Fried Vermicelli (炒米粉）

Vermicelli is a type of noodles that made from rice and it comes with different thickness. In both Malaysia and Singapore, stir fried vermicelli usually used thin vermicelli. There are many versions of stir fry vermicelli, but the cooking method is similar. Most of the fried noodles are cooked with mung bean sprouts for its sweetness and to add texture to the dish. However, I personally prefer to use cabbage as it has better texture and stay crisp until the very last bite.

Back to home, fried noodles including vermicelli is one of the popular breakfast dishes. When you order a plate of fried noodle you got to choose the toppings such as clam in curry, prawn in chilli sauce and so forth. But the pre-fried noodles are cooked with little vegetables and seasoning.

Actually noodles are available throughout the day. For lunch and dinner or supper the fried noodles are usually cooked-to-order, you can ask the cook to add extra ingredients or omit some ingredients. Most of them are pretty flexible with that, as long as... you are willing to pay! Seriously, I have never encountered any problems or what so ever when asking the cook to omit the meat and add extra veggies.

Ingredients (4 servings):
200gm thin vermicelli
200gm meat or seafood
1 cup shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
2 tbsp cooking oil
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
½ cup chicken or vegetable stock
½ tsp salt (add into stock)
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 bunch coriander (chopped)

Directions:

1. Soak vermicelli in water for 10 minutes, drain and set aside.
2. Heat non-stick pan or wok on medium heat, add in oil and sauté garlic until fragrance.
3. Stir in meat or seafood, stir fry until it is almost done.
4. Add in vermicelli and stir fry for 1 minute. Then add stock and dark soy sauce, and stir well before all the stock is absorbed.
5. Stir until all stock is absorb and vermicelli is soften. You might need to add extra water as the amount of water depends on the type of vermicelli.
6. Add in cabbage and carrot and stir fry for 2 to 3 minutes.
7. Remove from heat. Garnish with coriander and ready to serve.

You can add some chopped chilli or 1 tbsp of chilli paste to spice up this plate.