Beijing Rich-Gravy Noodles (Da Lu Mian)
打卤面
English: Beijing Rich-Gravy Noodles
Chinese: 打卤面
Pinyin： da lu mian
Literal: Noodles with gravy/sauce
Beijing cuisine broadly falls into two categories. First, there’s home-style cooking (家常菜 ｜jiachang cai) - the hearty and comforting food eaten by local families every day. I find myself gravitating towards this style of cooking, wherever I am in China. It’s simple and filling and relies on local ingredients like wheat, cabbage, tofu and eggs.
On the other end is imperial cuisine (宫廷菜 | gongting cai), developed in the royal kitchens of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Here, the focus is on refinement, presentation, and technique—elaborate dishes prepared to please emperors and aristocrats.
In between lies Beijing’s rich snack culture (小吃 | xiao chi), often found in the city’s old hutongs. Influenced by the capital’s ethnic minorities, these foods include steaming baozi, boiled dumplings, lamb skewers, flatbreads and steaming bowls of hand-pulled noodles - quick, flavourful, and what we’d call local food.
One reason many classic Beijing dishes remain unknown abroad is because they’re home-style cooking—made in everyday kitchens and passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, rather than served in restaurants to travellers. One such dish is Da Lu Mian (打卤面), a beloved staple that most Beijingers grew up with. The name translates loosely to “noodles with mixed gravy,” but every family has their own version. Some add tofu, carrots, or radish—whatever happens to be in the kitchen. Flexibility is the point: Da Lu Mian is an adaptable, practical meal, built from pantry staples.
Traditionally though, Da Lu Mian is packed with wood ear mushrooms, lily buds and a few sliced shiitakes, all simmered in the sauce, which is later thicken with a cornstarch slurry until it clings to each strand of noodle.
Like much of Northern Chinese cuisine, Da Lu Mian is about warmth, substance, and balance: soft and chewy textures, umami from soy sauce and mushrooms, brightness from ginger and vinegar, and a final splash of sesame oil. Da Lu Mian is the perfect example of how Northern Chinese cuisine turns simple ingredients into nourishing and comforting meals.
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the pork
250g pork belly
1-2 spring onions - cut into 8cm piece
2 slices of ginger
1 star anise
½ tablespoon Shaoxing wine
For the vegetables
15g-20g dried lily buds (黄花）
3-4 dried shiitake mushrooms
15-20g dried wood ear mushrooms (or 50g fresh)
For the sauce
2 spring onion - thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ginger - finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - finely chopped
2 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
Pinch of salt
Pinch of white pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
250ml reserved broth from soaked shiitake mushrooms
250ml reserved broth from soaked yellow flowers
600ml reserved broth from boiled pork
3 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 4.5 tablespoon water
2 eggs - beaten
For the noodles
200g dried noodles (or 100g fresh)
Method
Note:
Lily buds are poisonous when raw, so be sure to boil them for 5-10 minutes before eating.
Traditional Da Lu Mian uses the “3 waters” - the water from the boiled pork, the water from the soaking shiitakes and the water from the soaking lily buds. These are what give Da Lu Mian its unique flavour.
Soak lily buds, shiitake mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms (if dried) in 3 separate bowls of hot water for 20-30 minutes.
Cut pork belly into 8cm long, 2.5-3cm thick slabs. Place in a saucepan with spring onions, ginger, star anise, and Shaoxing wine. Add 700-800ml water, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. Remove any scum that rises to the surface.
Once cooked, remove the pork from the broth and set aside to cool. Strain and reserve 600ml of the cooking liquid.
When the pork has cooled, slice thinly. Drain the mushrooms, reserving the liquid from the shiitakes and lily buds (discard the wood ear liquid). Slice shiitakes and chop wood ears into bite-sized pieces.
Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook noodles until just tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. Toss with a few drops of oil to prevent sticking.
For the sauce, heat a tablespoon of oil in a wok. Add sliced spring onions, chopped ginger, and garlic, stir-frying until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
Add the pork slices to the wok and stir-fry for one minute.
Add lily buds, shiitake mushrooms, and wood ears into the wok. Add both soy sauces, Shaoxing wine, salt, pepper, and sugar. Pour in all three reserved broths, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes.
Stir in the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Allow to simmer for 1-2 minutes without stirring.
Slowly pour beaten eggs into the sauce while gently stirring to create ribbon-like strands. Let cook for one minute, then remove from heat.
Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Finish with a drizzle of sesame oil.
Divide noodles between two bowls and ladle the hot, thick sauce over the top, ensuring each serving has plenty of mushrooms, lily buds, and egg.
