mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles) with minced pork

As promised...presenting one of our family favourites...mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles) with minced pork. Weird thing is, we don't prepare this noodle dish as often as you'd think...mostly to celebrate a family member's birthday since mian xian signifies long-life in Chinese culture. So it's a great treat whenever we do have it!

Simple to prepare. Will share the recipe at the end of this post. Let's begin our journey...

Chopping up the pork. Fast hands yet pretty delicate work required here...careful you don't hurt your hands!

The resulting minced pork without any seasoning at this point. Best part for this purpose is the 3-layer pork which has lean plus fatty layers for the ideal texture.

Some of the garnishings...

~ sliced shallots...to be fried until brown.

 ~ sliced bird's eye chilli...with dark soy sauce added later is a must-have to spice up this dish since it's clear soup based.

More garnishing...blanched cai xin 菜心...a type of green leafy veg. Not sure what it's called in English. Will update once I find out.

Be flexible...substitute this veg with another or even add more types if you're a veg lover.

This garnishing shouldn't require any introduction...shelled & sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Final garnishing...crispy fried anchovies...these are great as a snack too!

(I "stole" a few mouthfuls while waiting for the dish to be ready! Ssshhh...don't tell anyone!)

Fry shallots slowly using medium heat...

...to produce these deliciously sweet, crispy, brown fried shallots.

(I stole some of these too...I'm sorry...they all looked inviting to me...I couldn't resist.)

mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles)...already washed and softened in room temperature water.

The minced pork is now in hot soup...literally!

Now it's mian xian's turn to be dunked in hot soup! Ouch!

Ah...finally...the finished product...

...ready to be devoured & savoured!!! What a satisfaction!!!

So what do you think? Simple? It really is. Just that maybe you'll find the garnishings take quite some preparation time, what with slicing, cutting, frying, blanching, boiling, etc. You can opt not to have them but then what's the fun in that??? Plus the dish won't be as tasty for sure.

~~~Recipe~~~

Ingredients:

1. Mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles). Washed and softened in clean, room temperature water.

2. Minced pork. You can either buy the ready minced ones or do-it-yourself as shown in the pictures...it's more fun plus you get to pick the cut of pork to use. As mentioned, the best for this is the 3-layer pork cut.

Garnishings:

1. Cai xin 菜心 or any other type of, preferably leafy, vegetable you prefer. Blanched.

2. Sliced shallots. Fried until a nice, crispy brown.

3. Anchovies. Fried until golden brown.

4. Eggs. Hard-boiled, shelled then halved or sliced according to your preference.

This is how you do it:

1. Boil water in a pot for the soup. Add anchovy seasoning powder and salt to taste.

2. Add minced pork slowly, using spoonfuls, into the boiling soup. The minced pork should cook rather quickly.

3. Dunk mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles) in the hot soup briefly to soften & cook it. Careful not to leave the noodles too long as they will become soggy...yuck!

4. Put the nicely cooked mian xian 面线 (vermicelli noodles) in serving bowls. Top with garnishings and...it's pig out time!!!

~~~Bon Appetit!!!~~~