I gotta admit, I was quite apprehensive about including this as a post in my (still relatively) new food blog.
After all, with a name like mee tai mak (or silver needle noodle, or rat noodle), how many of us unfamiliar with the dish would actually venture to try it?
It also happens to look highly dubious. Which is why my British mum-in-law, in spite of her exotic Peruvian roots and adventurous appetite, immediately quizzed me on what I had ordered. (She also did not love it after trying a spoonful, remarking candidly that it tasted too “fishy”, in the literal sense.)
All of that aside though, this is one of my favourite comfort foods ever. It’s pork mince and short, stubby rice noodles steeped in dark soy sauce and coriander, topped with (in this case) a very generous portion of deep fried pork lard. This combination creates a dish so intensely fragrant and wonderfully complex (particularly if you pair it with sambal belachan chili… and why wouldn’t you?), that I am often compelled to order it anytime I see it on a menu.
It also beckons one to consume it with one’s senses working in tandem, rather than relying too much on one’s head. Just don’t think so much and eat, lah!
Noodles, Fried Noodles 