I want to share one of my favorite recipes – Tom Yum fried noodles, which was a hit at my previous restaurant.

Tom Yum (also spelled as Tom Yam) is a popular noodle dish in Malaysia where I live. This recipe uses bee hoon (rice vermicelli) as it absorbs the Tom Yum paste better than other noodles.

While most Tom Yum noodles are prepared as soup noodles, our recipe differs because it is a fried noodle dish.

Before I provide a step-by-step method of preparing this dish,, let’s go through each ingredient required for this recipe.

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1. Preparation before cooking

Here is a list of key ingredients and preparation steps required before cooking.

a. Bee Hoon (mee hoon, rice vermicelli, 米粉)

To prepare the noodles, rehydrate them by soaking them in water for 20-30 minutes. If you run out of time, you can speed up the process by soaking them in hot water. Once the noodles are rehydrated, drain any excess water using a colander. Please note that the weight of the noodles mentioned in the recipe is for the rehydrated noodles after draining all the water using a colander.

You can store the noodles in a plastic container in the fridge, which will stay fresh for up to a week. I usually soak the entire package of rice noodles, divide them into 500-gram portions, and store them separately.

b. Chicken and prawns

I used chicken and prawns as the main ingredients in this recipe. However, when I worked at the restaurant, I made a vegetarian version without these two items. The choice of ingredients depends on your preference. For example, you may use squid instead of prawns or pork instead of chicken. You can even make it a vegetarian dish by using tofu as the source of protein.

Some recipes include dry shrimp for added flavor, but I will not use it today. I want to stick to the original recipe I served in my previous restaurant.

c. Beansprouts, carrots, cabbage, egg, onion and garlic

• Another common ingredient in our fried bee heen is bean sprouts. I add crunchy bean sprouts to contrast the soft texture of the rice vermicelli. I also include cabbage strips for a crunchy texture, similar to the bean sprouts.
• Thinly cut carrots are also included in the recipe for added crunchiness and improved color.
• Other required ingredients include one medium-sized onion, a tablespoon of chopped garlic, and good-quality Tom Yum paste.
• Lastly, I will crack an egg and pan-fry a thin omelet, then slice the omelet into thin strips to use as a topping for the bee hoon.

d. Tom Yum paste and kaffir lime leaves

Tom Yum paste is the key ingredient of this recipe. Making your paste can be too complicated for home cooks and even restaurants. As a result, most Thai restaurants use ready-made Tom Yam paste to cook this fried vermicelli and other Tom Yum-related dishes. A typical tom yum paste should have the following ingredients: garlic, shallot, chili, sugar, salt, lemongrass, and galangal.

Tom Yum paste’s quality varies, so each brand’s flavor may differ. Therefore, it’s best to do a taste test before serving to adjust the sourness, sweetness, and the amount of the Tom Yum paste you use. This will allow you to make any necessary adjustments before finishing your cooking. Since Tom Yum has become very popular worldwide, you should be able to purchase the paste in most Asian markets.

For an authentic Tom Yum flavor, you can add kaffir lime leaves (also called makrut lime leaves). These leaves are readily available in Malaysia but may not be in many Western countries. However, you can purchase them in the dried form from an Asian market. While frying, you can add the whole leaves to the wok or cut them into thin slices. If you use whole leaves, discard them after cooking, as they are too tough to be eaten. That is why I slice them thinly in this recipe.

The above are the ingredients needed for this recipe. Next, let’s get into the detailed steps of how to cook it.

2. How to Cook Fried Tom Yum Bee Hoon

Here are the steps to cook the delicious fried Tom Yum Bee Hoon:

1. Soak the rice vermicelli in water for about 20 minutes or until it becomes soft. Once it is ready, drain it in a colander.
2. Cut the chicken into bite-size pieces and marinate it with fish sauce and ground white pepper. Fish sauce is widely used in Thai food, just as common as soy sauce in Chinese cuisine.
3. Heat some oil in a wok and stir-fry the chicken until it turns golden brown.
4. Add the prawns that have been washed, deveined, and unshelled. The prawns require less cooking time than the chicken, so they are added later.
5. Remove everything from the wok once the prawns are fully cooked.
6. Heat oil in the wok and sauté the garlic and onion over medium heat.
7. Add the finely sliced lemongrass (optional), kaffir lime leaves, Tom Yum paste, and some water to form a Tom Yum gravy.
8. Add the sliced cabbage and carrot and continue cooking for a minute or two until the vegetables become soft.
9. Do a taste test to check if you need to add more Tom Yam paste or add some sugar to balance the flavor of the paste.
10. Pour the rice vermicelli into the wok and increase the heat to medium. Mix it with the Tom Yum gravy. Gradually add the bean sprouts to the wok at this stage.
11. Once everything is mixed well, return the cooked chicken and prawns to the wok and mix them with all the ingredients.
12. Add the remaining bean sprouts to the bee hoon and turn off the stove. Allow the latent heat to cook the bean sprouts to a crunchy texture.
13. Transfer the fried noodles to a serving bowl or container. Top it with egg strips and garnish it with chopped spring onion and red chilies. Serve with nam prik pao (Thai chili paste) for extra spiciness.

Enjoy your delicious bee hoon!

Note: 

• Most Tom Yum flavored noodles are prepared as Tom Yum noodle soup, but this recipe is slightly different as it’s a stir-fry. Another thing that sets it apart is that it uses rice vermicelli, while Thai noodle soup can be made with any type of noodle, like glass noodles (mung bean vermicelli), egg noodles, or even ramen. The non-transparent type, rice vermicelli, should be used in this recipe.
• Tom Yum paste is typically made with vegetarian ingredients. If you want to make a vegetarian Tom Yum Bee hoon, check the ingredient statement on the paste to ensure it’s vegan Tom Yum paste.

3. Related recipes

If you like Thai flavors, there are other Thai recipes on this blog that you might like:

• Try Tom Yum Goong, a traditional Thai soup with prawns and fresh mushrooms.
• Pad Thai is a popular street food with stir-fried noodles. It’s often prepared with Thai thin rice noodles and served with ground peanuts and chili peppers, giving you an authentic taste of Thai cuisine.