moon" was the geographical location from which this style originated (or is named after)? Like Singapore style vermicelli. From what I've had before, Ha Moon style vermicelli is made with a sweetish ketchup sauce instead of curry. The sauce is more sweet than vinegary. The ingredients don't seem to differ greatly than Singapore style vermicelli, so Ha Moon vermicelli does contain shrimp, among other things. I could be wrong about the ingredients though, because my family tends to opt for Singapore rather than Ha Moon when we have stir-fried fried vermicelli.

[Laksa]

Having just found an article on Xiamen snacks, I'm guessing Ha-Moon == Xiamen/Amoy, a city in Fujian province.

[herbacidal]

Having just found an article on Xiamen snacks, I'm guessing Ha-Moon == Xiamen/Amoy, a city in Fujian province.

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I would agree. Ha moon is how you would say Xiamen in Cantonese.