Simple Yee Mee Soup
Easy and heart-warming, this simple comfort food for one is suitable for breakfast, lunch or dinner. It's a great alternative to instant noodles - complete with vegetables, flavoured tofu and fishballs and an egg. Topped with crispy fried garlic and chopped spring onion, its fragrance and taste is one to remember.
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Strainer
- Wooden Chopsticks
Ingredients
Blanching Noodles
- 1 serving dried yee mee
- 3 cups water
Soup
- 2.5 oz bean sprouts, cleaned and optionally, roots removed
- 1 stalk bok choy, medium-sized, washed
- 2.5 cup chicken stock
- 1/8 tsp black sesame oil
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 seafood tofu
- 4 crab ball
- 1 egg, medium
Garnishing & Condiments
- 2 stalks spring onion leaves, optional
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 red chilli
- 1/2 tbsp crispy garlic, optional
- 3 pieces fried fu chok, optional
Instructions
Preparing Vegetables
- Wash and optionally remove the bean sprouts' roots. Soak them in water and set aside.
- Cut the bok choy into stems and leaves. Cut the stem into quarters, and cut the leaves into half. Set aside.
- Chop the spring onions lightly. Cut the red chilli and add them to the light soy sauce. Set aside.
Blanching the Noodles
- Boil 750ml of water over medium heat. Place the yee mee in a heat-resistant bowl. Once a rolling boil is achieved, pour it over the fried yee mee and soak for 3 minutes. Strain the yee mee and set aside.
Making Yee Mee Soup
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add chicken stock, sesame oil, oyster sauce and bok choy stems. Give it a stir, cover and let it boil for 3 minutes, or until the stems are cooked.
- Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium-low. Add the seafood tofu and crab balls. Cover and cook for another 1.5 minutes, or until the soup is boiling vigourously.
- Add all the bok choy leaves and bean sprouts. Give them a stir.
- Break the egg and add it to the soup. Switch off the heat for a runny poached egg, otherwise, cook for another 30 seconds for a fully-cooked egg.
- Scoop the fish balls, vegetables and egg onto the yee mee noodles. Carefully pour the soup over the yee mee noodles. Top with spring onions, crispy fried garlic and some fried fu chok.
- Serve with cut chilli and light soy sauce.
Notes
Tips
- The bean sprouts can be left with their roots intact to save time. Many Asian home cooks remove the roots to improve the appearance of the dish as pure-white bean sprouts look more appetising without their roots.
- Although dried yee mee can be cooked in the soup directly, it is more difficult to control its texture throughout the whole meal, as it can be al-dente at the start, but become too soft towards the end. Blanching and cooking it beforehand helps maintains its texture throughout the meal as the residual heat will not overcook the yee mee.
- Blanching the yee mee beforehand also makes it firmer and chewier.
- The bok choy stems are thicker than the leaves and tend to take a longer time to cook, so they are separated and added first into the soup.
- For a stronger garlicky flavour, raw garlic can be minced and added to the red chilli and soy sauce as well.
- Pickled green chilli adds a lovely sour tanginess and mild spiciness to each bite.
- Chicken stock can be substituted with 650ml of water and 1 tbsp of oyster sauce, and boiling the bok choy, seafood tofu and crab balls for 4-5 minutes.
- Make sure the soup achieves a rolling boil before adding the egg. The residual heat is sufficient for a poached egg with a runny yolk. For a solid yolk, let the soup continue boiling for another 30 seconds.
- Make sure to watch the full video to see how I made it exactly!
Nutrition
Calories: 1233kcalCarbohydrates: 131gProtein: 64gFat: 52gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 213mgSodium: 2974mgPotassium: 354mgFiber: 3gSugar: 15gVitamin A: 2414IUVitamin C: 35mgCalcium: 65mgIron: 2mg
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