Rice Drop Noodles With Mince and Preserved Vegetable Sauce 梅菜肉碎老鼠粉

There was a packet of veal mince in the fridge and I can't even remember why it was even there. I decided to make a mince sauce that would go with a type of noodle that I haven't had for a very long time - rice drop noodles also known as:

- mouse noodles (老鼠粉, lao shu fen in mandarin, 老鼠粿, niu chu kui in Hokkien or 老鼠粄, lou shu ban  in Hakka) in Malaysia due to the shape of the noodles that resembles a little mouse.

- golden needle noodles (銀針粉 pronounced yin zhen fen) in Hong Kong as the name mouse noodles was deemed too crude for their liking.

- mi tai bak (米篩/苔目 pronunciation in Minan and Hokkien) in Taiwan and part of Malaysia and Singapore. The name derived from how the noodle is made - rice batter (米, mi) being push through the hole/eye (目, mu) of bamboo sieve (篩/苔, tai) into a pot of boiling water.

Ok enough of that and lets get to the sauce. I got the idea from a classic Hakka dish (梅菜扣肉, pork belly braised with preserved vegetable) and decided to pair the veal mince with some preserved vegetable. I am extremely pleased with my invention; the delicious sweet, salty and fragrant meat sauce goes very well with the noodles and best of all this is suitable for my Muslim friends and readers as well. Do I want to change anything about this dish? Definitely! I should have doubled the quantity!

P.S One can give this noodle another hundred names but it will always be mice noodles to me.

recipe from the tummies' kitchen
serves 4 as a one dish meal
you'll need;
1 kg of rice drops noodles, blanched just before serving
2 cups of bean sprouts, picked and blanched just before serving
1 bunch of spinach or greens of your choice, cut and blanched just before serving
crispy garlic 
garlic oil 
light soy

for the mince and preserved vegetable sauce;
500 g of mince of your choice (I used veal)*
1/2 cup of preserved vegetable (梅菜 pronounced mei cai)** rinsed well and chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
3 tbs of dark soy
1 tbs of light soy
3 tbs of rock sugar or white sugar
dash of sesame oil
dash of cooking wine
1/2 L of stock
salt and white pepper to taste
* marinate the mince with dash of soy, sesame oil, grated ginger, cooking wine and a little corn flour.
** mei cai is available at asian grocers and since there are many different types of preserved vegetables, it is best to ask for the right type, print this out if you need to.

Prepare the ingredients.

Fry chopped garlic and shallot with some cooking oil til lightly brown.

Add mince and and fry in the garlic and shallot oil for a few minutes. A lot of liquid will be released from the meat, spread the mince out and let it slowly cook til the water has evaporated and starts to brown.

Add preserved vegetable and seasonings and fry for 2 minutes.

Add 1/2 L of water and simmer til the sauce is thick and syrupy. Since this is going to be a topping for noodles, it should be slightly salty.

The delicious mince sauce is ready to be used as topping for noodles, rice and congee.

Place blanched noodle in a bowl and mix with 1/2 tbs of garlic oil and 1 tbs of soy. Add bean sprouts and spinach, spoon some mince sauce over and top with chopped spring onion, Chinese celery and crispy garlic. I also served it with homemade Cantonese style chili oil. 

Mix well and enjoy! This is comfort food at its best!