prawns to give the gravy a rich flavour.
Vegetarian mee rebus
recipe
Vegetarian and former hawker Lui Yeen Chai’s
mee rebus is a hit in Ubi Avenue 1.
Vegetarian and former hawker Lui Yeen
Chai’s mee rebus is a hit with his customers
in Ubi Avenue 1.
Singapore Cooks
Singapore, July 2, 2009 - Mr Lui Yeen Chai
became a vegetarian 32 years ago and he has
not looked back on his meat-eating days since.
The 67-year-old retiree switched to a meat-
free diet after a vegetarian friend convinced
him of its health benefits.
He says of the transition: “It came naturally
and I didn’t have a hard time adjusting
because I was not a big meat eater.”
It also helps that Mr Lui, a former hawker, is
adept at tweaking non-vegetarian recipes into
meat-free dishes, so he does not find the diet
restrictive.
A non-vegetarian dish which the self-taught
cook successfully modified is one of his
favourite dishes – mee rebus, for which he
shares the recipe below.
The original Malay noodle dish uses dried
Instead, he increases the amount of other
aromatic ingredients used for the gravy, such
as candlenut, lemongrass and fermented soya
bean paste, so that the taste of the noodles is
preserved.
He also blends the spice paste for the gravy to
a coarse texture instead of a smooth
consistency to give it more body.
After a few tries at home, he perfected the
proportions of the ingredients and decided to
sell the noodles at his former vegetarian food
stall at a small eatery in Ubi Avenue 1. He ran
the stall for more than 20 years with his wife,
Madam Heng Chen Kiow, 63, who is also a
vegetarian.
He says: “Vegetarian mee rebus was not
commonly sold at vegetarian food stalls in the
1980s. I thought it would be a good way to
attract customers.”
His mee rebus quickly became popular and he
would receive bulk orders from customers
holding large-scale gatherings or functions.
Otah (grilled fish paste) was another top-
selling item at the stall. Its recipe was
conceived by Madam Heng using tau kwa
(firm soya beancurd) and egg to create the
texture of fish paste.
Other dishes sold included mock meat kway
chap (organ stew) and vegetarian prawn
noodle soup. In 2007, the couple retired and
rented out their shop to a hawker who
continues to sell vegetarian food at the stall.
Mr Lui’s former customers, however, hanker
after his cooking and some even call to ask
him to make appearances at the stall. He
obliges with fortnightly stints, much to the
delight of the current tenant, whom he is
friends with.
He says: “I shared all my recipes with the new
stallholder because I hope that he will
continue, like I did, to encourage people to
eat vegetarian food. But it takes time to
master these dishes.”
Mr Lui, a father of two and grandfather of five,
adds that there is no secret to his cooking.
“I just use natural ingredients with strong
flavours such as ginger, lemon juice and lime
juice to season the food.”
Beyond experimenting with recipes to
increase his repertoire of vegetarian dishes,
he also learns recipes from friends who are
avid vegetarians.
Some dishes he picked up include shark’s fin
soup made with vermicelli, enoki mushrooms
and black fungus to approximate the crunchy
texture of fish cartilage, as well as tea-smoked
duck made using mock meat and assam fish
made using soya beancurd skin.
Indeed, it was his change in diet that led him
to learn to make vegetarian meals, which
consequently fuelled his interest in cooking.
Prior to becoming a hawker, he was a
construction worker who enjoyed eating and
would occasionally whip up his favourite
foods.
After he discovered his passion for vegetarian
cooking, he decided to pursue it full-time. He
ran a now-defunct vegetarian restaurant in
Bendemeer Road with some partners before
striking out on his own as a hawker.
Although he no longer cooks professionally,
he still whips up vegetarian meals at home.
He retrofitted his kitchen stove at home for
this purpose last year to increase the strength
of the fire from one of its three burners.
He says: “After being a hawker for so long, I’m
used to cooking with a larger flame, the sort
of fire you see at zi char stalls. The fire of
home kitchen stoves, however, is so small,
everything cooks much slower and I end up
very ‘pek chek’.”
“Pek chek” is Hokkien for frustrated.
He adds that his food also has “wok hei”,
which is Cantonese for wok breath. “With the
bigger flame, my food tastes better too.”
================================
MAKE IT YOURSELF: VEGETARIAN MEE
REBUS
INGREDIENTS
10 dried chillies, coarsely chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, coarsely chopped
5cm galangal, thickly sliced
10 candlenut (buah keras)
1 tsp curry powder
1.6 litres water
2 medium potatoes, cubed
2 Tbs fermented soya bean paste (tau cheo)
4 Tbs coconut milk
4 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs sweet potato starch
1kg yellow noodles
500g beansprouts
6 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
3 deep-fried beancurd puff (tau pok), sliced
3 stalks coriander, coarsely chopped
6 stalks fresh green chilli, sliced
METHOD
1. Place the dried chillies, lemongrass,
galangal and candlenut in a food processor,
cover with water and blend for about 15
seconds on high speed until a coarse paste
forms.
2. Pour the paste into a pot, add curry powder
and 1.5 litres water. Mix well and bring to a
boil on high heat.
3. Place the potatoes in a food processor,
cover with water and blend for a few seconds
until a coarse paste forms. Set aside.
4. Blend the fermented soya bean paste for a
few seconds until a coarse paste forms. Set
aside.
5. To the boiling gravy, add the potatoes, mix
well and bring the mixture to a boil again on
medium fire. Stir continuously.

6. Add the fermented soya bean paste,

coconut milk and sugar to the gravy. Mix well.

9. Ladle the gravy over the noodles and top

with hard-boiled egg, deep-fried beancurd
puff, coriander and green chilli. (above)

Serves six.

7. Dissolve sweet potato starch in 100ml of

water and pour the mixture into the gravy
gradually while stirring to incorporate it
thoroughly. Keep the gravy warm on low fire.
(above)

8. Scald the noodles and beansprouts in

boiling water for half a minute. Drain well and
place in serving bowls. (above)