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Noodles are tossed in pork lard and served with fish balls, shrimp, other toppings, and crispy pork cracklings that will leave you literally begging for more!
A little bit about Hokkien if you are interested to know (if not, feel free to scroll down to the recipe 🙂 ). It is originated in the Southern regions of Fujian province, an important center for trade and migration, and has since been spread beyond China, being one of the most common Chinese languages overseas. Hokkian is one of the many Chinese dialects spoken throughout Asia. My dad’s family is Hokkian and my mom is Teo Chew. In the little town I grew up in, Medan, the majority of people speak Hokkian language, including me and the rest of the family!
Hokkian noodle also has a variety of different style. Some are being stir-fried, some are served in soup. Hokkian noodle are usually thick round yellow egg noodle. I particularly like Hokkian noodle Medan style. Medan Hokkian noodle there is usually served with soup at the side and the “special” part about this noodle, at least to me is where they used pork lard to toss the noodle in along with other seasonings and the crispy pork cracklings that are scattered on top of the noodle. To me, without these, it’s not Hokkian noodle Medan style.
I got a whole pack of pork fat from non-Asian grocery store (yes, I know. I’m surprised myself that they have this). Came home and just cut them into little cubes and put on a large pan and let the fat slowly renders out and you end up with crispy cracklings like this!
The combination of flavorful pork lard, crispy pork cubes and everything else in that bowl is unbelievably good! Medan Hokkian noodle is definitely one of the foods I MUST have when I visit Medan period!
Note to self though, I need to get two packs of pork fat next time because my two kids were fighting over this! I’m not joking!
Mie Hokkian Medan / Hokkian Noodle
Ingredients
- 1 lb of Hokkian noodles You can use spaghetti noodles too
- ½ lb of beansprouts
- 6-7 stalks of yu choy or bok choy
- 8 pieces of large shrimps heads and tails off
- 12 fish balls
- 12 cuttlefish balls
- 2 bone-in chicken thighs
- 8 cups of chicken broth
- Salt and white pepper powder to taste
For serving:
- Fish sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Pork lard from making the crispy pork cubes
For crispy pork cracklings:
- 2 lbs of pork fat cut into small cubes
Garnishes:
- Fried crispy shallots
- 2 stalks green onions (finely chopped)
- Small bunch of fresh cilantro leaves
Instructions
Preparing the crispy pork cracklings:
- Cut the pork fat into 1/2-inch cubes. If you can't find just pork fat, you can use the fat layer of pork belly and save the meat for other use
- Preheat a large non-stick skillet. Place the pork fat on the skillet without any oil and set the heat on medium and let the fat slowly rendered and turn crispy, this may take about 30 minutes to 40 minutes
- Separate the crispy pork cracklings from the oil. The oil (or we call it lard) is used to flavor the noodle. The pork cracklings will crisp up further when they cool down
Preparing the rest:
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the veggies in a boiling water and then refresh in cold water. Do the same for the bean sprouts. Blanch the shrimp, fish ball, liver briefly in a boiling water until they are cooked through and set aside
- Place the chicken thighs in a steamer and steam for about 30 minutes or until cooked through. Save the steaming juice (this is really sweet!Love it!) When cool enough to handle, pick the meat and discard the bones. Place the chicken broth in a medium saucepan along with the steaming juice from the chicken. Taste it and season with salt to your taste.
- Cook the noodles according to directions and set aside
Serving:
- Portion the noodle out into an individual serving bowl. Portion about 1 tablespoon of pork lard and about 1 Tbsp of fish sauce, 1 tsp of dark soy sauce into an individual serving bowl. Add in the noodles and give it a toss
- Portion the shrimps, fish balls, prawn balls, shredded chicken meat, bean sprouts, and yu choy on top of noodle
- Garnish with crispy pork cracklings, fried shallots, and chopped green onions. Serve the noodle with the soup in a little bowl on the side. Ready to be served
Marv's Recipe Notes
You might also like: Fried Hokkian Noodles and Braised Hokkian Noodles
9 comments
Hello marvellina, i just opened the link you sent and it appears to be brown butter macadamia salmon recipe. Not nasi ayam medan though. Pls advise
Oopsss…so sorry. I must have copied the wrong link. It should be this: https://whattocooktoday.com/nasi-hainam-medan.html
Yes definitely. I would love to know the authentic recipe. It has been so difficult to find the great recipe. Ayam karamel nya looks really good. Thanks for your respond. God bless
Hi Marvellina, I love your blog. My husband is a Medanese descent. I am originally from Jakarta, living in Texas. I love Emie and Medan cookings in general 🙂 Do you know by chance how to make nasi ayam Medan? I tried to search it in your blog but couldn’t find it.
Hi Evelyne,
Yes, I know nasi ayam Medan. I haven’t cooked it yet though ha.ha… I sure will let you know once I have the recipe up 🙂 Nice to know another Indonesians 🙂
Hi Evelyne,
I have just posted the recipe for nasi ayam Medan here: https://www.facebook.com/WhatToCookToday/posts/1593392634047353 I’m not sure if it’s exactly what your husband is looking for, but hopefully it’s close enough! You guys be the judge 🙂
OMG, these crispy pork fat morsels! I ate so many of those growing up (if I could get away with it, my grandma always said I will grow up and get a heart attack). You are right, they are too delicious and if a dish is traditional with them, then you don’t feel like it is right to eat it without them (in Bulgaria they are called ‘pruzhki’). The Medan Hokkien noodles sound amazing. I wonder if I will be able to pick some up on our next trip to the Asian store in Denver. I’d love to try this dish. How different is Medan Hokkien dialect from Mandarin? Probably a whole different animal? So far south from the areas Mandarin is spoken in mainland China. I am always interested in learning about how languages evolved.
Once the fat rendered out I keep them to make stir fry noodle sometimes LOL! That flavor is just amazing! Now I know not only the Chinese eat these crispy pork morsels, the Bulgarian too! High five! I’m not sure if you will be able to find the one that is already made, but you may be able to find the pork fat there in Asian store. I found mine at the local Western chain store that carries quite a bit of ethnic food! The Asian store I go to doesn’t always have it. Hokkian dialect is another animal of its own. There are few words that I’m sure evolved from Mandarin, but it’s different and may sound a bit more “barbaric” LOL!
I love this!!!!!