Springy egg noodles tossed in a glossy dark soy-and-shallot-oil sauce, topped with slices of sweet char siu, leafy choy sum, pickled green chillies and a side bowl of plump pork-and-prawn wontons in clear broth.
Carried to Malaya by Cantonese immigrants, wan tan mee took on a distinctly local form in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, where the dry version tossed in a dark, caramel-tinged soy sauce became the defining style. The springy alkaline egg noodles, sweet barbecued char siu and pickled chillies make it one of the most ubiquitous Malaysian-Chinese hawker breakfasts.
The noodles are springy and slick with a savoury-sweet dark sauce that smells of toasted shallots. Sweet, smoky char siu and tangy pickled chilli punch through, while the soft wontons and their clean, hot broth offer a soothing counterpoint between bites.
Shocking the alkaline noodles in cold water after blanching tightens their gluten for a signature springy bite, while shallot oil emulsifies with the soy sauces to coat each strand evenly without watering down the flavour.
Variations
KL dark-sauce dry style, Penang style with shrimp, soup version, with wonton dumplings or sui kau
On the Palate
Where Wan Tan Mee sits in the Malaysian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 2
How it's made
8 steps · 30 min
- 112 min
Wrap minced pork and prawn filling into thin wonton wrappers.
- 23 min
Make a sauce of dark soy sauce, light soy, oyster sauce and fragrant shallot oil in each bowl.
- 33 min
Blanch the egg noodles briefly in boiling water until springy, then shock in cool water and drain.
Watch outBlanch the noodles only until springy, then plunge into cold water at once — the cold shock is what gives that signature bouncy bite.
- 42 min
Toss the hot noodles thoroughly in the dark sauce until evenly glossed.
Watch outToss the hot noodles hard in the dark sauce until every strand is evenly glossed brown — no dry white bits, no puddle of sauce at the bottom.
- 52 min
Blanch choy sum until just wilted and lay over the noodles.
- 64 min
Poach the wontons in simmering stock until they float and are cooked through.
Watch outThe wontons are done the moment they bob to the surface and float — fish them out then, or the thin skins overcook and split.
- 72 min
Slice char siu and arrange over the noodles with pickled green chillies.
- 82 min
Serve the noodles dry with the wontons and broth in a separate bowl.
