Since I don’t have a kitchen, I’ve been spending lots of time in my mom’s kitchen, which explains all the Chinese recipes up recently. Every time we get together to write down one of her recipes, we discuss which one we’ll do next time. As we brainstormed, my mom started thinking we shouldn’t do certain recipes because she felt like my non-Chinese audience might not like it. Things like tripe, pig feet, duck feet, pig ears, or innards might be unappetizing to some. Dishes with fermented flavors or unfamiliar textures might be hard to handle. I thought about it and decided that I want to share as much as I can, and you can decide which recipes you want to make, right?
There’s nothing “weird” in this Basic Mei Fun (very thin rice noodles), but Lon did not like it. Lon finds some Asian foods bland (and he does not like shiitake mushrooms). I would call it subtle. Most restaurants tend to serve a Singapore Mei Fun, which is curry flavored, giving tastebuds a stronger wallop. I’ll probably eventually post that recipe too, but for now, I thought it was still important to share what is commonly found all-over Taiwan, and in the homes of Chinese people. Lon had this for lunch one day in the office and Tim said it looked just like the one his grandma makes, which might seem sparse and light if you’re used to ordering it from a Chinese take-out. I took that as a confirmation that I should post this very basic Mei Fun recipe. It is a classic.
By itself, the flavors are indeed very light, but it’s often served with condiments. In Taiwan, people like to throw on black vinegar, while oyster sauce seems more common among the Cantonese. Many will also add a variety of hot sauces on, varying from sambal to Szechuan style hot oils. I’m eager to here what you think, whether this is familiar to you or something new.
Basic Mei Fun
~6 to 8 servings
- 2 large shiitake mushrooms
- 1 (300g) package mei fun rice noodles
- rounded 1/2 cup pork strips
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3/4 teaspoon cornstarch
- 4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
- 1/2 cup julienne carrots
- 2 cups thinly sliced cabbage
- 4 cups mung bean sprouts
- 1 scallion, thinly sliced
- 1 1/4 cup chicken broth
- salt to taste
condiments
- vinegar (distilled white, Chinese red, or Chinese black)
- oyster sauce
- sriracha or sambal
- hot oils
Instructions –
1. Soak mushroom is a bowl of cold water for 3 hours, or until softened. Drain and squeeze out excess liquid. Slice and set aside.
2. Soak rice noodles in cold water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
3. In a small bowl, mix together pork, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Set aside.
4. Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in a wok or similar on medium high heat. Add carrot and stir for a minute. Add cabbage and some salt, stirring and tossing until softened (but still al dente). Add bean sprouts and scallion and toss until well mixed and bean sprouts are just cooked. Remove to a bowl/plate and set aside.
5. Return wok/pot to the medium high heat with 2 teaspoons vegetable oil. Add pork mixture and stir until evenly browned. Add mushrooms and stir for about a minute. Add the chicken broth, rice noodles, and pinch of salt. Stir until noodles are evenly moistened. (You won’t see extra liquid though.)
6. Turn off the flame and stir in the vegetables. Check and add salt to taste. (Rice noodles can be difficult to toss with vegetables because they clump together. Sometimes I use two sets of chopsticks to evenly distribute.)
7. Cover with a lid and rest for 5 minutes. Serve with choice of condiments for guests to add on their own. Store any left-overs in an airtight container in the fridge. It will last for a week. You can reheat in the microwave.
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I love this vegetarian meal. I would enjoy some snowpeas as well. DO you like ho fan? The thick kind?
Kim, I love ho fan, and pretty much all noodles. =)
This was one of the first dishes I ever learned to make. It’s a favorite of mine. Yours looks great!
Please post the recipes for tripe and for duck feet. I’m not that crazy about pigs ears, but if your mother has a good recipe for fish maw soup, I’m ready! Your noodles look great BTW.
that’s a great idea to document your mom’s recipes–that’s essentially what we’re doing with our blog!
MMMMMMM,..that’s one lovely & tasty looking dish! Yum!
i’m enjoying this foray into chinese cuisine–i don’t have nearly enough experience with its preparation or consumption. 🙂
Barbara, my mom is going to be leaving for a trip to Asia for 1 month, but I promise to get to all those recipes when she gets back.
Ravenouscouple, that’s one of the reasons I love your blog!
Grace, I encourage you to get into it. Being trained in French Classical technique, but also seeing Chinese from my culture, I feel like it’s completely different worlds.
