SNOW CABBAGE AND PORK SHREDS NOODLE SOUP 雪菜肉絲湯

It's a classic taste, and if you're Chinese, you already know that. You probably had an elderly auntie who prepared it whenever you visited, and insisted that you eat.
Because you cannot go away hungry.

It's not just aunties who make it. You can also find it at many restaurants that cater to a Cantonese clientele. Consequently it will be on the menu at very many places in Chinatown, and wherever there are exiles from Guangzhou or Hong Kong who need a quick fix of something that reminds them of home.

But the dish itself is Shanghainese.

Well, more or less.


雪菜肉絲湯 SUET CHOI YIUK SI TONG
Enough for four people (夠四人)

Ingredients 材料：
One pound of lean pork,slivered  瘦豬肉絲1磅
Two cups chicken stock  雞湯兩杯
Two cups water  水兩杯
Quarter to half a cup pickled snow cabbage  雪菜度半杯
Two handfuls rice stick noodle  米粉滿手兩把
Two or three stalks gailan  芥蘭兩個或三個條
Three or four slices of ginger  姜3至4片
One or two cloves garlic two cloves  大蒜一或兩瓣
One TBS Shaohsing rice wine or sherry  紹興酒或雪利酒1湯匙
A dash of sesame oil  麻油少許

Marinade 醃料：
Two Tsp. soy sauce  豉油2茶匙
Two Tsp. corn flour  粟粉2茶匙
Two Tsp vegetable oil  菜油2茶匙
One Tsp. sugar  糖1茶匙
A pinch of ground pepper  胡椒粉少許

Method 做法：
In a pot of boiling water cook the noodles as appropriate. Rinse in cold water, set aside.
Soak the pickled snow cabbage for about fifteen minutes in cold water, squeeze, rinse, and squeeze again. Chop, and set aside
Marinate pork for fifteen minutes.
Chop the gailan.

Gild the garlic and ginger briefly at the bottom of a deep pot with a little oil. Then add the water and chicken stock, and bring to a boil. Dump the pickled snow cabbage, chopped gailan, and slivered pork into the pot. When it boils, add the rice stick noodles and the sherry or rice wine.

Add the sesame oil for aroma, divide over four bowls and serve.

米粉放入大滾水略煮至軟身，撈起，用凍水冲淨，瀝乾水份，備用。
雪菜用淡水浸20分鐘，洗淨。揸乾水份。切半，備用。
肉絲用醃料拌勻，醃約15分鐘。
芥蘭切段，備用。

用深鍋，炒香蒜頭和姜，放入雞湯和水，煮滾後，放入雪菜，豬肉絲，芥蘭。再煮滾後，加入米粉同紹興酒或雪利酒。

再滾後，加麻油，即成。


How easy is this? 非常簡單！



Not all versions have gailan (芥蘭 'gai laan') added; I like the bitterness and find the crunch most appetizing. Some people would add whole little cabbages (小白菜 'siu baak choi') instead, others might throw in some slivered black mushroom (冬菇 'dong gu') or wood ear (木耳 'muk yi'). Often it is just red-in-snow (雪里蕻 'suet lei hong'), lean pork, stock, chili flakes, and a little sesame oil on top of the noodles.

Rice sticks (米粉 'mai fan') are more of a southern thing.
Shanghainese usually use wheat noodles (面).


Please note that the pickled brassica is rather salty, hence the soaking beforehand. But it is easily found in small cans or hermetically sealed packs, and is a very useful ingredient to have in your larder.
It goes very well with pork and other oily meats.




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