Vegan Hokkien fried prawn mee is made from the combo of yellow noodles and rice vermicelli. We use king oyster mushroom stems to make the squid ring replacements. Using the FLLATT (FutureLettuce Lazy Ass TikTok) method, we make a quick homemade seitan for the meat slices and lard. Of course, you can also use store-bought seitan. For the vegan prawn, you can either use store-bought (brand I use is in instructions) or see Vegan Prawns Recipe – DIY From Rice.
Hokkien fried prawn mee is the ultimate in Singapore Sunday vibes for me. One of my fond childhood Sunday memories is getting takeaway fried prawn mee with my dad for dinner. Sometimes it was from Newton and sometimes it was from Chomp Chomp in Serangoon Gardens. Regardless of where it came from, the car would always be full of the delectable smell of the prawn stock and the fragrance of the opeh leaf wrappers.
These days, it is hard to find a vegan Hokkien fried prawn mee and even harder to find anything sold in opeh leaves. While I couldn’t get any opeh leaves, at least I managed to muster up a vegan version of this yummy noodle. Because the essence of this dish is in the stock, you want a sweet and fishy tasting umami stock. Then, you cook the noodles in the stock in high heat so that they absorb all the flavour and turn out just slurpacilious.
Tips
- For the stock, you can make kombu stock, or just use kombu dashi powder. Because kombu dashi powder and kombu stock intensity can vary, please taste your stock after mixing. It should be quite salty as you will not be adding any additional salt or soy to the noodles.
- For the vermicelli, you can choose between thick or thin. I used thin because I don’t have thick. Thick is much more slurpy.
- If you use dried thin rice vermicelli, you can cook it straight after soaking (like I did). However, if you use dried thick rice vermicelli, you will have to treat it the same as the yellow noodles. So, that means you parboil to 70% doneness. Or, you could get fresh thick rice vermicelli instead.
- When frying the seitan, make sure the pieces are small. A non-stick pan helps for this stage.
- You can fry the noodles in the pan without removing the vegetables/seavood first if you have a big wok. I only have a medium pan so I prefer to remove it.
- Make sure your pan is proper hot for the wok hei (char flavour)! Should you find that scary, just cook everything on medium heat. It will still taste okay lah.
Ingredients
- For Seitan Pork and Lard
- 'Prawn' Stock
- Garnish
Instructions
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Finely dice the garlic. Half of the garlic is for the lard and half is for the noodles
For Seitan Pork and Lard
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Mix the chickpea flour, vital wheat gluten, salt and pepper in a bowl. Slowly add small amounts of warm water until you get a pliable dough. You don't need to use all the water. Knead the dough until it all comes together well. Flatten it and cut into small pieces.
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Fry the small pieces of seitan over low hear with a little bit of oil. Turn the pieces over until they are brown on both sides. A non-stick pan is helpful for this. Make sure the pieces are small enough otherwise they will be mushy in the middle. Set aside for later.
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Separate half the seitan and cut them into wee little pieces to be the lard toppings. The other half will be fried with the noodles.
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Heat 1 tbsp of oil over low heat. Fry the lard and the wee pieces of seitan until crispy and brown. Set aside for later.
For the Rest of the Recipe
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Soak the dried rice vermicelli in room temperature water until soft and pliable.
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This is the brand of vegan prawn that I use!
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Cut the king oyster mushroom stems into thick slices (they will shrink when cooking) and cut out the insides to make 'squid' rings.
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Peel the bean sprouts. Cut the green vegetables and chives into finger-length segments.
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Halve the prawns.
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Mix the ingredients for the vegan prawn stock.
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If you used brown miso, it will look like this.
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Fry the remaining garlic in 1 tbsp of oil over high heat. Add the mushroom rings and prawns. Add 1 tbsp of prawn stock and cook until dry, turning and tossing.
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Add the green vegetables and toss until they are wilted. Set everything aside for later.
- Cook your yellow noodle in boiling water to about 70% doneness. Drain.
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Make sure your pan is still hot. Add the almost cooked yellow noodles and uncooked rice vermicelli and 1 cup of the prawn stock. Mix well.
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Cover until fully absorbed. Then, check if the vermicelli is cooked enough. If not, add a little more stock and repeat.
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Meanwhile, make your cornstarch slurry.
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Add the mushroom rings, vegan prawns, vegetables and seitan pieces on top of the noodles. Pour in the corn starch slurry.
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It will get thick very quickly because of the heat. Toss to coat everything well. Turn the heat off when there is a little bit of gravy left.
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Top with the seitan lard, a generous dollop of sambal, half a calamansi, and some ground white pepper.
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Eat it while it's hot!
