Noodle Dishes
Traditional Singaporean Ban Mian Recipe with Ikan Bilis Broth
Experience the ultimate comfort of a steaming bowl of Ban Mian, featuring silky hand-pulled wheat noodles in a rich, umami-packed anchovy broth. Topped with crispy ikan bilis, seasoned minced pork, and fresh mani cai, it is a soul-warming Singaporean hawker classic made simple for your kitchen.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 30 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 520 kcal
Method
Prepare the dough by mixing flour, one egg, a pinch of salt, and water. Knead until a smooth, elastic ball forms. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for at least 30-45 minutes.
To make the broth, boil 1.5 liters of water with 70g of ikan bilis and a few slices of ginger. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain out the solids. Season the broth with light soy sauce and white pepper.
Deep-fry the remaining 30g of ikan bilis until golden and crispy. Set aside on a paper towel.
Marinate the minced pork with a dash of soy sauce, sesame oil, and pepper. Form into small clumps.
Bring the strained broth back to a boil. Take the rested dough and pinch off small, thin pieces, stretching them with your fingers until translucent, then drop them into the boiling soup.
Add the marinated pork clumps and the mani cai (or spinach) into the pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the noodles float and the pork is cooked through.
Crack an egg directly into the pot for each serving and cook for 1 minute for a soft yolk.
Ladle the soup, noodles, and egg into bowls. Top generously with crispy fried ikan bilis, fried shallots, and serve with a side of sambal belacan or chili padi in soy sauce.
Notes
Resting the dough is crucial; it allows the gluten to relax, making the noodles much easier to pull thinly without tearing.
If you cannot find mani cai (sweet leaf), spinach or bok choy are excellent substitutes widely used by home cooks.
For a deeper broth flavor, pan-fry the ikan bilis for 2 minutes before adding water to the pot.
Traditional Ban Mian should be pinched into irregular 'mee hoon kueh' shapes or cut into flat strands; both work with this dough recipe.
