Dad’s XO Pipis with Crispy Rice Noodles are OUTRAGEOUSLY good. They make the A-list for celebratory banquets, especially when tossed over high heat in our homemade XO Sauce. Satisfy all your guests with this restaurant classic bursting with savory flavor!
The most anticipated restaurant dish is finally here!
You’ve ordered it at Chinese restaurants along with all the other banquet favorites, but now you can make Dad’s XO Pipis with Crispy Noodles at home! If you ever want to surprise the family, THIS is the recipe I’d go for.
The things is, it’s not an everyday kind of dish that you’d enjoy with your loved ones as you would our Crispy Egg Noodles with Seafood (海鲜炒面). Nor is it a noodle recipe to use up your leftover roast duck for. It’s actually much more than that.
There’s just something ultra satisfying about having everyone around the table and getting the fingers messy. This is the perfect dish for some finger lickin’ fun!
But let me tell you why you’d love to slurp up all that goodness: the sauce smothered over each pipi is gorgeously thick and moreish. It drips into the noodle crevices, so you’ll get concentrated pockets of seafood flavor bombs.
Once it coats the crispy noodles, it starts to soften them just enough for the most incredible mouthfeel. Just imagine a warm aromatic gravy coated over noodles with a moist crackling.
It’s insanely good!
Which noodles do I use?
XO Pipis with Crispy Rice Noodles uses a Chinese rice noodle called ‘mei fun’ (米粉) in Cantonese. We’ve used this type in Dad’s Chinese Roast Duck Noodle Soup (雪菜鴨絲湯米) and you’ll find that it’s much springier than its Vietnamese cousin, which our family has cooked for Bún Thịt Nướng (Grilled Pork Noodle Salad), Gỏi Cuốn (Vietnamese Rice Paper Rolls) or Bún Riêu Chay (Vegetarian Tomato Noodle Soup).
The best feature about mei fun is that when it’s put over high heat, each strand will retain its texture for quite some time. This makes it a popular choice for stir fries in Chinese cuisine.
To prepare it, soak the dry noodles in cool water for 10 minutes. Alternatively, steam them on high heat for 5 minutes after soaking to quicken the cooking process. Make sure the strands are then left to dry on a colander before frying.
They’ll soon become a delicious bed for the sauce smothered all over the seafood!
Why this recipe works
- Adding black bean garlic sauce deepens the flavor with a savory twist.
- Using homemade XO Sauce means you’ll have more luxury ingredients like dried scallops and shrimp.
- Letting the noodle base fry until golden brown helps to keep its crisp for longer.
What you’ll need
About the ingredients
Dad gets his pipis fresh from the fishmonger. If you can’t get your hands on any, you can use clams instead. These can come frozen as well, which will also work for this dish. Just make sure to thaw them if you choose to do the latter.
While our recipe uses homemade XO Sauce, you can also buy them in jars at Asian supermarkets. Keep an eye out for them, usually sitting near the cashier.
How to make this recipe
Soak the pipis in cool water with a stainless steel soon for 1 hour, then drain them in a colander. It’s said that the metal will encourage the shellfish to open up.
Boil enough water in a pot to cover every pipi and pour them in to cook for 5 minutes or until they’ve just started to open up.
Meanwhile, mix together the XO Sauce, chicken bouillon powder, sugar and black bean garlic sauce. Set it aside as you work on the other ingredients.
Drain the pipis in a colander to drip dry.
While the seafood is drying, heat up a pan with the 1/2 the oil on high heat. Pour the noodles in and turn the heat down to medium to fry for 10 minutes or until golden.
Pro Tip: Organize the noodles so that they fit nicely on the area of your serving dish. If you have a pan or wok with a surface area just larger than the plate, spread the strands out to fill it up completely.
Flip the cooked mei fun over to brown for another 10 minutes, then plate.
Note: If you find that the wok is getting dry and too smoky, drizzle some oil along the sizes of the pan and let it run into the center.
Use scissors to cut the circle into 8 pieces like a pizza. This will make the XO Pipis with Crispy Noodles easier to eat when served.
Pour the remaining oil in the wok on medium heat and add the garlic in to brown for 30 seconds. Add the mixed paste in from earlier and stir for 20 seconds. Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken stock in to simmer for 1 minute.
Add the drained pipis in and stir them through for 1 minute. Push the seafood aside and mix the slurry up until combined. Pour it slowly onto the part with just sauce while stirring quickly to thicken the gravy, then mix it all through the dish.
Transfer everything onto the fried noodles and serve immediately as is!
Recipe FAQs
Frying them will harden the texture, but to avoid that next time you might want to try soaking it for longer. You can also soak it and steam it to cook them through more first.
They’ll need to be cooked for longer to open. You can avoid this by boiling them in the first cook until all the shells have opened up. Just make sure not to leave them on heat for too long, otherwise they will start to become rubbery as seafood does.
XO Pipis with Crispy Noodles needs a firmer noodle type to keep its crunch. If you can’t get your hands on mei fun, I would suggest egg noodles for a type that will have a similar texture. Flavor-wise, vermicelli could work but be mindful of it getting too soft when cooked for long.
