This is a fuss-free, simple and healthy (uses no MSG!) dish that I loved to cook for a quick lunch fix or during a cold day when some soupy food is desired. The original recipe comes from my mom – she loves to use all kinds of leftover vegetables in this dish and it’s an incredibly homey and comfort food for us all. The soup base is cooked using onions and dried anchovies (popularly known as ikan bilis in Asia) but chicken stock can be substituted for the soup. All kinds of vegetables can be used – cabbage, sugar snap peas, carrot, mushrooms, corn etc, just use whatever is leftover in the fridge!
For my version, I rummaged the fridge and found some leftover carrot and chicken fillet. So, I grabbed some shiitake mushrooms and an egg to complete this meal. Wish I had more varieties of vegetables to add into this bowl of nutritious soup! On to the step-by-step photos!
List of ingredients (clockwise from left): chopped onion, carrot, ikan bilis, egg, shiitake mushrooms
Middle: Ee Mein (伊面)
Ee Mein is a type of Asian noodle made with eggs and wheat flour. It is golden in colour (due to the eggs) and has a chewy texture (due to soda water being used in making the noodles). The noodles are bundled into a patty-like shape then deep-fried till crispy and dried. It can be cooked in various ways – soup, stir-fried and braised.
Ikan bilis are actually dried anchovies in Malay. It is widely used in many Asian dishes. My mom will often pan-fry the larger ikan bilis till crispy and serve it as garnish on top of vegetables (imagine eating vegetables with an extra crunch!).
The smaller ones are often used in soups to develop a deep and rich flavour.It is a great source of protein, though it’s pretty salty.
Let’s marinade the meat first!
Add some light soy sauce…
Some sesame oil.
Dash of white pepper.
And some corn flour to make the meat tender.
Mix the meat and set aside for 15 minutes.
Heat some oil in a pot and sear the meat till golden.
Remove the meat and add in the ikan bilis.
Next, in goes the chopped onion.
Fry until translucent then add in water.
If you want to skip cooking the soup base, chicken or vegetable stock can be used.
Bring to a boil and add in chicken, shiitake mushrooms and carrot. (Or any other vegetables you want to use.)
Simmer for a while and then add in the noodles and the egg.
Cook till the noodles have softened. Season and serve immediately!
I’m going to link this dish to Recipe Box #13 hosted by Chaya!
Ee Mein Soup
INGREDIENTS
Chicken:
- ~80 to 100 grams chicken fillet, diced
- 1 teaspoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
- A little white pepper
- 1 heaping teaspoon corn flour
Soup base
- 1/4 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 heaping tablespoons dried anchovies, ikan bilis or icefish (Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis), rinsed once (to get rid of some salt) then drained
Others:
- 3 shiitake mushrooms, soaked in water till soft, stem removed and sliced (reserve the mushroom water)
- 1/3 small carrot, peeled and sliced
- 1 bundle of ee mein
- 1 egg
- Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine the chicken, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and corn flour and leave aside to marinate for 15 minutes.
- In a small pot, heat a little oil till hot and sear the chicken until browned all over. The chicken doesn't have to be cooked thoroughly. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In the same pot, add in a little more oil and stir fry the ikan bilis / ice fish and the onion until the ikan bilis is slightly golden and the onion is translucent. Use the mushroom water and fill up to half a bowl of water, add it in with the ikan bilis and onion and bring to boil.
- Once the water has boiled, add in the chicken, shiitake mushrooms and carrot. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes until the soup is flavourful.
- Add in the noodles and egg and cook until the noodles have softened. If you like your egg to have oozy yolk, add in the egg slightly later. Season with salt to taste.
- Transfer into a bowl and serve immediately.
Super Naggy:
- For instant soup base, use a good quality vegetable or chicken stock (stock cubes can be used too).
- Use all kinds of vegetables!
- If ee mein can’t be found, substitute with your favourite noodles – vermicelli, egg noodles etc.
- I realized I made a mistake in the explanation of ikan bilis. Ikan bilis are indeed dried anchovies. In Chinese, it’s called jiang yu zai (江魚仔). Anchovies are salt-water fish and are often processed and preserved by gut and salt them in brine, then packed in oil or salt. In Asia, they are often salt then dried. It can be used to make soup base, pan-fried / deep-fried to serve as side dish. The small fishes that I used in this recipe are called
silver fishicefish– if you google them you’ll just end up on a Wiki page on this bug also known as silverfish... The scientific name for this is Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis. In Chinese, it’s called yin yu (银鱼), which directly translates to silver fish. It is a freshwater fish that is more commonly used in Asian dishes. In Asian markets, we are able to get fresh ones and dried ones. The fresh ones are translucent (a little milky in colour) and are used mainly in stir-fry dishes. The dried ones are white in colour and are used mainly in soups for flavour. Our family prefer to usesilver fishicefish to make soup base as it’s lighter in taste – dried anchovies’ has a stronger “fishy” taste. Both types of fish are suitable to be used to make this dish, so I guess it is up to each and everyone’s taste!
