Little Pot Rice Noodles

Every day before dawn breaks in Kunming—capital of the southwest Chinese province of Yunnan—delivery trucks transport hundreds of tons of freshly made rice noodles from the factories to breakfast shops scattered across the city. When morning hits and hungry diners start filing in, bowls of noodles nestled in an earthy pork-based broth are whisked out of the kitchen with immense speed. They are topped with a scattering of house-made chopped pickled vegetables, piquant ground pork sautéed in fermented broad bean paste, and a generous dollop of bright red chili oil. Diners sit perched on short stools, loudly slurping their meal down as quickly as possible, and will usually add an additional spoonful of chili oil or two to the bowl for good measure. Beads of sweat run down their foreheads; they finish breakfast; and the day begins.

Little pot rice noodles are so named because each serving is traditionally made to order in small individual copper pots, and the dish is beloved because it perfectly embodies the spicy and sour flavor profiles of the region. “It’s not citrusy acid like in Southeast Asia. It’s vinegary acid,” says New York City–based chef Simone Tong, who was born in the neighboring province of Sichuan. Tong is currently behind the toque at Silver Apricot, a Chinese American farm-to-table restaurant and wine bar in New York City. But before that she headed up a concept called Little Tong dedicated to Yunnan-inspired rice noodles. This was one of the most well-lauded dishes. “I even got the copper pots to cook with,” she says.

The recipe below is Tong’s rendition of the Kunming classic, adapted for the U.S. Yunnan is rich in wild, edible leafy greens, and the noodles are usually paired with whatever is in season. But because of the limitations of American produce and pickles, Tong uses bok choy and shredded pickled mustard stems instead.

“I decided that I am not going to make authentic Yunnanese food because when it comes to authenticity, there’s a lot of respect, a lot of terroir, and a lot of ingredients you have to get from the locals. You can’t claim to be authentic. I can claim to be delicious. I can claim to be inspired by the region.”

Instead of making pork broth from scratch, if time and energy demand, you can substitute 8 cups low-sodium chicken stock. And if you can’t find garlic chives, you can substitute regular chives, although the flavor won’t be the same. —with additional reporting by Clarissa Wei