This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
Learn how to make this easy hand-torn or hand-pulled mee hoon kueh. I’m sharing with you two ways of doing it to get soft yet slightly chewy mee hoon kueh. All the tips you need to know.
WHAT IS MEE HOON KUEH?
Mee Hoon means wheat flour in Hokkien language, the dialect I spoke with my family since I was a kid. Kueh means “cake”. Mee Hoon Kueh dough is made with all-purpose flour, egg, water, and a pinch of salt. It is slightly chewy and not in any orderly shape either because the dough is torn by hand into thin pieces. Seriously, the easiest noodle one can make 🙂 So it is basically egg noodles torn into pieces by hands if you ask me 🙂
The mee hoon kueh is then served with anchovies-based soup, minced pork, fried anchovies, fried shallots and chili on the side.
I LEARNED OF MEE HOON KUEH FROM MALAYSIAN FRIEND
Mee Hoon Kueh is comfort food to many Asian people in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia and Singapore. The first time I had Mee Hoon Kueh though, wasn’t in Asia. I was introduced to Mee Hoon Kueh for the first time by my college housemate from Malaysia many moons ago here in the U.S. She made it and I wasn’t quite sure what was it that she was going to feed me at that time. I was just so impressed by how she tore all these thin pieces of flour cake into the boiling broth. Man…I’ve never had anything like that before.
Since then, it has become my comfort food too. When I moved to Singapore for few years, I had Mee Hoon Kueh or ban mian (flat noodle soup) pretty often for dinner. I did not make it. They are available almost everywhere you go, that’s one of the best things about Singapore. Food..food..food…everywhere! I’m surprised I did not gain 20 lbs just staying there for few years lol! Anyways, back to the topic. I was craving for Mee Hoon Kueh and so I made it 🙂 The husband and kids love mee hoon kueh too.
HOW TO MAKE AND COOK MEE HOON HUEH (2 WAYS OF SHAPING THE NOODLES)
1. MARINATE THE MEAT
Mix all the ingredients for the meat together, cover and set aside in the refrigerator to marinated for at least 30 minutes
2. PREPARE THE DOUGH
Mix all the ingredients for mee hoon kueh in a large mixing bowl
Start with about 1/4 cup of water and knead with your cleaned hands until it forms a large rough dough and no longer sticks to your hands. The dough doesn’t need to be smooth
Cover and let the dough rest for at least 1 hour. You can leave it in the refrigerator 24 hours prior to cooking too. Bring it back to room temperature at least 1 hour before you plan to cook it
3. PAN FRY SOME ANCHOVIES FOR TOPPING
Preheat a small to medium pan with about 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Pan fry the anchovies until golden brown and crispy. Remove and place on absorbent paper towel to absorb some extra oil
4. PREPARE THE SOUP
Preheat a large pot. Add cooking oil. Add garlic and saute for about 10 seconds
Add ikan bilis and stir fry for another 10 seconds
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and lower the heat, cover, and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with sugar and salt to taste. Remove the shitake mushrooms and when they are cool enough to handle, slice them thinly and put them back into the soup.
5. SHAPING AND COOKING NOODLES
(METHOD 1 – my preferred method)
After 1 hour, the dough is very soft and gently knead it with your lightly floured hands just a few times until it’s smooth
Divide the dough into 4 smaller doughs
Work with one at a time and cover the rest to prevent drying. Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour.
Roll the dough flat into about 1/2 cm thick. Cut into about 3 x 3 cm square pieces. I use a pizza cutter, you can use a knife.
Prepare a big pot of boiling water. When the water is boiling, pick up one piece of the flattened dough and gently pull and stretch and drop into the boiling water
Continue with the rest and cook for about 1 minute and then remove and submerge into cold water to stop the cooking process. Continue with the other dough, flattened, cut, and then pull and stretch
METHOD 2
Method 2 is basically pinching off and stretching smaller pieces of dough straight into a pot of boiling water. You can watch the video.
Divide the dough into 4-6 smaller dough. It’s easier when you work with smaller doughs. Work with one at a time and cover the rest. Prepare a big pot of boiling water. When the water is boiling, start pinching off small pieces of dough and flatten with your fingers and pulling it into thin wide sheets of irregular shape noodles into the boiling water
METHOD 1 VS METHOD 2 (WHY I PREFER METHOD 1)
Traditionally I know it is done by pulling straight from the dough. That’s how my friend taught me to do it too and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I prefer method 1 (rolling and then pulling) because the mee hoon kueh is thinner and softer, and smoother. Whereas method 2 pulling straight from the dough gives me uneven thickness. But this is all a personal preference. You can see the difference on the results between method 1 and method 2 in this photo. It’s up to you how you want to do it.
