These extremely flavourful Yee Fu Noodles are braised until they soak up all of the flavours of the gravy, then fried with yellow chives for that distinctive nostalgic taste!
Soak the Yee Fu Noodles in boiling water for ½ - 1 minute, using a pair of chopsticks to separate the noodles. Do not over-soak (why? read tip 2). Rinse with tap water, and drain the noodles.
Wash the yellow chives and cut into 4cm sections.
Cut or shred the duck meat into strips (cutting will give a nicer presentation).
Rinse the straw mushrooms and cut into 3 slices each
Add all the gravy ingredients into a bowl and mix well.
COOKING (25 min)
In a wok, heat up 1 TBsp of oil over high fire. Once the oil is hot, add in the noodles and 1 TBsp of light soya sauce. Fry using a pair of wooden chopsticks (see tips) until blistered and lightly charred, then transfer to a plate.
In the same wok, heat up 1 TBsp of oil over high fire, then add the garlic and fry until aromatic (be careful not to burn the garlic!). Add in the yellow chives and fry for about 1 minute, or until they barely turn limp (do not over-fry). Transfer the chives to a plate.
In the same wok, add in ½ TBsp of sesame oil and fry the straw mushrooms for a minute. Add in the gravy mixture and bring it to a boil over high heat.
Once it boils, turn the fire to medium low. Then add in the duck meat and noodles and mix well with the chopsticks. Simmer the noodles for about 15-20 minutes or until the noodles soak up all the gravy. More water can be added if the gravy dries up.
Add in the chives and toss with wooden chopsticks until well mixed.
Add in the Chinese Rice Wine, transfer to a dish and serve hot with pickled green chilli.
Video
Notes
MARKETING TIPS: YELLOW CHIVES
Yellow Chives (Jiu Huang Cai 韭黄菜 ) is the most important ingredient in Braised Yee Fu Noodles, without which this dish would not have that unique Yee Fu Noodles taste.
The distinctive pale yellow colour of Yellow Chives comes by cultivating Chives (Ku Chye or Jiu Cai 韭菜) with very little sunlight to inhibit the production of chlorophyl. But they are actually the same plant species.
Yellow Chives are seasonal, so you won't be able to find them all year round. I would only attempt to cook Yee Fu Noodles if I manage to find yellow chives.
Restaurants sometimes substitute Yellow Chives (left, above) with Green Dragon vegetable (青龙菜) (right, above) or Dragon Chives. The Green Dragon Vegetable tastes more like leek whereas Yellow Chives tastes more like Green Chives, so it affects the taste of the Yee Fu Noodles to some extent.
The most popular brand of Hong Kong Yee Fu Noodles is Sun Brand.
COOKING TIPS
Soak the Yee Fu Noodles in hot water before cooking. Packaged Yee Fu Noodles is actually pre-cooked then dried. Soaking in hot water allows the noodles to rehydrate and plump up slightly.
Don't soak it for more than 1 minute. It is best to soak the noodles in hot water for ½ to 1 minute, just long enough to separate the noodle strands. If you soak the noodles for too long, they will become saturated with water and lose the ability to absorb the gravy during braising process. Thus, the noodles will end up dull and tasteless.
Use a pair of chopsticks to fry the noodles, rather than a metal or wooden spatula. This applies to most noodle dishes! The reason is because we want to minimise breakage of the noodles, especially when we are frying longevity noodles, the longer the noodle strands are, the better!
REHEATING TIPS
If you cook the noodles beforehand, or leave it overnight, the noodles will tend to dry out.
Rehydrating the noodles is really simple. All you have to do is add a little hot water, or a mixture of 50% stock and 50% water, and braise the noodles for 3-5 minutes until the water gets absorbed by the noodles. The noodles will plump up again and it is as good as new!