Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken (about 1.5kg), jointed
• 500g pork bones
• 1 whole Jinhua-style cured ham hock or 150g cured ham, in a piece
• 1 thumb ginger, bruised
• 3 spring onions, halved
• 2 tsp salt, plus more to taste
• 100g rendered chicken fat
• 400g fresh Yunnan rice noodles (mixian), or 250g dried
• 150g pork loin, sliced paper-thin
• 150g skinless chicken breast, sliced paper-thin
• 4 quail eggs
• 80g fresh shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 60g tofu skin, soaked and shredded
• 100g pea shoots or chrysanthemum greens
• 80g bean sprouts
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 handful coriander, chopped
• 1 tsp white pepper
• Chilli oil, to serve

Before you cook

• Blanch the chicken pieces, pork bones and ham in boiling water for 4 minutes, then drain and rinse them.
• Slice the pork loin and chicken breast as thinly as you possibly can, freezing them for 30 minutes first if that helps.
• Lay the raw sliced meats out on separate small plates and keep them cold.
• Prepare the mushrooms, tofu skin, greens and bean sprouts on their own plates.
• Soak dried rice noodles in warm water for 30 minutes if you are not using fresh.

Steps

1. Put the blanched chicken, pork bones and ham in a large pot and cover with 3 litres of cold water.
2. Bring the pot to a boil and skim the surface clean.
3. Add the ginger and halved spring onions, then lower the heat to a bare simmer.
4. Simmer uncovered for 3 hours, topping up with hot water if the level drops below the bones.
5. Strain the broth through a fine sieve into a clean pot and discard the solids.
6. Season the broth with the salt, tasting carefully because the ham is already salty.
7. Warm four large deep bowls in a low oven until they are hot to the touch.
8. Cook the rice noodles in boiling water for 2 minutes, or 5 minutes if they were dried, then drain them.
9. Melt the rendered chicken fat in a small pan until it is liquid and clear.
10. Bring the broth to a hard rolling boil.
11. Pour the boiling broth into the hot bowls, filling each about three quarters full.
12. Spoon the melted chicken fat over each bowl so it forms a sealing golden film on the surface.
13. Carry the bowls to the table along with the plates of raw meat and vegetables.
14. Slide the pork and chicken slices into the broth first and stir them under, watching them turn white within seconds.
15. Crack a quail egg into each bowl and stir it through.
16. Add the mushrooms, tofu skin, bean sprouts and greens and press them under the surface.
17. Add the noodles last and stir the whole bowl once.
18. Finish with spring onion, coriander, white pepper and chilli oil to taste, then eat straight away.