STOP SCROLLING! I need to say before you go any further, don’t be fooled by this Yang Chun Noodle Soup’s simple appearance. Read on, or you’ll miss A REAL TREAT!
I’m not exaggerating. Yang Chun Noodle Soup (阳春面, yang chun mian), aka, “Plain Noodle Soup,” is a dish that I’ve wanted to share on our blog forever. So with our recently liberated lard/pork fat recipe, I can finally present it loudly and proudly with zero guilt.
The Secret: Lard.
Lard is the secret to these noodles. Because, as you can see from the photos, there’s no more than a handful of scallions floating on top of a relatively clear broth and a humble bundle of your average noodles. So why the big hullabaloo?
Well if you can put two and two together, you’ll notice that I had to post two recipes before we could get to this simple Yang Chun Noodle Soup recipe: the Lard and the Pork and Chicken Stock.
Together, these are the building blocks for this humble yet extraordinary bowl of noodle soup. Are you feeling the love that I have for these noodles yet?
The Best Version of These Humble Noodles
Though I should say that in most cases, Yang Chun Noodle Soup has been quite literally watered down to the bare minimum of components. Especially in home kitchens, i.e., when my mother cooks it.
Pork lard is replaced with sesame oil, and stock is replaced with water and a sprinkle of MSG. Hence this Yang Chun Noodle Soup often serves as a truly bare bones and frugal solution for a hungry stomach.
In fact, I never really liked it until I had the REAL Yang Chun Mian in a restaurant called Nanjing Impressions (南京大排挡) in China. It’s a chain of nicer sit-down restaurants, and you should definitely look for it if you find yourself in a big city like Beijing and Shanghai.
So how can a simple looking bowl of noodles taste so damn good? First, the Pork Pork Lard. Like butter, lard is very aromatic and is a superb flavor agent. In Asian cooking, lard is irreplaceable.
Secondly, the Pork and Chicken Stock. A well-balanced soup stock is the foundation of a worthy bowl of noodle soup. This is what separates the major leagues from the amateurs.
Thirdly, a good quality light soy sauce. It elevates a well-balanced soup base to a new level, and it’s a vital factor in making this Yang Chun Noodle Soup so outstanding.
Lastly, the thickness of the noodles is immensely important. I prefer to use thin noodles for noodle soups––cook them just until al dente, and their delicate texture is perfect with the flavorful broth.
When we blogged this recipe, Yang Chun Noodle Soup had the whole crew jockeying for a bite. I rarely so incessantly insist on you trying a recipe, but for this one, you really ought to!
Yang Chun Noodle Soup: Recipe Instructions
Cook one serving of thin noodles according to the package instructions.
While the noodles are cooking, bring 2 ½ to 3 cups of stock to a boil. Then add pork lard, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar to your noodle bowl. Stir in the hot stock.
Once the noodles are cooked, drain them, and add them to the bowl. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, and salt to taste. Serve immediately!
Yang Chun Noodle Soup (Yang Chun Mian)
Ingredients
- 1 serving thin noodles (dry or fresh)
- 2½-3 cups chicken broth (ideally, homemade)
- 1 tablespoon pork lard
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Cook one serving of thin noodles according to the package instructions.
- While the noodles are cooking, bring 2 ½ to 3 cups of stock to a boil. Then add pork lard, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar to your noodle bowl. Stir in the hot stock.
- Once the noodles are cooked, drain them, and add them to the bowl. Sprinkle with chopped scallions, and salt to taste. Serve immediately!
nutrition facts
I discovered your site years ago and am indebted top you for your roast pork bun recipe. (I use my own recipe for the roast pork, which I’ll include at the bottom – in case anyone is interested.)
Reading your Yang Chun Noodle Soup recipe (together with its introduction) immediately put me in mind of an excellent soup my mother makes which is along similar lines. Hers is a Portuguese soup which mother calls “Grass Soup”, because of all the finely cut cabbage – which looked to her like grass. It goes something like this:
Brown a chopped onion in Olive Oil, then add a couple Idaho potatoes cut into 1/4″ slices. Once they’re coated in the flavored oil, add a stock (originally a pork/chicken stock made after a previous meal) and cook until the potatoes are almost done. At this point add plenty of sliced Portuguese Cabbage (? I use Spring Greens or Collard Greens) and a generous amount of straight olive oil. Season as necessary.
I would consider these two soups based on stock, greens, flavored fat, and a starch to be relatives. The Portuguese soup also has a satisfying flavor unapparent from its own humble ingredients.
Thank you again for your extraordinary website.
[Roast Pork marinade – for about 2 lbs Pork Shoulder or Butt:
5T Lite Soy
5T Maltose
4T White Sugar
4T Wine
4T Yellow Bean Paste
3T Dark Soy
3 Garlic cloves crushed
Cook all together until the sugars dissolve, add:
2″ Ginger (cut into 4 thick slices)
Allow to cool and pour into ziplock bag with the 3/4″ slices of pork.
Hang on hooks over a roasting pan lined with aluminum foil containing a cup of water.
About 75 minutes at 400. Pork internal temperature: 145′ F (63′ C)]
Hi Jeremy, thank you so much for sharing your recipe. I will have Bill try it next time, he is our Char Siu maker :-)
Can I use fish broth (or dashi), instead of chicken broth?
