Char Chii Mien of Sibu

The Foochows of Sibu have a special dish called Fried Noodle Soup. It is exactly what the name means. The noodles are fried first and then it is turned into a soup. There is my grandmother's story to "pepper" the description of this dish. But it is also a story of the ingenuity of a Foochow cook who knew how to recycle food.

Freshly cooked Char Chii Mien of Sibu:
First the noodles are fried with garlic in a big kuali, and when cooked and a little bit burnt (the caramelized edges of the noodles give the dish a special fragrance) they are taken out and set aside.

Then heat up some oil, shallots and more garlic and then stir fry chicken/pork/pig stomach/liver/ fish balls/ some greens, prawns and even fish slices, in the kuali with a bit of oil and garlic. Sesame oil is best.

Once done, some water is added (or if there is superior stock, it is even better). The soup is allowed to come to a boil, add salt, white pepper, golden noodles, some black fungus too and fish balls. Add some of the best soy sauce you can find.

When the soup is ready add the fried noodles. Serve the soup noodles hot, garnish with spring onions.

If you are Foochow, you will miss this dish when you are away from Sibu.

My GRandmother's Story (the origin of Char Chii Mien in Sibu)

The Foochows in Fujian originally had only char mien, or noodle soup, but when they migrated to Sibu, many new dishes were created or adapted. One of the dishes was Char Chii Mien (may be you cannot find it in China, but it is not well researched).

A cook one day in Sibu had some left over fried noodles, but it was not enough for the whole group of workers. He had some fresh vegetables and a bit of meat and he had some fish ball soup.

He refried the noodles, took them up to set aside and then cooked a new soup with the fish ball stock in the kuali. He found that he had done a marvellous fragrant soup! He then added the fried noodles and hey presto, he had a dish that the workers welcomed and ate heartily.  He had put a lot of pepper in to cover the fishy smell!! Brilliant story.

That gave birth to char chii mien...and true enough every New Year, whenever we had a lot of fried noodles left, my grandmother herself would prepare a lovely char chii mien for breakfast and all of us would enjoy it.