Sizzling yee mein

Sizzling yee mein is a flavourful and exciting dish that combines soft, chewy yee mein noodles with savoury sauce and toppings, all served on a sizzling hot plate. The crackling sound and rich aroma make this dish a crowd-pleaser, perfect for a dramatic and delicious meal.

Sizzling yee mein. Credit: Hardie Grant Books / Alana Dimou

• serves

  1

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp oil, plus 1 tbsp extra
• 3 prawns (shrimp), peeled and deveined
• 6 thin slices fish cake
• 2 fish balls
• 70 g (2½ oz) pork belly, sliced into thin strips
• 2 tsp garlic, finely chopped
• 3 stalks choy sum
• ½ spring onion (scallion) stalk, finely chopped
• 1 yee mein (clay pot noodles) cluster (approx. 80 g/2¾ oz)
• 1 egg (optional)

Sauce

• 1 tbsp potato starch
• 240 ml (8 fl oz/1 cup) water
• ½ tsp chicken bouillon powder
• ½ tsp YumYum (see Note) or MSG
• ½ tsp sugar
• pinch of white pepper
• ½ tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine)
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tsp Maggi seasoning sauce

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a wok over high heat. Add the prawns, fish cake and fish balls, cooking and stirring for 3–4 minutes until they are cooked through. Remove from the wok and set them aside.
2. Place a cast-iron sizzling plate on your wok burner or in an oven preheated to 220°C (430°F) to heat up.
3. While the plate is heating up, in the same wok, heat another tbsp of oil over high heat. Add the pork belly and garlic, cooking for 2–3 minutes until the pork is fully cooked. Remove the pork from the wok and set it aside with the other cooked ingredients.
4. In a jug, combine the potato starch and water, stirring until the starch is fully dissolved, then set it aside.
5. Reduce the heat to medium and add all the sauce ingredients and the potato starch slurry to the wok. Turn the heat back up to high and cook the sauce, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil and thickens slightly.
6. By now, the sizzling plate should be hot. Carefully remove it from the heat and place it on a heatproof board. Arrange the noodles, cooked proteins and choy sum on the sizzling plate. Pour the prepared sauce over the top of them, then crack an egg on the side of the plate or top with a fried egg, if desired.
7. Serve immediately, allowing the sizzling plate to keep the dish hot and enhance the flavours.

Note

Vincent Yeow Lim (aka chef and content creator dimsimlim and also known as the 'Wolf of Wok Street') has his own brand of all-rounder seasoning mix, YumYum, made with three core ingredients: msg, wok-roasted salt and white pepper.

This is an edited extract from The Wolf of Wok Street by Vincent Lim (Hardie Grant, HB $45). Photography by Alana Dimou.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.