Yunnan crossing-the-bridge noodles (云南过桥米线)

Last Updated on July 13, 2021 by Simon Fan

If you know little about the food and cooking of Yunnan Province in China, you’re not alone. Even in China, many people are just beginning to discover the exotic and exciting flavors of that remote and mountainous region.

That said, one dish from Yunnan, crossing-the-bridge noodles (过桥米线), has already won the hearts and minds of noodle enthusiasts across the country.

The dish comes with a beautiful story of love and ingenuity. Once there was a scholar who studied for the imperial exams on an isolated island. His loving wife would cross the bridge every day to bring him lunch, oftentimes his favorite rice noodles. Keeping the noodles from getting cold or mushy after the long walk could be challenging, but she discovered a few tricks to accomplish that: keeping the cooked noodles separate from the broth and adding them right before serving would retain their fresh and lovely texture; covering the broth with a layer of fat on top would keep it hot for a longer time and hot enough to cook vegetables and thinly sliced meat or fish when they’re mixed in.

Her story and clever ways of preparing rice noodles started to spread beyond her little village and eventually, this iconic dish of the region was born.

Having a giant bowl of crossing-the-bridge noodles is highly satisfying and immensely fun. First, you choose your favorite toppings, from a large selection of ingredients typically including pork, chicken, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, quail eggs, pickles, and various sauces. Next, you add them in sequence, with protein going first, to a piping hot broth to cook them. And finally, mix in the cooked rice noodles and slurp loudly!

The success of the dish relies on a rich stock, traditionally made by simmering chicken, duck, pork bones, and ham for hours. You could certainly do the same. Or you can follow my one-hour chicken stock recipe below using chicken wings and a pressure cooker.

Chicken wings, with a good balance of meat, skin, and bone, produce a full-bodied stock with great flavors and gelatin. By making the stock in a pressure cooker, the sealed and extremely hot interior does a great job of extracting the flavors and keeping the aromas inside the stock rather than evaporating into the air.

If science-driven cookbooks such as Modernist Cuisine or chefs like Heston Blumenthal recommend the pressure cooker method, you follow.

Yunnan crossing-the-bridge noodles (云南过桥米线)

Serves 2

Ingredients

Chicken stock (makes about 6 cups)
2 lb (900 g) chicken wings
6 cups (1.4 L) water
1 scallion, cut into 4 pieces
1-inch (2.5 cm) piece of ginger, crushed
2 teaspoons white peppercorns
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine

14 oz (400 g) fresh rice noodles or 7 oz (200 g) dried noodles
1 oz (30 g) Chinese ham or other dry-cured ham (such as prosciutto, jamón, or country ham), thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground white pepper
7 oz (200 g) any combination of thinly sliced pork, chicken, or fish
4 oz (115 g) tender leafy greens (such as baby Chinese broccoli, baby bok choy, spinach, or watercress)
2 oz (60 g) mushrooms (such as beech and hen-of-the-woods mushrooms)
1 tablespoon chopped zha cai (Sichuan pickled vegetables) or any pickle you like
Chili sauce or any seasoning of your choice

Directions

To make the chicken stock:

1. Place the chicken wings in a stockpot, and add enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil, then transfer the wings to a colander and rinse under running water to remove any scum.
2. Add the chicken wings and the 6 cups of water to a pressure cooker. Bring to a simmer, and skim off any surface scum. Add the rest of the ingredients for the stock. Place the lid on and cook over medium-high heat until full pressure is reached (make sure you follow all safety measures and precautions when using a pressure cooker). Reduce the heat to just enough to maintain the pressure. Cook for 1 hour.
3. Let the stock cool. Remove the lid when it’s safe to do so. Strain the stock through a fine-mesh sieve. Remove the chicken fat on top and reserve.

To cook the noodles and assemble the dish:

1. Cook the noodles in boiling water as per package instructions. When the noodles are just cooked through (do not overcook), transfer them to a colander and drain well.
2. Add 4 cups of the chicken stock to a pot. Bring to a boil, then add the ham and simmer for 5 minutes. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour some of the reserved chicken fat (or vegetable oil if you prefer) on top.
3. Divide the stock and ham between two large bowls. Add the toppings in the following sequence: meat and fish (and allow time for them to cook properly), leafy greens, mushrooms, zha cai, and noodles. If you like, you can briefly cook the meat and fish in the stock on the stovetop during Step 2. Add the chili sauce and any additional seasonings of your choice. Stir and slurp!