Guangxi's Criminally Underrated Pork Noodle Soup (叉烧粉) | Chinese Cooking Demystified

Char Siu Rice Noodles! A classic to slurp down for breakfast in Guangxi - and pretty realistic to whip up at home, as well.

0:00 - Guangxi's Rice Noodle Culture
1:11 - What are Char Siu Noodles?
2:08 - Component #1, Pickled Bamboo
3:21 - Component #2, Char Siu BBQ Pork
6:25 - Component #3, Pork Bone Soup
7:17 - Component #4, Rice Noodles
8:07 - Assembly
8:28 - Other toppings?

COMPONENT #1: PICKLED BAMBOO SHOOTS

* Pickled Bamboo Shoots (酸笋), 300g. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Pickled-Peppers-Instant-Independent-Together/dp/B08L3C3NVQ/

* Chili powder, 1 tbsp. Optional.

You can also substitute the chili powder for a tablespoon of Hunan chopped chilis (剁椒) or Lao Gan Ma Pickled Chili (糟辣椒).

1. Julienne the bamboo shoots, squeeze out the excess liquid.

2. Over a high flame, toast for 5-6 minutes, or until the surface is mostly dry. Remove.

3. Over a low flame, add ~2 tbsp of oil and quickly fry the chili powder for ~15 seconds. Up the flame to high, add the toasted bamboo shoots and - if your package of pickled bamboo shoots came with some pickled chilis, ala the linked package above - also toss those in. Fry everything together for ~2 minutes.

Jar it up. Should last at least a couple weeks in the fridge.

COMPONENT #2: GUANGXI STYLE CHAR SIU

* Lean pork (瘦肉), 1kg

* Marinade: 100g scallion, 50g ginger (姜), 50g garlic, 3g/two pieces star anise (八角), 3g/12 pieces sand ginger a.k.a. kencur (沙姜) -or- equivalent amount dried galangal or ginger, 6g/1 tbsp white peppercorns (白胡椒), 3g/3 pieces licorice root (甘草) - optional, 1g/third of a stick cinnamon, 10g/2tsp salt, 30g/2tbsp sugar, 60g/third cup soy sauce (生抽), 10g/2 tsp dark soy sauce (老抽), 60g/quarter cup water, 30g/quarter cup high proof alcohol (vokda, rum, baijiu, etc), 4g/1tsp red yeast rice powder (红曲粉) -or- 2 drop red food color -or- skip this.

Note: the above water quantity is higher than the video. It's really something that you can eyeball, but I feel that a little extra water here might make your process a little smoother when simmering.

Process:

1. Cut your lean pork into strips WITH the grain (we'll be slicing against the grain once finished).

2. Grind together the spices. Rub together the scallion, ginger, and garlic until the scallion wilts a little. Add the salt, sugar, and spices, and continue to rub until the scallion's released much of its liquid. Add the remainder of the marinade ingredients, and massage that into the pork for ~5 minutes, or until your hands start to feel a little spicy from the ginger. Marinate for at least 24 hours, ideally 48.

3. Place the pork together with its marinade into a non-stick skillet, and over a medium high heat cook it down. This will take ~20 minutes or so, flip when needed. Cook until the pork is cooked through, then remove and rinse off any marinade. Pat dry.

4. Deep fry (or shallow fry) for one minute at 170C. If shallow frying, flip at the 30 second mark.

5. Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

COMPONENT #3: PORK BONE SOUP

* 1kg pork bones, ideally with a little meat still attached.

* Aromatics: ~2 inches smashed ginger, ~30g scallion tied in a knot

* 5L water

Process:

1. Blanch the pork bones for ~3 minutes, then rinse.

2. Add the blanched pork bones and aromatics to a stock pot with the cool water. Bring up to a boil, skim, then down to a heavy simmer. Cover (with the lid ajar if you have a heavy lid), cook for at least three hours.

3. Remove the aromatics and the pork. Store as you would stock (we use water bottles & freeze)

ASSEMBLY

Per serving:

* 100g dried rice noodles, i.e. the sort that you'd use for Pho. e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Viet-Way-Noodle-Sticks-Packs/dp/B01CZ8A0FE/

* 1/8 tsp each salt, sugar, MSG (味精), white pepper powder

* 40-50g sliced Char Siu

* ~1.5 tbsp each sliced scallion and pickled bamboo shoots

Process:

1. Cook the rice noodles according to the package.

2. Heat up the stock, re-heating the Char Siu slices in the soup (if your Char Siu was frozen)

3. Assemble.

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A huge thank you to the creators that let us use some of their footage for B-Roll :)

The picture of the Kanom Jeen Namya is courtesy of the always excellent Pailin: https://youtu.be/BaOzMgmPAkQ

Footage of the Pho in Vietnam is courtesy Food Ranger: https://youtu.be/-24c2YiaChY

The quick aerial shot of Quanzhou is from Blondie In China's Quanzhou video: https://youtu.be/Ubs8a89sWL4

And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
http://www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified

Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): https://youtu.be/GHaL5H-VYRg