Mì Khô Xá Xíu (Vietnamese Dry Noodles with Char Xiu Pork)
This mì khô recipe, aka Vietnamese dry egg noodles, is an amazing dish that always hits the spot, with char siu pork, spare ribs, and crispy pork fat.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 2 hr 30 min
- Yield
- 8 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 lb thin egg noodles
- 2 lb pork shoulder
- 1 cup filtered water
- 2 Tbsp cooking wine
- 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 bag Char siu / Chinese barbecue seasoning
- 2-3 lb pork bones or pork spare ribs ((I like half of each))
- 2 Tbsp salt
- tap water
- 14 cups filtered water
- 2 medium onions (peeled, and left whole)
- 2 Tbsp dry squid or dry shrimp (toasted 3 min, then rinsed until clean)
- 2 Tbsp salt
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp MSG (monosodium glutamate)
- 2 Tbsp neutral cooking oil
- 1 minced shallot (medium)
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 4 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 Tbsp Chinese cooking wine
- 2 Tbsp sugar
- 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
- 8 Tbsp water
- 1/2 lb raw pork fat (for tep mo)
- 1 lb bean sprouts (blanched)
- 2 bunches chives (cut into 2" pieces)
- rice vinegar (to taste)
- spicy Chinese mustard (to taste)
Instructions
- 1
Xa Xiu
- 2
Add all ingredients into a pan. Heat on high until boiling, then lower to medium high and cook for ~15 minutes while flipping the pork every ~5 minutes. Turn heat to medium-low and continue rotating the pork every ~5 minutes so it cooks and abosrbs the seasoning evenly, until just about all the water has evaporated.
- 3
Broth
- 4
Add all pork bones or pork ribs to a pot and fill with tap water until just covered. Add 2 Tbsp salt and bring to a boil on high heat. Once it hits a boil, let it boil for 30 seconds and then turn off the heat, and drain. Rinse under running water until clean and drain the water.
- 5
Return the pot to the stove and add all the broth ingredients. Turn the heat to high until it hits a boil, then lower to around medium so it maintains a low boil. Cook until the meat or meat around the bones is soft--approximately 2 hours.
- 6
Remove the lid, discard the onion and squid, then check the pork for doneness if using pork meat and not just bones.
- 7
Tep mo (fried pork fat)
- 8
Cut the pork fat into 1/2" cubes and saute on medium high heat until crisp, drain and set aside.
- 9
Noodle Seasoning
- 10
Add oil and shallot to a small sauce pan and saute on medium until fragrant. Add the remainint ingredients and bring to a boil on high. Taste, and adjust as needed, then remove from heat.
- 11
Noodles & Assembly
- 12
Boil noodles according to package instructions, drain and split into 8 bowls. Assemble your bowl with accoutrement, sliced xa xiu, fried pork fat and add a bit of seasoning on top of each bowl. Serve with a small bowl of soup on the side.