Noodles you can find in Singapore

Singapore, a melting pot where cultures meet, so it is no surprise that there is a wide variety of noodles alone from ramen (lamian) to keow teow. Most of the noodles found in Singapore are either Chinese or Japanese influenced. Below are just some appetizers to introduce you to the wonderful world of noodles:

1. La Mian

This Chinese version of ramen, where the noodles (made from a mixture of flour, water and eggs) are kneaded and stretched into shape, is the most common type of noodles that you can find in Singapore ’s hawker centers and food courts. The noodles take various forms, from long and thin (you mian) to long and flat (ban mian), and even in shapes of squares (mee hoon kuih).

Usually the noodles are churned out by machines, giving them a consistent and uniform shape. It is not that often that you are able to find a stall that has la mian made by hand, with different strands of thickness. This noodle dish is served either in soup or dry, and comes in various soup bases or versions (e.g. pork broth, tom yum, sea food, fish etc…).

2. Hainanese Beef Noodles

Why is it a delicacy? Well, it looks like your regular bowl of noodles and is served either dry or soup, topped with beef. But here’s the twist: besides beef, you can also include all the different parts of the cow (e.g. intestines, cartilage, tongue etc…). If that makes you a little queasy, you can always order the “normal” version with just beef and/or beef (meat) balls. The noodles used for this dish are usually “keow teow”, which are flat rice noodles, or “thick bee hoon”, which are thick rounded rice vermicelli/noodles; both of which are white and smooth in texture.

3. Kolo Mee

This egg noodle dish originated from Kuching, Sarawak and found its way to Singapore, adapting to the local palate. The egg noodles are flash-boiled, and typically served with crushed garlic, shallot, minced pork or beef, white vinegar, either vegetable oil, pork oil or peanut oil, and sliced barbecue pork. The egg noodles, unlike the usual noodles you can find in Singapore are frizzy and having a slight resemblance instant noodles.