Everything about Mee Pok totally explained
Mee pok is a type of
Chinese noodle that's flat and yellow, often varying in thickness and width. The dish is of
Teochew origin and is eaten in
Chaoshan (China),
Singapore,
Malaysia and
Thailand. The noodle dish is usually served tossed in a sauce (where it's often referred to, though inapropriately as "dry", or "tah" in
Min nan/Hokkien), though sometimes served in a
soup (where it's referred to as "soup", or "terng").
Meat and
vegetables are also placed on top.
Mee pok can be categorised into two variants,
fish ball mee pok (
yu wan mee), and
minced meat mushroom
mee pok (
bak chor mee).
Bak chor mee is usually exclusively made with flat noodles only, whilst
yu wan mee can be made with other types of noodles.
Mee pok is a staple offering in hawker centres and
coffee shops in Singapore, usually more than one stall would be selling it, together with other Chinese noodle dishes.
Mee pok sauce
The
sauce in which the noodles are tossed in is a very important aspect of the dish, and is considered a representation of the cook's skill and experience. The importance of the sauce in
mee pok can be thought of similarly as the sauces that accompany
pasta.
The sauce consists of 4 components:
chili,
oil,
vinegar and other condiments such as
soy sauce and
pepper. The chili is made from various ingredients and usually consists of elaborate processes such as frying and blending. The chili is what sets a good Mee Pok apart from a bad one. Oil is also essential for ensuring good smooth texture in the noodles. Traditionally, the oil from frying lard is used, together with the deep fried cubes of
lard. However,
vegetable oil is sometimes used as a healthier version, though at the expense of taste. Vinegar is added for an added sourness, and like other parts of the sauce, one can request to the cook how much vinegar he/she would like.
Occasionally the chili sauce is omitted and
tomato sauce used instead, this is usually the case for
children, who are uncomfortable with the spiciness of the chili. The taste, however, is nothing like the original.
As stated above, the sauce blend is subject to one's taste, and requests for less/more of certain components are not uncommon and isn't considered disrespectful to the cook.
Soup
Soup is served on a side bowl if one request for the "dry" version, or served together with the noodles for the "soup" version where the sauce is omitted. The soup is often of a mediocre quality, as the "soup" version isn't requested as often as the "dry" version. Exceptions to this are a few hawkers who specialise in the "soup" version, however these are very rare.
It is common practise to leave the soup unfinished in both the "dry" and "soup" version, as it's often made using large quantities of
salt and
MSG.
Mee pok noodles
Usually, the noodles are factory made, and requires substantial preparation before cooking. Different
hawkers prepare and cook their noodles differently, but the desired outcome is the same: springy noodles that have a firm bite and are not soggy.
Hawkers often toss the noodles vigorously to remove excess flour and soda and to separate noodles which have stuck together. Other processes include stretching the noodles, cutting into a desired length, and separating into serving portions.
The cooking process of the noodles usually consists of blanching in hot and cold water multiple times, though some hawkers omit the cold water. The noodles are then drained substantially and placed in either sauce or soup.
Bak chor mee
This version of
mee pok consists of no fish products such as fish balls or fish cakes. The noodles are often served with minced meat, pork slices, pork liver (tur kwa), sliced
mushrooms,
meat balls,
beansprouts, bits of deep-fried lard and a slice of lettuce. More traditional
hawkers will also place a few small pieces of fried crispy
sole fish as garnishing.
Fish ball mee pok
This version of
mee pok is usually served with toppings of fish balls, sliced
fish cakes, Geow (a type of small dumpling made with fish meat paste wrapping a small bit of minced meat),
minced meat, meat balls,
lettuce or
taugeh ('beansprouts' in
Hokkien). Requests can be made to add or omit any of the above toppings, to prepare it in soup or "dry" style, and with or without the chilli sauce added to your mee pok.
Other variants of toppings
Newer varieties of
toppings include deep fried
dumplings,
abalone slices, imitation
crabstick, and other processed fish products.
Mee pok in popular culture
Further Information
Get more info on 'Mee Pok'.
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