Here’s another great 15-minute meal: vegetable Singapore noodles. Don’t let the name fool you, they’re not from Singapore but (perhaps) Hong Kong and are popular on Chinese-American take-out menus. These Singapore noodles are packed with vegetables and made with rice vermicelli flavoured with curry powder and soy sauce.
This dish has been on my list of must-dos for quite a while. I remember a few years back seeing the most beautiful photo of vegetarian Singapore noodles on Pinterest. For the life of me I can’t find that pin now, but it’s stuck with me ever since (I have not forgotten you, beautiful pin, wherever you are).
A few weeks ago when I published the recipe for rice vermicelli stir-fry, I talked about the recent appearance of vermicelli rice noodles in supermarkets. Now, finally, is my chance to recreate that beautiful dish from Pinterest with my own version of vegetable Singapore noodles.
I live in Spain and after photographing this dish I realized that visually it resembled paella quite a bit, surely because of the unnatural, almost fluorescent, yellow colour. But while paella gets its colour from saffron or sometimes cheap food colouring (I found a jar “paella colouring” in my husband’s pantry, egad!), vegetable Singapore noodles get their colour from the turmeric in the curry powder.
I prefer to mix my own curry powders in order to control the flavours and spiciness of each mix, but you do need to have quite a well-stocked spice rack in order to do so. If you use a commercial curry powder for this recipe, keep in mind that they can vary greatly in terms of spiciness, so adjust the measurements according to your preference.
Watch the video!
Serves 4
These Singapore noodles are packed with vegetables and made with rice vermicelli flavoured with curry powder and soy sauce.
5 minPrep Time
10 minCook Time
15 minTotal Time
Save Recipe- 200 grams (7 oz) rice vermicelli noodles
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 tablespoons oil
- Half a medium onion, sliced
- 2 green onions, chopped, white and green separated
- Half a large red pepper, sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons of minced ginger
- 90 grams (3 oz) peas
- 2 - 4 tablespoons curry powder (see notes about curry powder just above)
- 125 grams (4.5 oz) baby corn sliced in half from top to bottom
- 1 lime, in wedges
- Sriracha (optional)
- Soak the noodles until al dente according to the package directions. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process and drain. Set aside.
- Mix together the water, soy sauce and sugar and set aside.
- Heat oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Fry the onion, white parts of the green onion, and red pepper for a couple minutes until soft, then add the garlic, ginger and peas. Continue frying for another minute or two until the garlic is fragrant and soft without burning. Add the curry powder and fry, stirring constantly, for about two minutes.
- Add the baby corn and prepared rice vermicelli to the pan and stir well to coat in the curry powder. Pour in the water-soy sauce mix and simmer over medium heat until the noodles have absorbed all the liquid. Taste and adjust seasonings to your preference. Remove from heat and mix through the green onion tops. Serve with lime slices and sriracha.
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38 Comments
Melissa
March 30, 2016 at 8:46 am Sorry it didn't work for you. Do you mix your own curry powder or buy it? I mentioned just above the recipe that you may need to adjust the measurements if you use a store-bought curry powder because they are all so different, not only for spiciness but also because they tend to be full of cheap fillers which can affect the flavour. If you mix your own then be sure that the spices are super fresh and be careful because over-toasting can result in a bitter flavour. I'll make a note in the recipe for anyone who might have missed it.Katrina
May 13, 2016 at 12:30 am How do you make your curry powder mix? :)Melissa
May 13, 2016 at 6:22 pm 2 tablespoons ground cumin and coriander, 1 tablespoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, 1/2 teaspoons ground mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger.Sheila
August 27, 2016 at 8:29 pm Thank you so much for providing this info. I loved your recipe - love love cooking with curry but have never made my own mixture. Shall give this a whirl. GREAT recipe!Melissa
August 27, 2016 at 9:09 pm Thanks Sheila!Maggie
January 12, 2017 at 3:43 am Is that two tbsp each of ground cumin and coriander?Melissa
January 12, 2017 at 10:15 am Yes.DC
May 25, 2016 at 9:29 pm If the noodles tasted bitter then I would bet that you burnt the spices. That isn't the recipes fault and doesn't warrant being rude.Julie Jamison
June 1, 2016 at 1:35 am Thanks so much for this recipe Melissa especially the heads up about the curry. I only used 2 tbsp of curry powder and that was enough for me. I just stopped eating meat so im so happy that i found this recipe. Very tasty!Leigh J.
