Mee Siam. Singaporean Vermicelli Noodle With Tofu Bean Sprouts and Peanut Sauce

Mee Siam is tasty and easy to make, making it ideal to serve as a light lunch. I used red jalapeno in this recipe, as it is milder then the South East Asian chili, which is work very well as most of my friends can not handle the spiciness. The other thing I like about red jalapeno is the color it gives to the dish, it can achieves such a beautiful bright red/orange color especially for dish like curry or sambal. As any of my recipe, you can always reduce the amount of chili according to your own taste. Hope you like it. 

Mee Siam. Singaporean Vermicelli Noodle With Tofu, Bean Sprouts, and Peanut Sauce
serve 4

5 oz rice vermicelli noodle
2 cups bean sprouts, soaked in hot water for 5 - 10 minutes
1 package ( oz) extra firm tofu, cubed 
2 hard boiled eggs
1/4 cup chopped scallions for serving

The sauce:
4 cloves garlic
5 - 10 red jalapeno chili, seeded - roughly chopped
1/2 tbs - 1 tbs depending on your taste dried shrimps, soaked in hot water to soften
1/2 tsp toasted dry shrimp paste
1/2 cup fried peanuts, ground
1 tbs tau cheo (available at Asian grocery store)
1 tbs sugar
1 tbs tamarin pulp
1 lemongrass, white part only - cut into pieces, lightly bruised with the back of the knife 
3 cups (more or less) water
salt and ground white pepper to taste
canola oil for frying

Preheat a medium size frying pan over  medium high heat. Add about 3 tbs oil, add cubed tofu and fry until brown on all side. You might want to do this in batches. Set aside.

Meanwhile, make the chili paste. In a large mortar and pestle, pound together garlic, red jalapeno, soaked dried shrimps, and the shrimp paste until smooth. Alternatively, use a food processor instead of mortar and pestle, add a little bit of water to keep the blade running. 

Set a medium size sauce pan over medium heat, add about a tablespoon or two canola oil, and fry the paste gently until fragrant, about a minute or so. Add ground peanut, tau cheo, sugar, tamarin pulp, and lemongrass. Stir fry for one minute. Add 3 cups (more or less, depending how thick you want the sauce to be) of water, and bring to a gentle boil, turn the heat down to low, simmer the sauce for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Remove from the heat.

Meanwhile, in another pan, boil some water. Add vermicelli rice and cook according to package direction. When it is done, immediately plunge into a cold water to prevent from cooking it further. 

Divide vermicelli among 4 individual bowls,  top with each bean sprouts, fried tofu, and halved egg. Pour the sauce on top, sprinkle in some chopped scallions. Serve immediately. 

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