Pork belly can be used in pot mee.
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 mee is in the form of a soup. In this preparation, the noodles are boiled and then floated in a pork broth. Chili mee pot is a hotter and spicier mee pot dish that is not prepared as a soup, but as a noodle dish. Both versions of the dish are popular in Malaysia and are widely available in restaurants and roadside food stalls, plus they are often prepared at home.
Anchovies are used in pan mee.
Different cooks have different preferred ways of preparing the pan, so there are countless 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, such as pork belly, shrimp, peanuts, or green peppers. Most cooks also have their own hot sauces. The quality of the hot sauce is often what distinguishes uniform pan-mee preparations in restaurants.
The more traditional soup version of the dish is typically made by boiling handmade flour noodles in pork broth. Black mushrooms, fried anchovies, potato leaves, boiled pork and chives are added on top. A hard-boiled egg is a common but not ubiquitous addition. The soup is always seasoned with chili flakes or chili sauce, although this is usually reserved so that people can control the heat of the soup.
Pan mee soup is a common breakfast in Malaysia, particularly in the north. It provides plenty of energy needed to get you through the day and uses fresh, local ingredients. Especially in summer, cool mornings are also some of the only times eating hot soup is comfortable. However, restaurants and shops in most Malaysian cities, including its capital Kuala Lumpur, serve the soup at any time of the day.
A more recent innovation is the chili pan mee, which is served as a typical noodle dish without broth. Its ingredients largely mimic those of the soup version: the noodles are often topped with pork, fried anchovies, pepper flakes, boiled egg, and chives. Most of the time, the toppings are placed in quadrants on top of the noodles with the onions as a garnish. Diners eat the dish by breaking the egg with chopsticks and then mixing the runny yolk with all the other ingredients to coat and coat the noodles. It is common to add chili paste or chili sauce to taste.
Mee pan chili has a strong Chinese influence and is believed to have originated around the same time as the great wave of Chinese immigration from Malaysia in the late 19th century. Chinese settlers brought aspects of their language, culture, and culinary trends, particularly those related to the red hot pepper, to Malaysia during this period. Chili pan mee is sometimes classified as a facet of Malay Chinese cuisine. This version is eaten at any time of the day, most often as a late snack or lunch.