Burmese. Main. Served at I Still Call It Burma (#2 and #3).

Shan khao swè

Shan noodles

Rice noodles in a pork and tomato sauce, with pickled mustard greens, crispy garlic, peanuts, and chili oil on top. I started from a Shan noodle recipe made with chicken, tripled it, and swapped the chicken for pork.

The pickles add acidity, while fried garlic and peanuts add crunch. Cook the noodles just before serving to keep them from turning gummy.

Makes
Serves 10–12
Do ahead
Sauce, oils, pickles 1–3 days out. Noodles at the last minute.

Ingredients

Scale

Garlic oil

  • 30–36 clovesgarlic (~2 heads), finely chopped
  • 1½ cupsneutral oil
  • 3 tbspsesame seeds

Chili oil

  • 6 tbspchili flakes (gochugaru or Chinese)
  • 1½ cupsneutral oil

Pickled vegetables

  • 5 mediumcarrots, julienned
  • 6–9green chiles, thinly sliced
  • 1½ tspsalt
  • 1 tbspsugar
  • 3 tbsprice vinegar
  • 3 tbspwater

Other toppings

  • 1 cuppickled mustard greens, rinsed and chopped
  • 9–12spring onions, thinly sliced
  • ¾ cuproasted peanuts, coarsely crushed
  • sweet soy (kecap manis)
  • extra fish sauce
  • lime wedges

Pork-tomato sauce

  • 3 tbspoil
  • 6–9 clovesgarlic, minced
  • 6shallots, finely chopped
  • 1 tbsppaprika or chili powder
  • 2 lbground pork
  • 6vine tomatoes, finely chopped (or 1½ cans diced, drained)
  • 2 tbsplight soy sauce
  • 1 tbspdark soy sauce
  • 1 tspsalt
  • ¾ tspChinese five spice
  • 1½ cupswater

Noodles

  • 1.3 lbdried rice noodles (2 packs Three Ladies rice stick, S or M)

Method

  1. Make the garlic oil: heat the 1½ cups neutral oil over medium, add the chopped garlic, and stir until evenly light golden, 5–7 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the sesame seeds. Jar the garlic and oil together. Keeps at room temperature up to 3 days.
  2. Make the chili oil: put the chili flakes in a heatproof bowl. Heat the 1½ cups neutral oil to about 350°F and pour it over. Cool and jar. Keeps at room temperature.
  3. Make the pickles: toss the carrots and green chiles with the salt, sugar, rice vinegar, and water. Refrigerate. Ready in 30 minutes, better after a few hours. Keeps 5 days.
  4. The day before, rinse and chop the mustard greens, slice the spring onions, and crush the peanuts.
  5. Make the sauce: heat the 3 tbsp oil over medium. Sauté the garlic and shallots until lightly golden, about 4 minutes.
  6. Add the paprika and cook 30 seconds. Add the ground pork and cook 5–7 minutes, until no longer pink.
  7. Add the tomatoes and cook until they break down, about 5 minutes.
  8. Add the light soy, dark soy, salt, five spice, and the 1½ cups water.
  9. Cover and simmer 5–10 minutes until thick. Taste. Cool and refrigerate. Reheat gently on the day.
  10. On the day, boil the rice noodles per the package until slightly chewy. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water, and toss immediately with a couple of tablespoons of garlic oil. Do not let them sit; they go gummy.
  11. Build each bowl: noodles, about 3 tbsp pork-tomato sauce, 1–2 tbsp garlic oil with the garlic bits, 1 tsp chili oil, then peanuts, mustard greens, pickled carrot and chile, spring onion, and about 1 tsp sweet soy.
  12. Put chili oil, garlic oil, fish sauce, lime, and sweet soy on the table so everyone can adjust their own bowl.