Kolo Mee

Ingredients

• 400 g fresh thin egg noodles
• 250 g minced pork
• 200 g char siu, thinly sliced
• 6 shallots, thinly sliced
• 120 ml vegetable oil or rendered lard
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp white rice vinegar
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 spring onions, finely sliced
• 100 g choy sum, cut into 6 cm lengths

Before you cook

• Slice the shallots as thinly as you can and pat them dry on kitchen paper.
• Mince the garlic and slice the spring onions.
• Season the minced pork with the Shaoxing wine, one tablespoon of the light soy sauce and the white pepper, then leave it for ten minutes.
• Slice the char siu thinly across the grain.
• Pull the egg noodles apart with your fingers so no clumps remain.

Steps

1. Pour the oil into a small pan and set it over medium-low heat.
2. Add the sliced shallots and fry them for eight to ten minutes, stirring, until they are pale gold.
3. Lift the shallots out with a slotted spoon onto kitchen paper, where they will crisp as they cool.
4. Take the pan off the heat and keep the shallot oil.
5. Heat one tablespoon of the shallot oil in a wok over high heat.
6. Add the garlic and stir it for ten seconds, until it smells sweet.
7. Add the seasoned minced pork and fry it for four minutes, breaking up the lumps, until it is browned and dry.
8. Stir in the oyster sauce and sugar, cook for one minute more, then tip the pork into a bowl.
9. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.
10. Drop the choy sum in for forty seconds, then lift it out and set it aside.
11. Cook the noodles one portion at a time for forty-five to sixty seconds, lifting and shaking the basket so the strands separate.
12. Plunge each cooked portion into cold water for five seconds, then dip it back into the boiling water for five seconds to reheat.
13. Drain the noodles hard, shaking out every drop of water.
14. Toss each portion in a bowl with a tablespoon of shallot oil, a teaspoon of light soy sauce, a few drops of dark soy sauce and half a teaspoon of vinegar.
15. Pile the minced pork, sliced char siu and blanched choy sum on top.
16. Scatter over the crisp shallots and spring onions and serve at once, while the noodles still bounce.