Singapore Prawn and Pork Ribs Noodle (Hae Mee)

Singapore Prawn and Pork Ribs Noodle (Hae Mee) – Noodles are served with umami-rich broth made of prawn shells and pork ribs. Recipes for both Instant Pot and cooking on stove-top are included.

Every once a week or sometimes every two weeks I would “pamper” myself by having a bowl of prawn and pork ribs noodle soup for lunch near this place I used to work at in Singapore. I said pampered because I normally spend about $2.50 to $3.00 for lunch. This was back in 2008. A bowl of prawn noodles is $4.00 and if you add ribs it’s $5.00. So, to me $5.00 is a little bit of a splurge for lunch if you know what I mean.

THE SOUP BASE IS THE STAR OF THE DISH

What I like about prawn noodle soup is the soup itself. It’s kind of “briney” and sweet. It’s hard for me to describe, but I like it. As with many other noodle soup recipe, the work is mainly in the soup itself.
The soup is made with homemade prawn stock that is made with heads, shells, and tails of the prawn along, pork ribs, spices, and seasonings.

Shells from shrimp used to prepare the stock

USE PRESSURE COOKER IF YOU HAVE ONE

I made the soup and cooked the ribs in instant pot pressure cooker, which was really convenient. It’s an electric pressure cooker. You can use any electric pressure cooker. It saves time and I like how I can set an forget too.

HOW TO MAKE SINGAPORE HAE MEE

1. BLANCH PORK RIBS
This step is to get rid of the “meaty” smell from the ribs. Bring a large pot of water (enough to cover the pork ribs) to boil

Put in the pork ribs and blanch it until the pork started to turn color, about 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Drain the water and set aside. Rinse the pork ribs of any scums. Clean the pot up of any scums too

2. PREPARE SOUP BASE
If using Instant Pot, Turn on “saute” on instant pot. Otherwise, Preheat a heavy-bottom pot. Add 3 Tbsp of oil and saute the garlic for about 30 seconds.

Add prawn heads, shell, and tails and saute until they are fragrant and the color changes to orange

Add pork ribs, star anise, cloves, white peppercorns, water, and seasonings.

Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat, cover, and let it simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hour or longer until the ribs are tender but not falling apart. If using Instant Pot, Close the lid. Press “pressure cooker” and make sure it’s on “High Pressure” and set the timer for 15 minutes. If you leave the ribs whole, pressure cook for 30 minutes. When the timer is done, wait 10 minutes and then turn steam release handle to venting. Wait until the pressure valve goes all the way down and then open the lid

Pick the pork ribs out to a separate plate. Strain the stock and discard all the solids

3. SERVE
Bring the soup back to a boil, blanch the prawns in the soup until they just turn pink. Don’t over cook them

Portion individual cooked noodles, water spinach, prawns, and ribs into serving bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles and everything else

A pure comfort in this cold weather. Well, I always have room for this even in the hottest of Summer 😉 Back at home, we don’t really eat based on the season because it’s either rain or shine. Noodle soup is comfort food for many despite the weather!

Now…allow me to indulge for a moment

DID YOU MAKE THIS SINGAPORE HAE MEE 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!

Singapore Prawn and Pork Ribs Noodle (Hae Mee)

Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Servings 4 servings

4.7 from 14 reviews

REVIEW & RATE PRINT

Ingredients

0.5x1x2x

• ▢ 3 lbs pork ribs cut into 2-inch pieces or leave them in big pieces
• ▢ 1 lb Chinese yellow noodles or rice noodles/vermicelli or flat rice noodles/kwe tiau or Spaghetti if you want
• ▢ 2 Tbsp cooking oil

For prawn stock:

• ▢ 5 cloves garlic peeled and minced
• ▢ 1 star anise
• ▢ 5 cloves
• ▢ 2 lbs prawn heads and shells combined from large prawns
• ▢ 8 cups water
• ▢ 1 tsp white peppercorns

Seasonings:

• ▢ 1 Tbsp fish sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• ▢ 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• ▢ 1 tsp salt or more to taste
• ▢ 30 gr rock sugar
• ▢ 3 Tbsp brown sugar or more to taste

Serve with:

• ▢ 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• ▢ 1 small bunch of water spinach/kangkung pick the leaves and tender stems
• ▢ 4-5 red chili (chopped)
• ▢ Soy sauce for the chili

Instructions

 

• If using water spinach/kangkung and bean sprouts, bring a medium pan of water to a boil, cook the bean sprouts briefly about 30 seconds in boiling water. Then blanch water spinach briefly for about 1-2 minutes. Turn off the heat, drain and run them under cold water. Set aside
• Prepare the noodles by bringing a large pot of water to a boil, depending on which type of noodles you use, follow the instruction on cooking the noodles. Set aside

Prepare the prawns:

• Clean and devein all the prawns you have. Save about 2 lbs of the shells and heads for making stocks and about 18-20 piece of the large prawns to serve with noodles

Blanch the pork ribs:

• This step is to get rid of the "meaty" smell from the ribs. Bring a large pot of water (enough to cover the pork ribs) to boil. Put in the pork ribs and blanch it until the pork started to turn color, about 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Drain the water and set aside. Rinse the pork ribs of any scums. Clean the pot up of any scums too.

Prepare the soup base with Instant Pot:

• Turn on "saute" on instant pot. Add 3 Tbsp of oil and saute the garlic for about 30 seconds. Add prawn heads, shell, and tails and saute until they are fragrant and the color changes to orange
• Add pork ribs, star anise, cloves, white peppercorns, water, and seasonings. Close the lid. Press "pressure cooker" and make sure it's on "High Pressure" and set the timer for 15 minutes. If you leave the ribs whole, pressure cook for 30 minutes. When the timer is done, wait 10 minutes and then turn steam release handle to venting. Wait until the pressure valve goes all the way down and then open the lid
• Pick the pork ribs out to a separate plate. Strain the stock and discard all the solids

Prepare the soup base on stove-top:

• Preheat a heavy-bottom pot. Add 3 Tbsp cooking oil. Saute the garlic for about 30 seconds. Add prawn heads, shell, and tails and saute until they are fragrant and the color changes to orange. Add pork ribs, star anise, cloves, white peppercorns, water, and seasonings. Bring it to a boil and then lower the heat, cover, and let it simmer for about 1 to 1 1/2 hour or longer until the ribs are tender but not falling apart
• Pick the pork ribs out to a separate plate. Strain the stock and discard all the solids. Have a taste. The soup should be more at a sweet side

Serving:

• Bring the soup back to a boil, blanch the prawns in the soup until they just turn pink. Don't over cook them
• Portion individual cooked noodles, water spinach, prawns, and ribs into serving bowls. Ladle the hot soup over the noodles and everything else
• Serve with chopped red chili doused in soy sauce if you prefer

RECOMMEDED TOOLS

Instant Pot

Dutch Oven

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