Back to Chinese
Longevity Noodles
Serves 4 Prep 15 min Cook 12 min Total 27 min Type Meal Origin Chinese

Longevity Noodles

Yi mein noodles stir-fried with shiitake mushrooms and garlic chives, never cut. You don't bite a longevity noodle in half on Lunar New Year - it's a symbolic long-life dish, and even by accident is unlucky. Slurp the whole length and start over.

Serves 4 Prep 15 minutes Cook 12 minutes Units Rate

Overview

Yi mein (e-fu) are pre-fried Cantonese egg noodles sold as flat round cakes; they soften almost instantly in hot water and pick up sauce like a sponge. Stir-fried over high heat with shiitake mushrooms and ginger; finished with garlic chives, soy and a quick splash of shaoxing. The noodles are tossed gently - never cut, never broken - and served piled high in a wide bowl. If you can't find yi mein, fresh thin egg noodles work; the symbolism stays intact.

Ingredients

The base

  • 400 g yi mein (e-fu noodles) - about 2 cakes - or fresh thin egg noodles
  • 200 g shiitake mushrooms (fresh, sliced thick; or 30 g dried, rehydrated)
  • 1 large bunch garlic chives (or 6 spring onions, cut into 5 cm batons)
  • 1 thumb fresh ginger (julienned)
  • 3 garlic cloves (sliced thin)
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

The sauce

  • 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon caster sugar
  • 200 ml chicken stock (or mushroom soaking liquid if using dried)

Method

Stage 1 - Prep

  1. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in the yi mein cakes and cook for 60 seconds, just to loosen the strands. Drain quickly and rinse under cold water to halt the cooking. Don't toss; the strands tangle easily and the longer they stay together, the easier they are to lift in one piece.
  2. Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a small jug.
  3. If you're using dried shiitake, save the soaking liquid for the stock.

Stage 2 - Stir-fry the aromatics

  1. Heat a wok or wide heavy pan over high heat until smoking. Add the oil and swirl.
  2. Add the ginger and garlic; stir-fry for 20 seconds until fragrant.
  3. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 2 minutes - they should release their water and start to colour at the edges.

Stage 3 - Combine

  1. Pour the sauce mixture into the wok. Bring to a simmer; let it bubble for 30 seconds.
  2. Add the noodles, lifting them into the pan in one piece. Toss gently with two pairs of chopsticks (or a chopstick and a spoon) - the goal is to coat the strands in sauce while keeping them whole.
  3. After 90 seconds the noodles will have absorbed most of the sauce and turned a dark glossy brown.
  4. Add the garlic chives (or spring onion batons) and toss for a final 30 seconds - they should wilt but stay vivid green.
  5. Tip onto a wide serving platter, piled high.

Notes

  • Yi mein is also called e-fu, e-fu mein, or "Cantonese egg noodles" - they're the pale gold, flat round cakes about the size of a saucer. The brief par-boil is essential or they don't pick up the sauce.
  • The eat-the-noodle-whole rule is taken more or less seriously depending on the household, but slicing the noodles in advance or chopping them on the plate is a clear breach of etiquette at a Lunar New Year table.
  • A handful of julienned roast pork (char siu) or shredded poached chicken folded in at the same stage as the chives turns this into a one-bowl meal.

Serving

Mounded onto a wide platter at the centre of the table, so everyone reaches in with chopsticks. Best with a steamed whole fish nearby and a small bowl of pickled garlic on the side.

Storage

Best eaten immediately; the noodles go gummy if refrigerated. Halve the recipe rather than save leftovers.

Recipes mentioned here

1 / 1
Char Siu

Char Siu

Char siu, literally "fork-roasted" in Cantonese, is the lacquered red barbecue pork that hangs in the windows of siu mei shops across Hong Kong, Guangzhou and any Cantonese diaspora neighbourhood worth knowing. Traditionally long strips of pork are skewered on hooks and lowered into vertical ovens or charcoal pits, where the marinade caramelises into a shimmering, almost brittle crust while the inside stays juicy and pink at the edges. The marinade is a careful balance: hoisin sauce for sweetness and body, light and dark soy for salt and colour, Shaoxing wine for aromatics, five-spice for warmth, fermented red bean curd (nam yu) for the deep umami funk that distinguishes shop-quality char siu from home attempts, and a final glaze of maltose syrup thinned with honey for that characteristic glossy finish. Pork shoulder is the cut of choice because the marbling keeps the meat moist through high-heat roasting; lean cuts like loin go dry and stringy. The classic colour comes from a small amount of red yeast rice or, in modern home recipes, a touch of red food colour, though the dish tastes the same without it. Difficulty is moderate. The marinade needs overnight, and the roasting needs your attention for the final glazing turns under high heat, but the technique itself is straightforward. Serve over rice with greens, in a soft bao bun, or chopped onto wonton noodles.

Chinese 1 hour 10 minutes Serves6

More like this

1 / 4