Pork Noodle ~ Chu Yoke Fun - Soupy Noodles #2

Frankly, I have never eaten this before I went to KL to study. It seems to be everywhere in KL, but I haven’t seen this around in other places that much. Is it so? Maybe I didn't notice. But this definitely didn’t exist in Kampar back then. My first experience was eating in USJ Goodyear Court 5.

This bowl of noodles calls for pork overload. To non pork eaters: I’m sorry, but this is so so delicious.

There was once in my life where I abstained from pork for almost 2 years. Not even touching Cha Siew Pau, serious. Somehow during 1996-1998, pork seemed to smell horrible. There’s a smell that lingers in my nose after eating it. That was why I was so so scared to eat it. Even some noodles that were cooked in pork bones broth smell horrible to me. I have partially recovered from this phobia, but not totally. I’m still sensitive to the smell. Nowadays, if I happen to eat pork that has this smell, I’ll ban that shop right away. But homecooked pork don’t have this problem. Wonder why?

I didn’t really plan to cook this, but since I happened to buy a pack of pork balls and had lots of pork in my freezer, I decided to try my hand at cooking this delicious noodle.

I chose not to really go full throttle with pork. Made anchovy broth base instead of pork bones broth. I always find, broth and soups taste best when meat+seafood is combined, not either one only. Umami levels are the highest this way. So, I chose to use anchovy broth. I also didn’t use pork fat (didn’t have this at home) and pork liver. I don’t eat liver of any sort, I’d puke, literally vomit my guts out when liver touches my tongue. I tried to touch liver, but my body totally rejects it. PUKE PUKE PUKE!

Sorry for being disgusting…. This noodle is still very delicious without the liver and will taste even better if pork fat is used.

Chu Yoke Fun @ Pork Noodles 猪肉粉

Recipe source: WendyinKK
Serves : 6 (2 cups broth per pax)

150gm pork slices*
300gm minced pork*
24 pcs pork balls (as much as you like)
500gm yellow noodles
200gm dry rice vermicelli
500gm Indian Mustard greens (Sawi, Choy sum)
Garlic oil (refer below)
Crispy shallots (refer below)
Crispy Pork Fat (optional)
Anvhovy broth base (refer below)

For dipping : soy sauce + bird’s eye chilli

Preparation
1. Prepare garlic oil, crispy shallots and broth base.
2. Marinate pork slices with ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar, good dash of pepper, 1 tsp cornstarch and 1 tsp sesame oil. Set aside. (divide into 6 portions if you like)
3. Marinate pork mince with ¾ tsp salt, 1 tsp sugar, good dash of pepper, 1 Tbsp cornstarch and ½ Tbsp sesame oil. Set aside. (divide into 6 portions if you prefer)
4. Soak rice vermicelli in tap water until softened(5-10 mins will do). Drain and set aside.
5. Rinse yellow noodles with boiling water. Drain and set aside. (if noodles isn’t too oily, it’s ok to skip this step)
6. Clean mustard greens and cut into 2 inch sections. Separating the stem and leaves.


Cooking (Do not be lazy. Prepare this individually)
1. Put 2 cups of broth (500ml, my ladle is 125ml so I just use 4 ladles) into a saucepan on high heat. While waiting for it to boil, put in 4 pork balls and some mustard stems.
2. When it has boiled, with a teaspoon, scrape minced meat by the teaspoonful (5-6 tsp) into the boiling broth (no need to be perfect). Put in pork slices. Bring to a boil again.
3. Put in single portion noodles+vermicelli and mustard leaves. Bring back to a boil and pour everything into serving bowl. Top with 1 tsp garlic oil and some crispy shallots (and crispy pork fat). Serve immediately.

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Garlic oil and crispy shallots

4 shallots, thinly sliced
½ bulb of garlic, finely chopped
4 Tbsp oil, or more
(best is use pork fat, cut raw fat into small cubes, fry on low heat until oil oozes out and turns crispy. Retain the oil to cook, but I didn’t use this)

Heat wok and put in oil. Fry shallots on medium low heat until golden and crunchy. Push it to the side to drain off excess oil. Dish up. With the oil (add more if needed), sauté garlic on medium low heat until golden. Dish up together with oil. Do not wash the wok. Use it to sauté the dried anchovies.

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Broth base

1 cup dried anchovies
3L water
1 tsp sugar
Generous dash of pepper
Salt to taste (amount is dependent on the anchovies)

Rinse dried anchovies and sauté in the oily wok (see above) until fragrant (not golden). Put into a pot and put in water. Bring to a boil and lower to a simmer for 15 minutes or until soup turns whitish. Add more water if it has reduced too much.
Put in sugar, pepper and salt to taste. No need to oversalt. Strain broth, discard the anchovies.