伊面汤
INGREDIENTS
鸡肉：
- ~80克 鸡柳肉, 切丁
- 1 茶匙 酱青
- 1/2 茶匙 麻油
- 少许 白胡椒
- 1 大匙 蜀粉
汤底：
- 1/4 红洋葱，切小丁
- 1 大匙 银鱼仔，冲洗几次去除盐分
其它：
- 3 朵 香菇，泡软，根去除，切小片 （留住泡香菇的香菇水）
- 1 小段 胡萝卜，去皮切片
- 1 片 伊面
- 1 鸡蛋
- 少许 盐
INSTRUCTIONS
- 鸡柳肉、酱青、麻油、胡椒粉、蜀粉拌均，放置15分钟。
- 在小锅热油,加入鸡肉抄一下 。鸡肉不必全熟，待金黄色捞起放一边。
- 在同意个锅热油，加入银鱼仔和洋葱拌抄至银鱼仔微金黄色。香菇水加水至半碗，加入锅中煮沸。
- 水沸后加入鸡肉、香菇与萝卜，火转小煮10分钟至汤入味。
- 加入伊面及鸡蛋。若不想蛋黄全熟，迟一点再加入鸡蛋。加入盐调味。
注：
[1] 可直接使用高汤或鸡精块。
[2] 可使用任何喜爱的蔬菜。
[3] 可把伊面换成面线、米粉等。
Baby Sumo says
Mmmmm a comforting bowl of noodles!
mjskit says
What a delicious looking soup! I would order this is a second and pay handsomely!
Amelia says
Hi, looking at your bowl of Ee Mein soup…. I’m so hungry now. Wish I can have a bowl….LOL
Delicious and tempting.
Have a nice day.
Bam's Kitchen says
非常好吃!
Anuja says
What a beautiful and comforting dish for rainy days ( as we are having here :D). Thanx for sharing
Chaya says
Now that the weather has gotten cooler, I am planning to make lots of soups and this one looks amazing. Thanks for sharing this at the Recipe Box where it is being featured. Come on over and visit.
kitchen flavours says
A bowl of comforting meal indeed! I always have a pack of anchovies in my fridge! I love ee mein, of course I must have a condiment of sliced chili padi and see yau with a squeeze of lime, drizzle that over the eggs, heavenly!
Have a great day!
gottagetbaked says
Lol ops. I read the poached part of your post and thought to myself, I’ve never poached an egg before! Then of course when I was typing, my brain automatically typed “fried” cause that’s how I always make my eggs. In any case, eggs with runny yolks are delicious on everything!
lena says
agree with you, this is a very comforting homey kind of noodle dish. i never tried using silverfish to make stock, it’s always ikan bilis, thanks now i know that can be used to make stock.
Jasline says
I made a mistake earlier, it’s actually called silver fish (Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis) and it’s white in colour when dried (translucent/milky when fresh). Dried anchovies can also be used for this dish. I’m glad you like it! 🙂
Jasline says
Yes they’re extremely flavourful! But I made a mistake earlier, they’re actually silver fish (Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis) not anchovies… but both can be used for this dish! Glad you like it!
Jasline says
Thank you Uru! 😀 Have a great week ahead!
Jasline says
I agree, I love this dish as it’s so easy and quick to prepare! 😉
Jasline says
Thank you John! I agree, it can get pretty time-consuming to make a proper and delicious soup… so I love this kind of “short-cuts”! I made a mistake earlier stating mine is dried anchovies, they’re actually silver fish (Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis). Both can be used to make this dish, so I hope you get to find them in Asian markets!
Jasline says
Thank you Natalia! 🙂
Jasline says
Thank you!
Jasline says
Mmmm fried egg sounds really delicious on top (mine is a poached egg 😉 )
Jasline says
Thanks Mich, yea it’s one of my favourite comfort food as it’s really quick and easy to prepare! 😉
Jasline says
Thanks Raymund! I realised I made a mistake in naming the fishes, they’re actually silver fish (Neosalanx tangkahkeii taihuensis). But the brown ones can also be used to make this dish. 🙂
rsmacaalay says
I never seen a white dried anchovies, I always buy the brown ones. That mee looks so satisfying. Yum,!
Mich - Piece of Cake says
Looks delicious, Jasline. Would love to have this when its cold… hot soupy noodles are a great idea!
gottagetbaked says
I have to make this ASAP. I LOVE noodle soups, especially with a fried egg on top!
yummychunklet says
I love that egg!
Natalia at Hot, Cheap & Easy says
I do love this recipe and the step by step presentation! Delish!
ChgoJohn says
Sometimes you want soup but don’t want to wait hours for it to cook. This looks like the perfect recipe for those days and we’re just entering into soup season. Yum! I don’t believe I’ve seen dried anchovies before in the Asian markets I frequent but, then again, it’s not like I was searching for them, either. I will now, though.
girlinafoodfrenzy says
Yet another lovely example of wholesome home cooking on a whim! Sometimes the best meals are the impromptu ones 🙂
Choc Chip Uru says
What a simple but flavoursome and delicious looking soup my friend 😀
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
A_Boleyn says
I did wonder what the little things were … dried anchovies. I bet they add a lot of punch flavour-wise to the soup. And it seems like it would be very fast to make with simple ingredients. Thank you for sharing.
apuginthekitchen says
I have never seen dried anchovies, they are white or light in color? This soup looks comforting and wonderful and is so quick to put together. The perfect cold weather meal. So wonderful!!