云南过桥米线

Yunnan is known for its 'Crossing The Bridge Noodles' (过桥米线)。Rice vermicelli in chicken broth. Healthy, light and filling. The only problem in Yunnan (and most cities and towns) is, they liberally douse MSG over everything. So if you can, just request for "No MSG, less oil and less salt." If they can, they'll oblige. But some older stall holders still hold the idea of 'how can food be nice without MSG!' Tsk.

There's a huge chain store called 'Brothers Jiang' with outlets across Yunnan. Their version is rather authentic and very decent. But I didn't want what everyone else (i.e the tourists) is eating. So the friends took me to this little store they frequent. Obviously, I didn't notice its name. It was smack in the middle of lunchtime, packed to the brim with locals. Yay.

There's the standard 'Crossing The Bridge Noodles' (过桥米线. There's also the vegetable soup with rice vermicelli (米线) at the side. Although next time I'll order the latter, I decided to pick the former to try it. I closed one eye to the chicken broth. I understand that in other villages, fish broth is also used. Oddly, very few stalls use pork broth. I skipped the thin slices of chicken. With tiny misgivings, I dumped in the raw quail egg. It didn't manage to cook fully in the broth. I had a queasy stomach after. Grrrrrrr. But the rest of the noodles were okay. Shallots, beancurd, beansprouts etc were cool. Pickles and all were served at the side. Rice noodles are yummy. One can't go very wrong with that. I can probably eat this on a daily basis.