← Nouns Cooking · Malaysian & Singaporean

Ingredients

• 500 g Pork belly
• 2 l Water
• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and sliced, soaking water kept
• 3 slices Ginger
• 1 Cinnamon stick
• 2 Star anise
• 1 tsp Chinese five-spice
• 3 tbsp Dark soy sauce
• 3 tbsp Soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp Sugar
• ½ tsp White pepper
• 4 eggs, hard-boiled and peeled
• 70 g tapioca starch or cornflour, mixed with 120 ml water
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 600 g thick yellow noodles
• 150 g Bean sprouts
• 150 g Fried fish cake, sliced (optional)
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed to a paste
• 4 tbsp Chinese black vinegar
• 2 Red chilli, finely chopped
• 1 handful Coriander (cilantro), chopped
• 2 tbsp Crispy fried shallots

Method

1. Put the pork belly, water, mushrooms and their soaking water, ginger, cinnamon, star anise and five-spice in a large pot. Bring to the boil, skim, then simmer gently for 40 min.
2. Stir in the dark soy, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and pepper, add the boiled eggs and simmer for 15 min more, until the pork is tender and the eggs are brown. Lift out the pork and eggs and slice them; remove the whole spices.
3. Bring the broth back to a simmer and stir in the starch slurry little by little until it is as thick as runny gravy. Turn the heat to low and slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs while stirring gently, so they set into silky ribbons.
4. Blanch the noodles and bean sprouts in boiling water for 30 seconds and divide between deep bowls.
5. Top with sliced pork, half an egg, fish cake if using, and ladle over plenty of hot gravy.
6. Finish with a spoon of raw garlic paste, a splash of black vinegar, chopped chilli, coriander and crispy shallots, and let everyone stir it in.

Tips

• The raw garlic and black vinegar are not optional at a lor mee stall: they cut through the rich gravy. Start with a little and add more to taste.
• Contains wheat, egg, soy and oyster sauce. The gravy thickens as it cools; loosen with hot water when reheating.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

What To Cook Today Malaysian Chinese Kitchen Ang Sarap