Pan mee is a Malaysian noodle dish served as a soup or without broth, with variations in ingredients and chili sauce. It is a common breakfast in the north and a popular dish throughout Malaysia. Chili pan mee is a recent innovation with Chinese influence.
Pan mee is a Malaysian noodle dish made with pork, dried anchovies, and often a soft-boiled egg. The most traditional way to serve pan is as a soup. In this preparation, the noodles are boiled and subsequently floated in a pork stock. Chili Pan Mee is a hotter and spicier dish that is not prepared as a soup, but rather as a noodle dish. Both versions of the dish are popular throughout Malaysia and are widely available in restaurants and roadside food stalls, as well as often being made at home.
Different cooks have different favorite ways of preparing the pan, and as a result there are numerous variations. It is common to find the dish made with various shapes and types of noodles, for example. Some cooks add ingredients they have on hand, including pork belly, shrimp, peanuts, or green peppers. Most cooks also have their own unique chili sauces. The quality of the chili sauce is often what distinguishes otherwise uniform pan mee preparations in restaurants.
The more traditional soup version of the dish is typically simmered hand-made flour noodles in pork broth. Black mushrooms, fried anchovies, potato leaves, boiled pork and green onions are added on top. A soft-boiled egg is a common, but not ubiquitous, addition. The soup is always topped with red pepper flakes or red pepper sauce, though it is usually set aside so people can control the heat of their soup.
Pan mee soup is a common Malay breakfast, particularly in the north. Provides plenty of energy to get you through the day and uses fresh, local ingredients. Especially in the summer, cool mornings are also some of the only times eating hot soup is comfortable. However, restaurants and shops in most cities in Malaysia, including its capital, Kuala Lumpur, will serve the soup any time of day.
A more recent innovation is chili pan mee, which is served as a typical noodle dish without broth. Its ingredients largely mimic those of the soup version: spaghetti is commonly topped with pork, fried anchovies, chili peppers, hard-boiled egg, and green onion. Most of the time, the toppings are arranged in quadrants on top of the noodles with onions as a side. Diners eat the dish by cracking the egg with their chopsticks, then mixing the runny yolk with all the other ingredients to coat and cover the noodles. It is common to add additional chili paste or chili sauce to taste.
Chili Pan Mee has a strong Chinese influence and is believed to have originated from about the same wave of Chinese immigration as Malaysia in the late 19th century. During this period Chinese settlers brought aspects of their language, culture and culinary tendencies – particularly those involving red hot chili peppers – to Malaysia. Chili pan mee is sometimes classified as an aspect of Malay-Chinese cuisine. This version is eaten at any time of day, often as an afternoon snack or late lunch.
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