TAIWANESE NOODLE RECIPE RECIPES

Steps:

• Place the pork into a mixing bowl and pour in the soy sauce and rice wine. Sprinkle with the white pepper, five-spice powder, and cornstarch. Mix well, then set aside to marinate. Soak the mushrooms in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes, then pour off the water, cut off and discard the stems of the mushrooms. Slice the mushrooms thinly and reserve. Soak the rice vermicelli in a separate bowl of cold water for 10 minutes, then pour off the water and set the noodles aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the vegetable oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Pour in the eggs, and cook until firm, flipping once, to make a pancake. Remove the egg pancake, and allow to cool, then thinly slice and place into a large bowl. Heat 2 more tablespoons of the vegetable oil in the wok over high heat. Stir in the garlic and dried shrimp, and cook until the shrimp become aromatic, about 20 seconds. Next, add the pork along with the marinade, and cook until the pork is no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in the carrots and onion, and cook until the carrots begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Finally, add the bean sprouts, napa cabbage, and sliced mushrooms; cook and stir until the vegetables are tender, about 3 minutes more. Scrape the pork mixture into the bowl along with the eggs, then wipe out the wok and return it to the stove over medium-high heat.
• Heat the remaining vegetable oil in the wok, then stir in the drained rice vermicelli noodles. Cook and stir for a few minutes until the noodles soften, then stir in the reserved pork mixture. Scrape the mixture in to a serving bowl and garnish with cilantro to serve.

Steps:

• Make the sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary - there should be a powerful sesame flavour and it should be reasonably salty (perhaps slightly over, because it will dilute when you mix with the noodles). Sourness and sweetness (from the vinegar and sugar respectively) should be in the background, but not prominent.
• Add noodles to lightly salted water and cook according to packet instructions.
• Add beansprouts to the bubbling pot 90 seconds before the noodles are finished cooking
• Drain the noodles/beansprouts, reserving the cooking water
• Add around 150-200ml of the cooking water to the sauce and mix - this will loosen the sauce and lighten its colour, meaning it will give the noodles a glossy coating when mixed.
• To serve, place the noodles/beansprouts in a bowl and scatter over the spring onions. Top with the loosened sauce and allow the diner to mix for themselves.
• Optional - serve with Taiwnaese cucumber salad and/or chilli oil (I like Lee Kum Kee Chinese chiu chow chilli oil).