Guilin Rice Noodles (Guilin Mi Fen / 桂林米粉)

Guilin, Guangxi Province

Guilin's signature noodle soup is unlike any other Chinese noodle: the broth is a decades-old master stock of pork bones, dried mushrooms, spices, and dried herbs; the fresh rice noodles are served with a choice of toppings — braised pork, fried peanuts, pickled daikon, spring onion. The broth is the restaurant's identity — each shop guards its recipe like a state secret. Different from Vietnamese pho despite superficial similarity.

• Vietnamese bun bo hue (similar master stock noodle)
• Malaysian curry laksa (similar complex broth noodle)
• Japanese ramen (evolved from this family of master stock noodles)

Rich, deeply savoury master stock against fresh clean rice noodles; the condiment table lets each diner adjust sour-spice-sesame balance; deeply satisfying and complex