Thanks for posting this! I always wanted to learn a few basic “everyday” dishes if you will. I’ve made the singapore mei fun before and did use curry and fish sauce. Although yummy, I remember the mei fun I grew up with that my mom would make always lighter in flavor. I will definitely have to give it a try soon!
I stumbled upon your blog last Friday in search of a good and easy to understand recipe for “lou bo gau” (white radish cake) and I found your instructions extremely easy to follow and clear (love the pictures!)! I will attempt to make it tonight! I was so excited to have found your blog that I made 3 dishes from your site this weekend alone: tea eggs (one of my favs growing up), hot and sour soup and tofu gahn stir fry. All of which were loved by my husband and friends! My husband thanks you whole heartedly since he loves Asian food and I don’t always make it often. I’m big on authenticity and have been looking for authentic recipes written/translated in English rather in Mandarin (since I can’t read chinese). That has been a challenge – finding a source I can trust. A few months ago, I came to the realization that although I can cook pretty well, I hardly make Asian food due to the lack of knowlege and practice and am probably not all that great in that area and to be perfectly honest, I think I’m slightly intimidated by it. So I decided it was time to dive in and do something about it.
My husband and I currently reside in the South where true Chinese/Taiwanese cuisine is near impossible to find (I’m a Taiwanese American transplant from Calif.). Thankfully there is a decent Asian supermarket near by. My mom is in Calif. and each time we see each other, I’m always asking her to teach me more dishes. It’s hard to write them down since she doesn’t use measurements or a recipe card, but just taste and feel, but we try to document it as much as possible. I love food and cooking and I feel part of celebrating culture and keeping it alive is through food and that is something I definitely want to pass onto my future kids. I am SO glad to have found your site, especially since these recipes are passed down from your mom, it’s so wonderful to incorporate the voice and insight of wiser generations before us! I also think it’s such a wonderful bonding experience you and your mom have working in the kitchen together – it makes me miss kitchen time with my mom! So until I can get together with my mom in the kitchen again, you guys will act as my psuedo mom imparting wisdom on my journey of honing my Asian cooking skills! Thank you so much for sharing and continue posting all things, tripe, pig feet, duck feet, pig ears, innards etc.! Those are a part of our cuisine culture and should definitely be aknowledged! I agree with you, readers can pick and choose what they want to make and learn! Sorry for the long reply, just excited about this discovery! 🙂
-Grace
PS. My husband’s family is French American (although they id with their American side more since they’ve been here for so many generations), I think it would be neat to learn some French dishes as well. Since you were trained in French Classical technique, I would love to try out some of your traditional French recipes if you have any on your site! Feel free to make a suggestion of where I should start! 🙂
You’ve got a good audience with me, ’cause my mom served things like beef tongue, pigs feet, and all kinds of innards from the time I was a child. And my kids love them too. I often served them lamb kidneys over toast for breakfast.
Anyway…this is a delightful dish. Luckily I like shiitake mushrooms too. I do very little in the Chinese cuisine department. I have some recipes a Chinese couple gave me during our Air Force years, but they were very basic, like fried rice and sweet and sour port.
This looks elegant by comparison! And a great way for me to start!
This post is great. I just posted my Mom’s recipe a for lunar new year and your post just brought me back to it. Thanks for the familial reminder. My mom actually cooked ours with black vinegar in it. But, I totally agree on the light flavors. It wasn’t a hit with my Korean friends who wanted something stronger and more flavorful.
Grace D, thank you for writing such a nice comment. It make me feel like I’ve really achieved something, like all the hard work is so worth it! My mom doesn’t measure when she cooks so it’s difficult to get these recipes down. Sometimes, it’ll take a couple of tries, but we’re getting better at working together, and I do truly treasure the time we spend together.
I’ve done less with French cuisine on this blog, partially because I feel like it has been well documented, but I think you should try duck confit. It sounds all fancy but it’s so easy.
Barbara, I hope you’ll try some of my Chinese recipes and let me know what you think. There’s a huge world beyond fried rice and sweet & sour pork, though, those are delicious!
Scott, I was nervous about posting this lighter flavored dish originally but I’m glad I’ve gotten a lot of identifiers. Thanks!
My favorite noodle dish!
