Sang Har Meen
A popular Chinese restaurant dish starring big prawns atop a bed of crispy noodles drenched with a rich briny sauce
Equipment
- wok, nonstick saucepan
Ingredients
- 2 cakes wan tan noodles
- 6-8 big prawns, shell-on, head-on,butterflied
- 2 cups prawn stock
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 bulbs shallots, sliced thinly
- 4-5 fresh ginger slices
- 1/2 small carrot, sliced
- 1/2 cabbage, thinly julienned
- 1 stalk spring onion, cut into 2-inch sticks
- salt, sugar and white pepper to taste
- water for gravy
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 tsp cornflour dissolved in 2 tbs water
Instructions
- Lightly oil a large nonstick saucepan. Take a handful of loosened wantan noodles (See Recipe Notes 1) and carefully arrange them in a pancake shape on the saucepan. Cook till the bottom is crispy and lightly browned, then flip to cook other side. Place pancake on serving plate.
- Now, prepare the gravy. In a wok, heat up 1-2 tbsp of oil. Add in ginger, garlic and shallots. Fry until fragrant. Put in the prawns shell side down and let cook until shells start to turn red.
- Into the wok, add prawn stock and bring to the boil. Once prawns are cooked, remove from wok and arrange them on the noodle pancake.
- Back to the wok, add carrots and cabbage. Bring to the boil again. Cook until vegetables are tender. Add some water if gravy gets too dry. Add spring onions. Stir in cornflour solution.
- Turn off heat and stir beaten egg into the gravy. Add salt, sugar and white pepper to taste.
- Pour sauce over prawns and noodles. Serve at once.
Notes
Sang Har Meen - Quick FAQ
1. What is sang har meen? Sang har meen is a Chinese Malaysian noodle dish made of crispy fried noodles topped with large prawns and a luxurious, briny, eggy gravy made from prawn stock. It’s famous for its bold seafood flavour and crunchy–soft texture combo. 2. What prawns should I use? Do I need actual river prawns? Traditional sang har meen uses giant river prawns (sang har), but they’re expensive and may be hard to find. You can easily substitute with large tiger prawns. The key flavour comes from the prawn stock, not the prawn size. 3. What noodles work best for sang har meen? Wan tan mee (thin egg noodles) works beautifully because it crisps up evenly.You can also use yee mee or Hong Kong-style egg noodles. Just avoid overly thick noodles as they won’t crisp properly. 4. How do I extract maximum flavour from prawn heads? Use the potato masher trick:
Press down on the heads while frying to squeeze out the juicy prawn “essence.”
This transforms your stock from good to spectacular. 5. How do I prevent the noodles from turning soggy? Keep the sauce thick, not watery. Pour the sauce over the noodles just before serving. Eat immediately — crispy noodles soften quickly (that’s part of the joy!). 6. How do I thicken the gravy? Use a combination of cornstarch slurry and egg (stirring gently to create velvety ribbons) Reduce the stock longer Aim for a glossy, clingy sauce that coats the noodles beautifully.