Two Mile Prawn Noodle @ Jiaobin Road in Xiamen 二哩虾面 • 厦门市角滨路45号

If you are a prawn noodle lover (many Singaporeans are), when you are in Xiamen, Fujian, you may wish to try out the prawn noodle there. It's the OG (original) - mother of Singapore prawn noodles.

You will find a strong resemblance between the prawn noodle of Xiamen and Singapore / Malaysia. I find such overseas connections and the insights they provide on our own cuisine, most fascinating. That's one of the things I constantly look out for when travelling.

Two Miles Prawn Noodle 二哩虾面 in Xiamen is a very humble hole in the wall shop. But, it is the authenticity and hyperlocal experiences like this that I so fervently seek out when I travel.

The definitive ingredients of Xiamen prawn noodle include prawn heads and shells. It remains the same when the dish travelled with our forefathers millennia ago from Xiamen to Malaysia and Singapore.

The cooking process hasn't changed much.

Warm up a wok of cooking oil together with ladles of prawn oil.

Fry the prawn heads and shells in the cooking oil and prawn oil blend. Cover and let it simmer.

Add water to make the prawn head soup. Continue to simmer.

Skim off the prawn oil and keep the oil for cooking the next batch of prawn heads and shell, the next day or later.

Shelled prawns are cooked by blanching in the simmering prawn head soup, enhancing the soup by adding their umami sweetness into it.

Set the blanched prawns aside.

Strain the prawn soup of any residue from prawn heads and shells, etc.

The soul of the dish, the amazing rich umami savoury sweet prawn head soup is ready to bring the dish to life.

Lightly deep fry pork in hot oil to make char siew.

Cut the cooked char siew into strips and set aside.

Blanch yellow noodles and bean sprouts in boiling water.

Add fried pork strips (char siew) over the blanched noodles and bean sprouts.

Next, add the blanched prawns.

Fill up the cup of blanched yellow noodles, bean sprouts, fried pork strips, and blanched prawns with prawn head / shell soup.

To the bowl of prawn noodle, add a spoonful or two of garlic mash as desired.

Final step before serving, garnish with fresh aromatic parsley.

This Xiamen culinary icon is also found in Malaysia and Singapore where there are large Fujian communities whom migrated there, peaking between 1840 to 1940.

Indeed, this survey in Singapore in 1993 ranked prawn noodle the top hawker dish. Today, in the over one hundred hawker centres around Singapore, each would have at least one or two prawn noodle stalls. In the Singapore Michelin Guide 2024 edition, there are six prawn noodle stalls in the Bib Gourmand list.

If you are a prawn noodle lover, when in Xiamen look out for Two Mile Prawn Noodle 二哩虾面.