Tips for the best results
- Use fresh ingredients. Make sure you find shellfish in water or tanks at the fishmonger, otherwise enjoy a family day at the beach digging for them!
- Make it just before serving. The sauce will soak each noodle strand and make it soggy if left for too long, so make sure to cook everything to be eaten immediately.
- Coat the noodles with sauce. This will give it more flavor and moisture.
Turn it into a family feast!
- Every banquet deserves a starting duo of Seafood Rolls and Steamed Oysters with Ginger and Shallots.
- Fill the dinner table up with this winning combo: Four Cup Chicken (四杯雞), Cantonese Steamed Fish with Ginger and Shallots (清蒸鱼) and Braised Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms.
- Buddha Jumps Over The Wall Soup (佛跳墙) will keep everyone satisfied and nourished.
- End the night with a refreshing and light Hashima Dessert Soup (雪蛤膏糖水)!
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XO Pipis with Crispy Rice Noodles (XO 蜆煎米底)
Equipment
- Metal spoon
Ingredients
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb pipi (fresh from the fishmonger)
- 200 g / 0.44 lb rice noodle (a.k.a Chinese mei fun, not the Vietnamese version)
- 3 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 4 tbsp XO sauce (or to taste)
- 1 tsp black bean garlic sauce (we use the jarred version from the Asian supermarket)
- 1/4 US cup oil (1/2 for frying the noodles and 1/2 for stir frying the sauce)
- 2 US cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- starch slurry (1 tbsp potato starch mixed with 1 tbsp water)
Instructions
- Soak the pipis in cool water with a stainless steel soon for 1 hour, then drain them in a colander. It's said that the metal will encourage the shellfish to open up.
- Boil enough water in a pot to cover every pipi and pour them in to cook for 5 minutes or until they've just started to open up.
- Meanwhile, mix together the XO Sauce, chicken bouillon powder, sugar and black bean garlic sauce. Set it aside as you work on the other ingredients.
- Drain the pipis in a colander to drip dry.
- While the seafood is drying, heat up a pan with the 1/2 the oil on high heat. Pour the noodles in and turn the heat down to medium to fry for 10 minutes or until golden.Pro Tip: Organize the noodles so that they fit nicely on the area of your serving dish. If you have a pan or wok with a surface area just larger than the plate, spread the strands out to fill it up completely.
- Flip the cooked mei fun over to brown for another 10 minutes, then plate.Note: If you find that the wok is getting dry and too smoky, drizzle some oil along the sizes of the pan and let it run into the center.
- Use scissors to cut the circle into 8 pieces like a pizza. This will make it easier to eat when served.
- Pour the remaining oil in the wok on medium heat and add the garlic in to brown for 30 seconds. Add the mixed paste in from earlier and stir for 20 seconds. Turn the heat up to high and add the chicken stock in to simmer for 1 minute.
- Add the drained pipis in and stir them through for 1 minute. Push the seafood aside and mix the slurry up until combined. Pour it slowly onto the part with just sauce while stirring quickly to thicken the gravy, then mix it all through the dish.
- Transfer everything onto the fried noodles and serve immediately as is!
Notes
- Use fresh ingredients. Make sure you find shellfish in water or tanks at the fishmonger, otherwise enjoy a family day at the beach digging for them!
- Make it just before serving. The sauce will soak each noodle strand and make it soggy if left for too long, so make sure to cook everything to be eaten immediately.
- Coat the noodles with sauce. This will give it more flavor and moisture.
- Pipis are sold fresh from the fishmonger. If you can't get your hands on any, you can use clams instead. These can come frozen as well, which will also work for this dish. Just make sure to thaw them if you choose to do the latter.
- You can buy XO Sauce in jars at Asian supermarkets. Keep an eye out for them near the cashier.
- Soak the dry noodles in cool water for 10 minutes. Alternatively, steam them on high heat for 5 minutes after soaking to quicken the cooking process. Make sure the strands are then left to dry on a colander before frying.
What a fun recipe to make and eat I love trying new foods like this one!
Yes, it definitely is fun to eat!
I love trying new seafood recipes, so I can’t wait to try this.
I hope you get to enjoy this soon, Dannii!
I’ve never heard of pipis but this looks absolutely divine. I can see it’s a must try!
Pipis are so fun to eat and remind me a lot of clams. Definitely worth trying! 😉
I can see why this is a favorite at chinese restaurants. It looks and sounds fabulous!
Yes, it’s a classic that we all love! Thanks!
What a lovely and very delicious looking dish! My daughter and I absolutely love trying new recipes. I can’t wait to show her this one. Looks so delicious and full of flavor!
I hope you and your daughter love this as much as we do, Beth!
The only modifications would be:
-Double the garlic (I love garlic!)
– Double the amount of time you leave the noodles in the water
– Get extra large pippies!
The taste was fantastic and so easy to do.
Thank you!
Thanks, Hung! I’m so glad you enjoyed it! I’ll definitely take on that feedback as well 😀
Is 2 cups of chicken stock correct? It makes it overly watery and needed LOTS of starch mixture to thicken up.
Hi! Yes, 2 cups may seem like a lot but we generally like ours saucy. You can either start with 1 cup and thicken it to preference or use the 2 cups and add more starch mixture to thicken it to your liking. I hope that helps!