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Birthday Mee Sua (Longevity Noodles)
Update (19 Aug 2014): First posted in Aug 2009, now updated with new photos and improved recipe.
It’s the SO birthday tomorrow, and last weekend I cooked him this bowl of birthday longevity noodles (aka long life noodles, or 长寿面, “Chang Shou Mian”) in advance. For the soup base, I used my favourite chicken soup recipe from Teczcape. My family loves the chicken soup as it tastes homely and boosts immunity (with shiitake mushrooms, garlic, onion and ginger).
See Also:
- Recipe: Mum’s Egg Mee Sua Soup
- Recipe: Red Glutinous Wine Mee Sua
- Ingredient Spotlight: Mee Sua (Flour vermicelli)
I served the chicken soup with mee sua, baby abalones (birthday treat) and hard-boiled quail eggs.
Longevity noodles are eaten by Chinese on birthdays and special occasions such as Ren Ri 人 日 (7th day of the Lunar New Year, commonly known as “everyman’s birthday”). The long strands of noodles symbolize a long life. Therefore, when eating the noodles, one tries not to break the noodles using the chopsticks or teeth, but instead chew on the noodles when they are inside the mouth. Quite a challenging task if you’d asked me ;) Instead of mee sua, you can use other long noodles such as bee hoon, udon, soba, yee mien and even spaghetti. The noodles can be dry (stir-fried) as well. Sometimes the eggs are dyed in red food colouring as red symbolises auspiciousness. As for the soup broth, anything goes – you can use any type of soup stock, including instant ones.
I love this soup! I have some rice noodles that could work with this. Thanks!
Hello,
Just thought i would tell you he good news, that the cholesterol in eggs is not thought cause high cholesterol in humans. So you can eat without fear.
the cholesterol we get from our food – and this includes eggs – has less effect on the amount of cholesterol in our blood than the amount of saturated fat we eat. So, if you are eating a balanced diet you only need to cut down on eggs if you have been told to do so by your GP or dietitian. If your GP has told you to watch your cholesterol levels, your priority should be cutting down on saturated fats.
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/nutritionessentials/eggsandpulses/eggs/
http://nutritionandeggs.co.uk/cholesterol/cholesterol1.html
Thanks for sharing :)
We always have noodles on birthdays too! Recently though we’ve actually done pasta a few times too. Hey, as long as the noodles are long, it means longevity right?
Yes! I think spaghetti has been used before in longevity noodles. In fact, I’m going to try it next time. I think it’s easier to slurp than mee suah which tends to stick together :D
I love the crabsticks and abalone! I cooked this for myself just last month. :P Added pork shabu shabu and hard boiled eggs. :D
I made this for my hubby on his birthday and he loves it. Thanks for this simple recipe.
I’m glad to hear that :-) How sweet of you to prepare for your hubby :-)
Hello! What is abalone broth?
the soup from the can of abalone.
Of course, without doubt, this bowl of noodles must be so delicious too with chicken soup as the base. I like your addition of quail eggs and abalone as “treats”. I need to cook this “immunity” soup soon when the cool season arrives. Sometimes, I skip one or two ingredients and of course the soup tastes different but when everything is in place, I do enjoy the “heat” from ginger, chili, sweetness from gojiberries, earthy-flavors from mushrooms and savory chicken.
Errr…what does acronym “SO” means? whose birthday?
SO means “Significant Other” … hubby birthday :p
Your recipe is a keeper, I frequently cook this soup since you posted it. The kitchen is always nice smelling while the soup is brewing. When it comes to birthday, just add mee sua and some treats to convert it to a birthday bowl. Usually I shred the chicken but it seems it is nicer to serve it with the whole drumstick for birthday. So happy, thanks for sharing your recipe.
Haha, ok…now I know what is “SO”.
My Dad’s b-day is on the 19th…so I thought whose b-day (on the 20th) was it on your side. “p
Nice noodle soup…yes, I remember having this soup when celebrating birthdays…and somehow we stop doing that…
Thanks for the reminder. Hope you are enjoying your week :D
Wow….right timing, . I can cook this for my son’s fourteenth birthday next week. He’s a food lover ( my hubby too) Thank you n have a great weekend !
I hope your family will enjoy this mee sua as much as we do. Happy early birthday to your son!
So much flavour , i am going to love it.