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Decades ago, this dish was sold by itinerant hawkers who carried a pole across their shoulders. On one end of the pole was a basket containing a pot of boiling water; at the other end was another basket containing ingredients for mee rebus

Translated into English, this dish means simply ‘boiled noodles’ — but the dish is anything but simple. It is yellow egg noodles in thick, spicy, slightly sweet gravy, garnished with boiled eggs, sliced green chilies, fried cubes of beancurd, and fresh lime. Some people add a dash of dark soy sauce as a finishing touch.

Mee rebus is a fine example of fusion cuisine. The egg noodles, beancurd and dark soy sauce are Chinese touches, while the gravy speaks of combined influences from Indian and Malay cuisine, with its curry-like flavour and use of dried shrimp and tamarind.

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Recipe

Ingredients: Serves 8-10

500 g (1 lb) Hokkien mee (fresh yellow noodles)

500 g (1 lb) bean sprouts

200 g (7 oz) shin beef

200 g (7 oz) shrimps

Spice paste:

10 dried chilies, softened in hot water

1 cup shallots, peeled

1 teaspoon belachan (dried shrimp paste)

10 slices lengkuas (galangal)

1 teaspoon turmeric powder

Gravy:

200 g (7 oz) sweet potato, boiled, peeled and mashed

1 heaped tablespoon taucheow (brown soya bean paste)

1 tablespoon salt or to taste

2 tablespoons sugar or to taste

Garnishes:

5 hardboiled eggs, shelled and sliced

4 taukwa (firm soya bean cake), deep-fried and diced into 8 pieces

Fried shallots

10 calamansi, halved

4 green chilies, remove seeds and sliced

dark soy sauce, optional

toasted grago (shrimp fry), optional

1 stalk lettuce, cut into long strips

Method:

Make a stock by boiling beef in 6 cups of water until tender.  Remove and slice beef.  Cook shrimps in the stock and peel, de-veined and set aside.  Reserve stock.  Process spice paste ingredients in a chopper until fine.  Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok and fry spice paste until oil rises to the surface.  Add taucheow and fry until fragrant.  Add the stock, mashed sweet potato, salt and sugar and cook over a low fire until all is amalgamated.  Taste to adjust seasoning if needed.  Cook one serving of noodles and bean sprouts in a wire ladle in boiling water.  Remove, drain and place on a plate.  Top with beef slices and shrimps.  Pour hot gravy over and garnish with egg wedges, taukwa, fried shallot, chili, lettuce and a halved calamansi.  Drizzle some dark soya sauce if desired and sprinkle some grago, browned earlier in a slow oven until crisp.