Yes, I agree with you Jessica – bring on the tripe and pigs ears and the like! I made homemade grass-fed beef tongue tonight 🙂
Many thanks to you and your mom for sharing this lovely recipe. I don’t cook any Asian dishes at home, and would really love to try to. My son is going to college in August so for me cooking at home even more often than I do now will be a necessity.
P.S. My dad used to make a killer tripe soup and oh how I miss it! I’ve only made it on my own maybe twice because I always had him to make it for me.
This looks so great, light and refreshing. I don’t eat much meat other than seafood, but am otherwise open to all sorts of uncommon flavors.
For the first time today, I tried Beef Mei Fun from a takeout place for lunch and thought it was a refreshing change from the heavier dishes I normally get, but this one looks even better! I will definitely have to try it soon!
This sounds absolutely fabulous. I say bring on ALL dishes! There are many of us that will like them all! 🙂
Just wanted to let you know that I love your blog. I believe the ingredient you are missing is the dried shrimp, dried mushrooms (instead of fresh shitake mushrooms, and shallot (all added in at the beginning of the sautee). Those 3 ingredients are always included in the traditional Taiwan mi-fun , and it really adds a ton of umami into the dish. Try it out and let me know 🙂
Alice, those were dried shitakes which I failed to note in the ingredient list. That’s why they are soaked in the instructions. Whenever I ate Mei Fun, it was usually pork, not dried shrimp but I’m sure that’s great too.
Hi Jessica. Oh sorry…my mistake for not reading it carefully 😉 As for the dried shrimp, I meant add it as an additional ingredient, not as a substitute for pork. You start off sauteeing the dried mushrooms (pre-soaked), dried shrimps (pre-soaked), and the shallots. Then the pork, then the veggies, then the mi-fun. The added sauteed shallots plus the dried shrimps adds a lot of flavor, in my opinion. Give it a try one day and let me know how you like it 🙂
Alice, I’m sure I would like it since I love dried shrimp and shallots. Unfortunately, Lon hates shitake mushrooms. =(
This looks delicious! After moving to a small town with limited take-out options, I’ve had to get creative to be able to eat some of my favorite meals. Sushi Saturday at home has replaced my previous sushi night at a restaurant, and I’m getting pretty darn good at it! I wanted to figure out something to use as a side dish and this looks perfect 🙂
Oh! Almost forgot…can I substitute chicken or other meat?
Steph, yes. it’ll still be yummy.
This is my all time favorite noodle receipt. I am not Asian but have grown up eating Asian food all my life. Even my first job was at a Chinese restaurant. When they realized that I did not want them to fix me “Americaize” chinese food then I started to get the really good stuff that they would fix just for themselves. (We always ate family style at the end of the night after the restaurant closed.) I loved this version of mei fun because of it’s delicate flavor and I never put any condiment on it.
Thanks Nikki! I do sometimes worry about posting traditional home-style recipes in fear that some people won’t “get” it. Still, these blog posts are for myself as well and it’s a recipe I want to have documented. Thanks again!!
I love to eat Mie fan noodles ! It’s my favorite noodles to eat when I go to Chinese restraunts
How wonderful to find authentic Chinese recipes. I didn’t have a recipe for mei fun or even look for one until I tried to make mei fun on my own. I have a fairly discerning palate. I’m pleased to say that I came extremely close but added extra veggies as I just love veggies. I also added some ginger to mine. Would the addition of ginger be considered Americanization of this recipe?
Suzy, I don’t think I’ve ever had ginger in a classic Taiwanese style mei fun but there are many fancier versions like Singapore Mei Fun that have curry and of course, you can make it anyway you will enjoy it.
Like Suzy I also made additions to your recipe. I also subtracted thinks too! My hubby doesn’t like mushrooms plus where we live no one carries fresh bean sprout and the canned ones aren’t very good…. there are very few options in more ethnic foods choices here. Which sucks I have run to issues finding some ingredients. I thank you for posting this recipe….I love trying and making new recipes from around the world. I have since add this one to my rotating menu. We love Asian and Hispanic dishes around our house! 🙂
Hi Catherine! Sorry you have a hard time finding ethnic ingredients. That does make it really tough! I do have several Chinese recipes that use pretty “normal” ingredients though. Here’s some to try: Taiwanese Cucumber Salad, Shrimp & Peas, Chicken Corn Soup, Cold Noodles with Peanut Sauce. Good Luck!