You can and I am pretty certain that it will taste great, but just know that it’s not the traditional Yang Chun Mian anymore :-)
Made the stock, bought the freshly-rendered lard from an excellent Mexican grocery store chain that renders in house, on site. Found fresh Korean thin wheat noodles at H-Mart, and I used the Pearl River Bridge brand of Superior Light Soy Sauce and their Dark Soy Sauce (I have a square plastic carboy of the dark that I bought years ago) and the result was worth every minute that it took to make.
Hi George, I am so glad that you took the time and tried this recipe. Now there is one more person that shares my passion for this plain bowl of noodle soup :-) Thank you!
Will the real Light Soy sauce please stand up!
The info on Soy sauce in on the pantry page still leaves me with questions.
The info seems to indicate Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy Sauce and Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce are both standard normal sodium soy sauces and interchangeable as far as taste goes in a recipe. However the links to Amazon and images show that the Lee Kum Kee Premium Soy is standard not low sodium light. However the Perl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce image and link IS labelled a light soy. So I am assuming that it is a light (low sodium) soy. This recipe show an ingredient of 2 tablespoons light soy sauce. Does this mean your suggestion is use low sodium soy?
Hi Wayne, so the term “light soy sauce” refers to the light colored rather thicker dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce is not low sodium. In fact, it’s saltier than dark soy sauce. When we refer to light soy sauce, we mean light colored – we also refer to it just as “soy sauce” or “regular soy sauce,” because it’s the default soy sauce in most Chinese kitchens. We are specific about low sodium soy sauce when we call for it. I reviewed our Chinese Sauces page again and did see some ambiguities and have corrected them – specifically in the section on Kikkoman. :)
Hi Bill,
According to a reviewer on Amazon “Pearl River light soy sauce is not low sodium or diet soy sauce, it’s regular soy sauce.”
So if this is true then this is where the confusion lies from your soy info post:
LIGHT OR REGULAR SOY SAUCE (生抽)
“To make things more confusing, no soy sauce brands refer to light soy sauce as “light” unless they are low in sodium.”
I’m leaning towards Pearl River Bridge Superior Light Soy Sauce is NOT a low sodium soy sauce and they put “light” on their label not to indicate low sodium but light in color rather than a thicker dark soy. If that is the case you may want to consider removing this line: “To make things more confusing, no soy sauce brands refer to light soy sauce as “light” unless they are low in sodium.”
Thanks!
Wow!
I made the pork-chicken broth and lard. Last night put the ingredients in a bowl. I am very happy now with my new addiction.
Join the “Yang Chun” club, Wayne! Aren’t you happy you tried it? HAPPY DANCE…
For sure! Not sure if it matters but the broth was very gelatinous (which is typically a good thing flavor wise). Also there were several pork bone options. Do you have any recommendation as to the type of pork bone to go with for the chicken/pork broth?
One other thing I meant to share with you is your recipe card has this entry:
2½-3 cups of chicken broth (ideally, homemade)
versus: 2½-3 cups of chicken/pork broth (ideally, homemade)
I’m so happy I found your site! Thanks!
Hi!
Just want to let you know I tried this recipe and it was a huge success.
I didn’t have normal lard so used the momofuku pork belly lard (has some seasoning) instead which was sitting in my fridge
It was DELICIOUS!! Hubby loved it
So huge thank you for sharing this recipe =)
Fabulous, PJosie, so glad you enjoyed this noodle soup. It’s one of my all-time favorites.
WOW….brings back memories. Our parents made something similiar but without the soup. Just lard, noodles, oyster sauce, and green onions, and maybe just a smidgen of broth.
Interesting, Nance! Definitely try with stock.
This is perfect timing since I’ve been craving noodles and delicious broth since summer started! Any thoughts of a bikini ready body just went out the door LOL!
Speaking of bikini body, any plans to add nutrition information to recipes?
Hahaha…Vivian, adding nutrition information is definitely on our agenda. Being that both girls have day jobs, the agenda is a bit slow going. Sorry!
I recently fell in love with a noodle soup from Suzhou and now I wonder if these 阳春面 are similar to Suzhou’s 枫镇大肉面 regards the soup base? I know they add a little 酒酿 but besides the soup is a mystery to me.
Thanks for sharing this recipe, I’ll definitely go for it.
Hi Kathrin, going to Suzhou in the fall, will definitely try 枫镇大肉面 and many other good eats. It’s the best kind of market research being a food blogger :-)
I grew up loving Yang Chun mian and this post takes me back! I must try it with the lard — I bet that makes all the difference. Do you have a favorite brand of (dried) noodles? The ones featured in this post look legit.
From an outsider opinion.
For some odd reason, dried noodles taste better to me. If you are near to an Asian supermarket, look for thin noodles usually comes in 4 or 5 lb box. I use the brand WU MU or Chef Brand. Or try dried so-men or buckwheat pkgs.
Hi, S Cui, many Asian supermarkets sell fresh noodles. For this post, I used fresh Yang Chun Mian noodles by Havista (五谷豐). They have the right thickness and texture.