September 10, 2016 at 10:54 pm I used jarred Curry and reduced mine to 2 Tablespoons. I did not think my daughter could handle all 4... OMG, it was delicious!!! This is a wonderful recipe!!!Marla Musatow
October 2, 2016 at 12:51 am I used 2 heaping T of curry and my family all raved about this. My husband said it was as good as any resteraunt. Next time we are going to add an egg.Melissa
October 3, 2016 at 8:52 am Great! Thanks Marla, glad you enjoyed it!Sue birkett
November 22, 2016 at 8:48 pm Made this for tea tonight, was really tasty, couldn't get baby corn so used mangetout instead. Will make againMelissa
November 23, 2016 at 11:00 am Great! Glad you enjoyed it!Avie3
November 26, 2016 at 3:27 am WOW!! Cut the curry down to 2 tsps and added other julienned veg and some sliced vegetarian sausages (Sanitarium) and HUGE SUCCESS. Haven't had Singapore Noodles in one hundred years and will now make them a regular part of our menu. Also served them cold in a lettuce leaf as part of a salad meal - VERY nice cold as well.. THANKS HEAPS for great recipe!!Melissa
November 26, 2016 at 10:56 am Thanks for your comment, so glad you enjoyed the recipe!rachel
December 26, 2016 at 11:06 pm what do you mean "soak" the noodles? boil/cook them? directions on the package I got say you need to add them to boiling water, not just soak them.Melissa
December 27, 2016 at 7:10 pm There are different ways to prepare rice noodles. Some packages call for boiling, others for soaking in warm water, others for soaking in cold water. Follow the package directions for the product that you have. You'll want the noodles to be softened to al dente for this recipe.KT
January 13, 2017 at 12:09 am This recipe was lovely!! I ended up adding all 4 tbsp of store bought curry and my 7 year old and I loved every bite! We agree that next time, we'll garnish with fresh cilantro and add some thinly sliced carrots to the veg mix.Melissa
January 13, 2017 at 11:38 am Great! So glad you enjoyed it. This is definitely a recipe that you can add anything to, especially if you've got any leftover veggies in the fridge, and cilantro is good on everything!Nic
January 27, 2017 at 6:42 am Hi, this could be a silly question but I'm not much of a cook! Does this freeze well? Thanks :)Melissa
January 27, 2017 at 1:55 pm Well, I've never tried freezing it but I wouldn't imagine it would be a problem. If you try it, let me know.Nic
April 4, 2017 at 5:02 am i havent ended freezing this as we always want the left overs the next day! delicious recipe :)Alex
May 13, 2017 at 11:48 pm Hi, I haven't tried freezing this particular recipe with rice noodles. However I make in bulk rice noodle dishes and freeze them and the rice noodles handle very well being frozen. Being a student I cook enough for 5-6 people and freeze around 4 batches for future days. Take out the evening before to eat in the evening after and they're defrosted.K.C
February 16, 2017 at 11:03 am I made this dish last night, but added shrimp. It tasted just like take away from a restaurant. The only thing, I didn't have the color of curry, it took the color of the soy sauce (no biggie since the flavor was spot on. Maybe more tumeric next time ). We like it hot in my house so I used 4 tbsp and added the siraracha.Gina Ramirez
February 21, 2017 at 10:56 pm Maybe it's just me but the soy water and sugar sauce sort of made it too much of a liquid. Maybe I didn't leave it long enough?Melissa
February 23, 2017 at 12:41 pm I could be that you didn't leave it long enough or it could be that the rice noodles were cooked a bit too long to begin with. Make sure that they're still al dente so that they cook a bit more in the sauce.Jeanmarie
February 22, 2017 at 7:52 pm Where do you get baby corn? Is it in a can?Melissa
February 23, 2017 at 12:10 pm Yes, I buy it in a can at the supermarket.Tally Keller
March 19, 2017 at 2:15 am The direction about the noodles is a little unclear. Ours turned out super gelatinous and way over cooked/hydrated. Are you supposed to undercook them initially? They looked perfect before adding the soy sauce mixture. After, it was too much moisture.Melissa
March 20, 2017 at 11:57 am I'm not sure what could have gone wrong. I cook my noodles until al dente initially so they're still a bit firm on the inside and it doesn't take much time to get them there. After adding the soy sauce mixture, they're perfect. My best guess would be the brand of rice noodles you have cooks quite differently than mine as I've never experienced the sort of overcooked texture that you describe.tico
July 14, 2017 at 1:24 pm This was delicious! Better than the restaurant! Be sure your curry powder is good quality and is fresh/in date. I added shrimp because I am not vegan. Will try tofu next time.Cottie
August 1, 2017 at 6:11 am Looks good, heading to the farmer's market to get some good stuff and make this. How many servings?Melissa
August 1, 2017 at 9:47 am It´s good for 4 as long as your not super big eaters!Jane
November 2, 2017 at 4:26 pm I’m from Singapore and there is no such thing as Singaporean Noodles. When I moved to the US, every Asian restaurant has a ‘Singapore Noodles’ dish. It’s just too strange for me.Melissa
November 7, 2017 at 12:29 pm That's right, it's a Chinese dish.Jennifer
January 15, 2018 at 12:58 am Like previous reviews this was delicious! I really enjoyed preparing this too it was surprisingly quick. It wasn’t however as dry or yellow coloured as the photo shows However I actually liked the moist version. 3 tbsp of curry powder provided exactly the right amount of spiceyness for the entire 200g vermicelli packet. . This is a definite hit and I will try making a shrimp/prawn version next time... thank you so much for the recipe!Chelsea
January 19, 2018 at 10:35 pm This recipe is amazing!! Tastes just like my favorite restaurant noodles! So so SO good! Thanks for sharing!!