Pan Mian 板麺 (Hakka Flat Noodle Soup)

This week lot of happening, I'm glad that the backyard renovation comes to its end. My son orthodontics treatment going into second stage, pray that it will all go well and he will not experience any pain. 

This week, I lug out my pasta maker and making Pan Mian or Ban Mian (Pan Mee) a kind of Hakka flat noodle soup which is popular among Malaysian Chinese. I ate a lot of Pan Mian when I was living in Kuala Lumpur. If the dough is torn into pieces the dish is called Mee Hoon Kueh 麺粉糕 (Hand-torn noodle), however, if the dough is made into noodle strips then the dish is called Pan Mian 板麺. The noodle is with a simple flour based dough and the broth is cooked with anchovy. I cooked my broth with some pork soup bone before adding the anchovy to enhance the soup flavour. Traditionally this noodle soup is accompany with Mani Cai (Sauropus androgynus) but I can't find it in Sydney, so I use Choy Sum. 

My hubby and son thumbs up for this noodle soup. ^^

好久没做手工麺了，搬出道具来弄麺的心情是喜悦的。滑爽弹牙的麺条从筷子刷进口里的感觉是。。。棒！

(yield 3 bowls of noodle) Ingredients:
For broth:
300 g pork soup bone, cook in boiling water for 5 mins, drain well
3 litres of water
3 cloves garlic, crushed lightly
a handful of dried anchovies (~ 20g)
3 tbsp of oyster sauce
2 tbsp of fish sauce (to taste)
a tablespoon of cooking oil

For noodle:
315 g plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
120 ml water (can add more water if the dough is too dry)
1 egg
1 tbsp cooking oil

Accompaniments:
5 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (seasoning with 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1/2 tsp dark soy sauce)
250 g minced pork plus chopped shrimps (seasoning with  1 tbsp sesame oil, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine, a pinch of pepper, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, and 1 tsp tapioca flour) 
Some Choy sum, or any types of green vegetables
eggs 

For garnish:
some fried shallots
1 cup dried anchovies, fried in oil till it is crispy 


Method: 

1. Prepare the noodle: In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, egg and cooking oil, make a well in the centre, gradually add water. Using a pair of chopstick, mix all the ingredients until it comes together. Hand knead the dough until it form a stiff dough. Add a tablespoon of water at a time if the dough is too dry. Knead the dough until it is smooth. Cover with cling wrap and let it rest for an hour. 

After resting, the dough is soft and pliable, divide into three portions and roll out using the pasta maker. Floured the worktop surface, adjust the the dial for pasta machine to thickness "6" which is the thickest, slowly roll the dough over. When the whole piece of dough has been rolled over the machine, adjust the dial to "5" and repeat the step until your desire thickness. I stop the dial at thickness "2".

Roll the dough over the pasta cutter. Cut the noodles using a scissor. (Dust with more flour if the dough is sticky) Hang the noodles to dry on the wooden noodles stand. 

2. Prepare the accompaniments: In a big soup pot(A), add a tablespoon of cooking oil, fry the garlic (ingredient in the broth), place the seasoned sliced shiitake mushroom, stir fried it for at least 5 minis or until the mushroom is cooked. Take out and set aside.

In the same pot (no need to clean the pot), place the seasoned minced pork and chopped shrimps, stir fried for 10 mins or until the minced pork and shrimps are cooked. Dish out, set aside for later. 

3. Prepare the Broth:  In another soup pot(B), place the pork soup bone, add the 3 litres water and cook for at least 30 mins. In the same big soup pot(A) use for frying shiitake mushroom and minced pork and chopped shrimps, add a tablespoon of cooking oil, fry the dried anchovies until it is fragrant. 

Pour the soup from pot B to pot A. Bring to boil and simmer for about half and hour, top up water if the water level is low, add oyster sauce and fish sauce (to taste).

4.  To serve: Ladle about 300 ml of broth into a small pot, bring to boil, add noodle. Use a pair of chopstick to separate the noodle so it will not stick together. Add a few tablespoons of minced pork and shrimps, add the shiitake mushroom, let it cooks for a min. Then add vegetable, crack an egg into the soup, with the egg yolk still soft and runny transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with fried shallots and crispy fried anchovies. Serve with chilli sauce.