Ro Geng Mian (Ba Genh) – Pork, Bamboo, and Mushroom Noodle Soup

One of Bryan’s favorite Taiwanese dishes is the pork noodle soup shown above. This very common Taiwanese dish is called “Ba Genh” in Taiwanese, or “Ro Geng Mian” in Mandarin, and consists of pork and fish paste nuggets in a thick soup flavored with black vinegar (or Worcestershire sauce), white pepper, mushrooms, and lots of cilantro.

This recipe is adapted from Taiwanese Homestyle Cooking by members of NATWA

1 T soy sauce
1 egg, beaten
1 t salt
1 T sesame oil
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click image to see larger image

Preparation

Wash 6-10 dried mushrooms and soak in hot water until soft (about 10 minutes). Slice to desired size.
Drain and rinse 1/2 cup of sliced bamboo shoots.

2) Mix the pork together in a bowl with the marinade and marinate for at least 2 hours.

After marinating, mix the pork with the fish paste (available in the freezer sections of a lot of Asian grocery stores. I have bought this both at Super 88 and also at C-Mart).

Combine in a pot the water (6 cups), salt (2 tsp), sugar (1 tsp), mushrooms, and bamboo shoots. Bring the pot to a boil. Form a ~1 inch “nugget” with a piece of pork and some fish paste and drop it into the boiling water.

Boil until all the pork nuggets are floating. The soup will look a little something like this: