Fish soup bee hoon

Fish soup bee hoon, also known as fish head bee hoon, is a Singaporean soup-based seafood dish served hot usually with bee hoon. The dish is viewed as a healthy food in Singapore.[1] Catherine Ling of CNN listed fish soup bee hoon as one of the "40 Singapore foods we can't live without".

Fish soup bee hoon

Fish soup bee hoon at Food Junction in Singapore
Alternative names	Fish head bee hoon
Course	Soup
Place of origin	Singapore
Region or state	Maritime Southeast Asia
Serving temperature	Hot
Main ingredients	Fish (usually snakehead, also pomfret or batang), fish stock or bones, bee hoon, water, oil, yams, milk
Cookbook: Fish soup bee hoon

History

Fish soup bee hoon has been available since at least the 1920s;[2] one source credits Swee Kee Fish Head Noodle House with creating the "definitive version" of the dish in the 1970s.[3]

Ingredients

Snakeheads are most commonly used for fish soup bee hoon.[4] Other stalls may offer pomfret, batang.[1] or garoupa.[5] While fish heads or the whole fish may be used, some diners prefer having just fish slices. The fish soup is made out of either fish stock[4] or actual bones,[6] water, oil, yam,[7] and milk,[8][lower-alpha 1] with vegetables[4] and select fruits.[7]

The noodle in the soup is often bee hoon, although a healthier alternative except for irritable bowel syndrome sufferers would be spaghetti made from brown rice.[10] Another noodle variant would be fried noodles.[11] Additional ingredients include eggs,[9] anchovies, pepper, salt,[12] and alcoholic products such as brandy,[4] Chinese wine,[6] or cognac,[13] chilli slices, fried shallots, and fish roe.[5] For the vegetarian version of the dish, fish meat is substituted with tofu.[14]

Preparation

The fish is boiled and added to a bowl of fish soup.[4] The fish may also be fried.[4] The soup is boiled for about twenty minutes,[7] though a broth made from fish or pork bones boiled for several hours is sometimes used as a base.[1][12][6] The dish is served hot.[15]

Culture

Grace Chen of The Star writes that fish soup bee hoon is "to Singaporeans what the char kway teow is to Penangites".[16] Catherine Ling of CNN describes fish soup bee hoon as one of the "40 Singapore foods we can't live without".[4] Jin Hua Fish Head Bee Hoon was named the best fish soup bee hoon store in Singapore by Time Out Singapore in 2012.[17]

See also

• List of soups

Notes

1. Some fish soup bee hoon stalls, such as China Square Fried Fish Soup, do not add milk to their fish soup.[9]

References

1. Phoon, Audrey (December 19, 2009). "The best fish soup and fish head". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
2. Mobile 2007, p. 24.
3. Yan, Yee Yaw; Ebrahim, Naleeza (2006). Singapore. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 102–. ISBN 9789812329226.
4. Ling, Catherine (April 14, 2010). "40 Singapore foods we can't live without". CNN.
5. Tay, Suan Chiang (November 26, 2012). "Spoilt for choice at Quan Xiang Fish Porridge". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on December 1, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
6. Thng, Lay Teen (October 15, 2012). "Cheap and good fish-head beehoon at 21 Seafood". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on May 9, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
7. Chen, Baoxing (2004). 土埚养生菜飘香 (in Chinese and English). Lingzi Media. p. 46. ISBN 9789814157339.
8. Gilbert, Jonathan P. (2010). Michelin MustSees Singapore. Michelin Travel. p. 126. ISBN 9781906261979.
9. Phoon, Audrey (December 19, 2009). "China Square fried fish soup keeps original taste". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
10. "Sliced Fish with Bee Hoon Soup". Health Promotion Board. Archived from the original on July 9, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
11. Thng, Lay Teen (February 21, 2010). "Delicious yee mee with fried fish meat at Goldhill Centre". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on April 1, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
12. Sun, David (September 26, 2011). "The best fish soups in Singapore". Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
13. Mobile 2007, p. 406.
14. "Living on the veg". Time Out. January 28, 2008.
15. Lewis, Mark (2000). The rough guide to Malaysia, Singapore & Brunei (3 ed.). Rough Guides. p. 183. ISBN 9781858285658.
16. Chen, Grace (August 17, 2010). "Foodie recommends the best budget eats in Singapore". AsiaOne. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2013.
17. "2012 Singapore's Best Dishes: Local cuisine". Time Out. June 11, 2012.

Bibliography

• MobileReference (2007). Travel Singapore: Illustrated Travel Guide, Phrasebook, and Maps. MobileReference. ISBN 9781605010151.