Indonesian & Malaysian

Serving

Mee Rebus

Name: Mee Rebus
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 7 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian & Malaysian
Ingredients: 300g yellow noodles; 500g sweet potatoes (boiled and mashed); 2 tbsp dried shrimp (pounded); 3 tbsp curry powder; hard-boiled eggs; fried tofu

Yellow noodles bathed in a thick, sweet-savory gravy made from sweet potato and spices, topped with boiled egg and crispy shallots — uniquely Malaysian.

45 minutes

Serves 7

Main

16 min prep

25 min cook

Contains common allergens

Egg Seafood Shellfish Soy Wheat

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Instructions

6 steps

1
Blend shallots, garlic, and lemongrass into a paste, and sauté with the pounded dried shrimp and curry powder until fragrant.
2
Add water/beef broth and bring to a simmer.
3
Stir the mashed sweet potatoes into the broth, whisking constantly until it thickens into a rich, sweet gravy.
4
Season the gravy with palm sugar, salt, and a splash of soy sauce to taste, simmering for 10 minutes.
5
Blanch the yellow noodles briefly and place them in deep serving plates.
6
Pour the thick, piping hot sweet potato gravy over the noodles and garnish with sliced hard-boiled eggs, tofu, green chilies, and fried shallots.

Mee Rebus — plated and served — Serving moment. How Mee Rebus looks plated and ready to eat — a representative photo, not a step in the recipe.

Listahan Family Score™

61/100

Works for many families

Allergen-friendly 50

Kid-friendly 65

Weeknight-easy 64

Budget-friendly 64

Great leftovers 93

Pantry-friendly 36

Score reflects how well this recipe fits a typical busy household. In the app, your Family Score is personalized to your household's allergens, kids, and pantry.

Nutrition

per serving

230

Calories

8 g

Protein

48 g

Carbs

1 g

Fat

Estimated per serving. Actual values depend on the brands and portions you use.

Listahan cooking guide

Chef notes & practical guide

Technique notes, ingredient swaps, serve-alongside ideas, storage guidance, and equipment for this recipe.

Cultural context

Mee Rebus — literally 'boiled noodles' — is a Malaysian noodle dish with a sauce that is anything but simple: thick, sweet-potato-thickened, curry-spiced, and topped with shrimp, hard-boiled egg, and calamansi lime. The dish is a Johor specialty with strong Indian and Malay crossover influences, reflecting the multicultural food culture of southern Malaysia. What makes Mee Rebus distinct from other curry noodle soups is its gravy-like sauce thickened with mashed sweet potato, which gives it a natural sweetness and body that sets it apart from thinner laksa or curry mee broths.

Listahan note

This version uses canned sweet potato to speed up the sauce and delivers the sticky, thick gravy that defines good Mee Rebus.

Technique cues

The sweet potato must be fully cooked before mashing and adding to the broth — raw or undercooked sweet potato produces a starchy, gritty gravy rather than a smooth, sweet sauce.
Build the sauce in stages: fry the spice paste until fragrant and the oil separates, then add broth, then the mashed sweet potato — adding sweet potato too early prevents the spice paste from cooking properly.
The finished sauce should coat the back of a spoon thickly; if it is too thin, simmer uncovered for 5-10 more minutes rather than adding starch, which changes the flavor.

Kitchen flow

Parallel prep: Boil sweet potato and hard-boil eggs simultaneously in the same pot while frying the spice paste in a separate pan.
Make-ahead: The sweet-potato gravy can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated; reheat gently and thin with a little water or broth as it thickens on cooling.
Leftover move: Leftover gravy makes an excellent dip for roti canai or a sauce for steamed vegetables and rice the next day.
Cleanup rhythm: Make the gravy in a single pot and rinse it while warm; sweet potato residue sets hard if the pot cools with gravy stuck to it.

Ingredient brief

Role, handling, and swap guidance for each key ingredient.

yellow egg noodles

noodle base

Purpose: Thick yellow wheat noodles have the chew and body to hold up under the heavy sweet-potato gravy without becoming mushy.

Handling: Blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes just before serving so they are warm and slightly yielding; do not pre-boil and hold.

Adaptation: Udon noodles are a widely available substitute with similar thickness and chew.

sweet potato

sauce thickener and sweetener

Purpose: Mashed sweet potato is the defining characteristic of Mee Rebus and what distinguishes it from all other Malaysian noodle soups — it adds starchy body and natural sweetness.

Handling: Boil or steam until very tender, drain, and mash until completely smooth before adding to the broth.

Adaptation: Canned sweet potato puree at 1/2 cup saves 30 minutes of boiling and mashing time with minimal flavor loss.

dried shrimp

umami base

Purpose: Dried shrimp give the sauce a briny depth that fermented shrimp paste alone cannot provide and is fundamental to the Johor-style gravy.

Handling: Rinse and soak for 10 minutes, then grind into a rough paste with the other aromatics.

Adaptation: Double the shrimp paste if dried shrimp are unavailable; the flavor is more concentrated but accomplishes the same function.

shrimp or prawns

protein topping

Purpose: Cooked shrimp provide textural contrast to the soft noodles and gravy and are the traditional protein in Johor Mee Rebus.

Handling: Blanch briefly — 2 minutes in boiling water — just before serving so they stay plump and are not rubbery.

Adaptation: Firm tofu cubes pan-fried until golden make a satisfying vegetarian replacement.

calamansi limes

finishing acid

Purpose: Calamansi squeezed over each bowl at the table cuts through the richness of the sweet-potato gravy and provides the essential brightness that wakes up the whole dish.

Handling: Halve and serve alongside the bowl; guests squeeze their own to control the sourness level.

Adaptation: Regular lime juice at 1 teaspoon per serving approximates the sour note without the distinct calamansi aroma.

Technique notes

A tablespoon of peanut butter stirred into the gravy is an optional Johor variation that adds richness and mild nuttiness — common in home kitchens though rarely mentioned in restaurant versions.
Dress the blanched noodles with a teaspoon of dark soy sauce before ladling the gravy over them; this gives the noodles color and extra savory depth that gets lost under the pale gravy.
The fried shallots and green chilies garnished on top are not decorative — they provide the crunch and fresh heat that the soft dish needs, so do not skip them.

Ingredient swaps

Gluten-free direction: Use rice noodles instead of egg noodles and verify that the sweet potato gravy uses tamari-based soy sauce.
Allergen-direction swap: For shrimp allergy, omit dried shrimp and shrimp paste from the spice base; replace with 2 tablespoons of white miso for comparable umami.
Vegetarian direction: Replace shrimp with fried tofu, omit dried shrimp and belacan from the paste, and use vegetable broth; the sweet potato body of the sauce makes a vegetarian version still satisfying.

Serve alongside

Fried tofu puffs
Cucur udang (shrimp fritters)
Blanched bean sprouts
Iced Milo
Bandung (rose milk drink)

Serving suggestions only — check pairings for your household's allergens.

Storage & reheating

Store the gravy and noodles separately in the refrigerator for up to 3 days; pre-combined noodles will absorb all the gravy by the next day.
Reheat the gravy on the stovetop over low heat, adding a splash of water or broth to loosen it; blanch fresh noodles in boiling water to serve.

Equipment

Medium saucepan for the sweet-potato gravy
Noodle basket or strainer for blanching noodles quickly
Potato masher or fork for mashing sweet potato

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