mee hoon kueh made with method 1 (rolled flat and then pull)
Method 2 yields mee hoon kueh that is a bit more rugged look and a bit thicker too. Like I said, it’s all personal preference. There’s no right and wrong here IMHO
Mee hoon kueh torn straight from the dough (method 2)
DID YOU MAKE THIS MEE HOON KUEH RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
Mee Hoon Kueh (Hand-torn Noodle)
Ingredients
Mee Hoon Kueh:
- 240 gr all purpose flour 2 cups
- 60 ml water 1/4 cup, and add more as needed
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil
Meat:
- 250 gr ground pork 9 oz
- 1 Tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- ½ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
Soup:
- 15 gr dried anchovies small to medium-size
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 5 large dried shitake mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt to taste
- 1 Tbsp Cooking oil
Other ingredients:
- 1 large bunch of yu choy trim off large stems and cut into small bite-size pieces
- 30 gr dried anchovies medium to large size
- 4 large eggs optional
Garnishes:
- 1 stalk green onion finely chopped
- Crispy fried shallots / bawang goreng
Serve with:
- 5-6 mixture of red and green bird's eye chili and doused in soy sauce finely chopped
Instructions
Marinate the meat:
- Mix all the ingredients for the meat together, cover and set aside in the refrigerator to marinate for at least 30 minutes
Make mee hoon kueh dough:
- Mix all the ingredients for mee hoon kueh in a large mixing bowl. Start with about 1/4 cup of water and knead with your cleaned hands until it forms a large rough dough and no longer sticks to your hands. The dough doesn't need to be very smooth yet. Cover and let the dough rest for at least 1 hour. You can leave it in the refrigerator 24 hours prior to cooking too. Bring it back to room temperature at least 1 hour before you plan to cook it
Pan frying anchovies:
- Preheat a small to medium pan with about 1 Tbsp cooking oil. Pan fry the anchovies until golden brown and crispy. Remove and place on absorbent paper towel to absorb some extra oil
Making the soup:
- Preheat a large pot. Add cooking oil. Add garlic and saute for about 10 seconds. Add ikan bilis and stir fry for another 10 seconds. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms and lower the heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Season with sugar and salt to taste. Remove the shitake mushrooms and when they are cool enough to handle, slice them thinly and put them back into the soup.
Method 1 (Roll the dough flat and then stretch)- my preferred method:
- After resting, the dough should be really soft now. Just lightly knead it a few times (don't over work it) with a lightly floured hand so the dough is smooth now. Divide the dough into 4 smaller doughs. Work with one at a time and cover the rest to prevent drying. Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour. Roll the dough flat into about 1/2 cm thick. Cut into about 3 x 3 cm square pieces, larger is fine too, it's up to you. I use a pizza cutter in the video, you can use a knife.
- Prepare a big pot of boiling water. When the water is boiling, pick up one piece of flattened dough and gently pull and stretch and drop into the boiling water. Continue with the rest and cook for about 1 minute and then remove and submerge into cold water to stop the cooking process. Continue with the other dough, flattened, cut, and then pull and stretch
- Drain off water after that and toss the noodles with just a bit of oil to prevent sticking
Method 2 (Pinching off smaller pieces of dough):
- Divide the dough into 4-6 smaller dough. It's easier when you work with smaller doughs. Lightly flour your fingers too. Work with one at a time and cover the rest. Prepare a big pot of boiling water. When the water is boiling, start pinching off small piece of dough and flatten with your fingers and pulling it into thin wide sheets of irregular shape noodles into the boiling water. Cook for about 1 minute and then submerge into cold water to stop the cooking process. Continue with the rest of the dough. Drain off water after that and toss the noodles with just a bit of oil to prevent sticking
When ready to serve:
- Portion mee hoon kueh into individual serving bowl. Bring the soup to a boil. Scoop about 1-2 teaspoons of the meat you prepared earlier into the soup and cook until the meat float to the top and cooked through. Add yu choy and cook briefly until they just wilted. Scoop the veggies, meat, mushrooms out and portion into the bowl. Lower the heat to gentle simmer. If using egg, crack in the whole egg into the soup without stirring and let the egg white turn white but yolk is still runny. Gently transfer to a serving bowl
- Generously ladle the hot broth over. Garnish with crispy fried shallots, fried anchovies, green onion and serve with chili on the side if you like
You may also like Ban Mian
18 comments
HI Marvellina!
I tried this recipe and the soup base is delicious 🙂 I’m wondering though, my dough turned out very rubber even after more than 5 minutes of cooking… how should I alter my dough proportions? My cracked egg just gets messy inside the boiling water :O
Hi Kris, Was the dough soft? Did you let the dough rest for at least 1 hour before tearing/cutting it? if you cook it straight away, it will be tough and rubbery. WHen you cracked in the egg, the water needs to be just gently simmering. If it’s hard boiling, the egg white will just disperse everywhere 🙂
Method 1 is really brilliant 😛
he..he…Thank you! I’m glad you like it too. I like to use that method too 🙂
Hi, when do you add the oil?
Hi Vivian, I apologize for the confusion. You add it in together with other ingredients to make the dough. I don’t know why I typed “except the oil”. I have edited it in the recipe. Hope this helps!
If i make the dough and keep on the fridge for batches, how long can i keep it for?
Hi Faye, you probably don’t want to keep it more than 3 days in the refrigerator. I would suggest trying to use it within a day or two if possible.
Hand-torn noodle dish is very popular in North-west of China where I grew up. Never knew it was common in other parts of Asia. Your soup sounds delicious. Will have a try!