If necessary, turn up the fire and thicken the sauce slightly.īlanch the vegetables and cook the noodles. Pour in our mixed sauce, dark soy sauce and let it simmer for 15 minutes over slowest fire. Slow down the fire, otherwise the ginger and garlic might be burnt. Move the pork to the edges of the pan, add garlic and ginger, fry over slow fire until aromatic. Pour in Chinese cooking wine for a more pure taste. This is the process why we say it is “fried” sauce. Then prepare your vegetables, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, celery and scallion all works fine.Īdd around 1 tablespoon of cooking oil in pan and fry the diced pork until withered and slightly browned. Firstly, mix 2-3 tablespoons of yellow bean paste and 1 to 1.5 tablespoons of sweet wheat paste with 300ml warm water. The best ratio of the two sauces recommended are 2:1 (yellow bean paste VS sweet wheat paste). If you cannot find it in nearby markets, check this one and purchase it directly from China. No matter which brand you get, it should be 100% ok for this recipe. This one is much easier to find in markets. Just search your local Asian markets and ask for “黄豆酱”.Īnother important of this dish is Tian Mian Jiang “甜面酱”, a fermented wheat paste. Other types of soybean paste are much thin but much easier to find. The paste is very thick with strong aroma. But it might be quite hard to find outside China. If you are living in China or visiting China, purchasing several packages should be a good option.

The most famous one used for Beijing Zha Jiang Mian is the dried yellow soybean paste “干黄酱” from a famous brand “六必居”. The three ones in the following picture are the most famous and popular ones. To make authentic zha jiang mian, we need yellow soybean paste(黄豆酱). Although they sound similar, but they are two different dishes. We have a very similar soup noodle in Sichuan cuisine “杂酱面”. And this pork gravy changes from northern China to Southern China with the most two essential sauces stay the same: sweet bean sauce and soybean paste. Xiang Xiang may not be considered extraordinary in the noodle aspect, but it certainly brought upon a sense of comfort at a very affordable pricing.The highlight of this noodle lay in the minced pork sauce or pork gravy. While the overall taste of the noodles didn’t blow me away, it was certainly above average with its tasty chilli sauce (that wasn’t over-powering).Īs for the noodles, it was cooked soft (though I would have personally wished it was more springy or al dente), included with a fair of amount beansprouts for more textured crunchiness. The mee pok was tossed in a mixture of vinegar, chilli, ketchup and pork lard, with an old-school savour. While they do not make their own fishballs anymore and instead source from a supplier, they were still supple, bouncy, and slightly larger than the average stall. For the mixed bowl, there were two fishballs, two meatballs, a beancurd skin roll, and slices of fishcake. When I was amazed was the amount of ingredients given for a $3 bowl. The hawkers start selling at 6am (they arrive as early as 2am for preparations), and food can sometimes be sold out by late lunch around 2pm. The wait during peak hours can be around 30 to 45 minutes. Yes, the bowls will be sent to your table as long as it is near enough (reminds me of the hawker culture in the good old-days). That is because the customers are all waiting at the surrounding tables. When you reach the stall, you may not see a long queue – and think you are in luck. They continue to keep the prices low because many of the customers belong to the older generation, regulars of their traditional Fishball Noodles since decades ago. Fresh fishball are also available for sale at $2 for 9 pieces. Items sold included Fishball Noodles, Fishball Kway Teow Soup, Mixed Mee Pok or Mee Kia. Xiang Xiang has been operating since 1982 (perhaps older than many of you), and business has been passed down to the 2nd generation. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of any content and photos without express and written permission from DFD is strictly prohibited. (Other Chong Pang stalls featured in the current Michelin Guide include Hainan Zi 海南仔 and Ji De Lai Hainanese Chicken Rice.) This hawker stall has also been featured in the most recent Michelin Guide with a ”Michelin Plate”.

Jing xiang pork rib noodles