Fengzhen Soup Noodles 枫镇大面

Fengzhen Soup Noodles (枫镇大面) are a Suzhou (苏州) noodle dish with a clear, pale broth and a topping of slowly cooked pork. Thin noodles sit beneath the meat, while fermented rice adds a wine-like fragrance to the soup.

Stock and slowly cooked pork

Xuzhou Broadcasting’s noodle guide describes a broth made with pork bones and eel bones, scented with fermented rice. The pork topping cooks for at least four hours. At Tongdexing (同得兴), owner Xiao Weimin (肖伟民) describes a four-and-a-half-hour cooking process for pork belly after cleaning and seasoning. The restaurant’s stock includes eel bones, shrimp heads and snail meat.

The topping at Tongdexing

Tongdexing’s pork is sliced about one centimetre thick and six to seven centimetres wide. Modern Express describes the slices as meltingly tender, with a faint fermented-rice aroma. Its April 2014 interview places the dish’s customary season between June and September.