This is a special noodle dish in a prawn based soup. It's the soup that makes the difference, the sweet prawny essence with the spicy chilly sauce packs a kick. Now that beats tea and toast for breakfast anytime!

Now there is another Hokkien mee in KL that is a big noodle dish(tai lo min) fried with black soya sauce. But in Penang the prawn noodles is a signature dish.

Hokkien hae mee (Hokkien/Fujian prawn noodles; 福建虾麺) is served in Penang (with a variant served in Singapore known as Hae mee). It is a dish of egg noodles and rice noodles in a fragrant stock, which is made from both fresh shrimp and dried prawns, as well as pork or chicken. Traditionally, small cubes of fried pork fat are added to the soup, but this is now less common due to health concerns. It is garnished with prawns, fish cake, leafy greens, pork ribs, squid, vegetables, crisp deep-fried shallots, spring onions and fresh lime. The dish is served with sliced red chili, light soy sauce and sambal.

In Singapore, Hokkien mee refers to a variant of the Penang version of Hokkien hae mee. The dish uses the same egg noodles and rice noodles used in Hokkien hae mee, but is stir fried and served dry. The main ingredients are shrimps and small pieces of sliced pork. It is usually served with lime and sambal chilli.

The secret to making a memorable Hokkien Prawn Mee Soup is in, as with most Asian noodle soups, the stock. My grandmother, who spent a good part of her childhood in Penang (to this day, I think of Gurney Drive's version as the definitive one), taught me that a properly made Hokkien Mee stock should be a deep ruddy brown even before the addition of soy sauce or palm sugar. The stock derives its rich flavour and colouring from prawn shells, patiently sauteed until well caramelized - not only is much flavour concentrated in the shells, but their carotenoid pigments contribute to the stock's characteristic burnt umber hue. Skimp on this step and the resulting stock will be anaemic in both flavour and colour. Whenever we eat crabs, prawns, crayfish or lobster, I hoard their throwaway heads and shells. Carefully cleaned, wrapped and frozen into packages, it means there's always a stash to call upon for amplifying any shellfish based stock, ensuring a brew sweetly saturated with shellfish flavour - as was the case when we decided to have Hokkien Mee last Sunday. A mixture of pork is also used to round out and frame the shellfish flavour - tail lends succulence and body, while meaty bones and ribs add flavour. The following recipe is my grandmother's - the only change I've made is to cook a separate batch of pork for topping the Hokkien Mee instead of using the meat from the stockpot, which tends to be tired, having given its best to the liquid.