These Silky Sichuan Noodles Said To Be Famed Chinese Warlord Liu Bei’s Fave 1,800 Years Ago

Mianyang noodles are named after Sichuan’s second-largest prefecture-level city. It is a smooth and chewy skinny noodle made with just two ingredients — rice flour and water. The texture is like an even more slippery, refined mee sua, but with an addictive bite to it. Bowls of the silky noodles in spicy broth are said to have been served by a Mianyang housewife to famous third century warlord Liu Bei and his troops. The warlord then purportedly exclaimed, “How lucky, this is a good day — I’ve tasted something delicious!” Whether the Liu Bei tale is fact or fiction, there’s no doubt that Mianyang noodles have a long history and are well-loved by the city’s residents. There are apparently long lines every morning in front of Mianyang’s numerous mi fen dian (rice noodle shops) from which the savoury aromas of broth and rice noodles waft through the streets invitingly.

Imagine a more modern version of the noodle shop in Kung Fu Panda. This faux rustic 52-seater (22 are outdoors) eatery is liberally adorned with bamboo and simply furnished with light-hued wooden tables and wicker chairs. Water is served in tin cups emblazoned with the eatery’s name. For those dining alone, there are eight seats facing an alcove running the length of the joint.

The owners of Chuan Hung are dead serious about their noodles, which is why it took a year and then some for these strands to make their way into the eatery. They spent months tasting their way through 50 Sichuan noodle shops in China before finding the one shop that had the texture and mouthfeel they desired — but it didn’t stop there. It took Chuang Hung’s team almost a year and many visits to persuade the noodle stall to share the artisan’s contact — even going so far as to guarantee the stall they would not sell the noodles within Sichuan — and subsequently convincing the artisan to sell the noodles to them. Their persistence paid off. Eventually, the village artisan not only agreed to sell his noodles to Chuan Hung, he even customised them for the Singapore eatery. Chuan Hung wanted a noodle with more bite, so the artisan made them 1mm thick (traditional Mianyang strands are 0.8mm) just for the eatery at Telok Ayer.

The rice flour used here is harvested from the noodle makers’ own rice field in Mianyang and ground on-site. Meanwhile, the H2O used is mountain spring water from China. The dried noodles are shipped from Sichuan to Singapore once every three weeks.

There’s a choice of two noodles here — Mianyang rice noodles or flatter, broader wheat-based noodles — and various soup bases. Following tradition, the noodles here are served with different Sichuan broths: clear, red, mixed (a combo of clear and red broths), and Sichuan vine pepper (the lemony spice typically used in mala hotpot to induce the mouth-numbing sensation). There’s also a dry-tossed option for the Home Specialty Mashed Pea ($12.50) noodles, which we did not try. Skip the boring flat noodles which are like a slimmer ban mian and go straight for the silky Mianyang rice noodles.

The clean-tasting clear broth, made by simmering pork bones and lard for hours, was our favourite. But mala fans can sweat it out with the fiery red broth, a base of pork soup boiled with Sichuan peppers, pickled chillies and dried chillies, or try the piquant vine pepper broth made with chicken soup, Sichuan vine peppers and chilli padi.

The menu is padded out with classic Sichuan sides such as Fried Crispy Pig Intestines ($5.50), Braised Eggplant ($4,50) and Specialty ‘Liang Fen’ Cold Bean Jelly ($3.50).

Tender chunks of beef cheek braised in a broth of doubanjiang (fermented chilli bean sauce), chillies and peppercorns. The meat was soft, juicy and well-marinated. We had this with the mixed red and white broth, which was already quite spicy and greasy, but thankfully tasty and well-balanced. The slippery, glossy strands of Mianyang noodles were lovely to slurp up: satiny and springy. They were glazed with chilli oil as we lifted them from the bowl, so it got fierier with each mouthful. No problem if you're a spice fan, but a bit of a challenge for chilli wimps like us.

Available only in a clear, non-spicy chicken broth, this dish contains three types of mushrooms and chicken thigh braised in garlic, ginger, chicken oil, spring onion and chicken bone stock. It’s comforting if a tad dull, but the beauty of this number is that you can easily spice things up with condiments like Sichuan chilli oil and pickled vegetables, which are provided on every table.

Made with chicken stock, Sichuan vine pepper and chilli padi, this wasn’t as spicy or peppery as we’d expected. Also, the saltiness could have been taken down a notch. And the prawns were firm and bouncy but not quite “king”-sized. This noodle dish is available only in a vine pepper broth. Not our fave.

Braised for four hours in a seasoning of soy sauce, star anise, Sichuan peppers and peppercorns, cinnamon and nutmeg, and then stuffed with Japanese leeks and fried, these pig intestines were crisp-edged, chewy, and quite tasty — pity it was a tad gamey.

We really liked the smoky, salty flavour of the charred and peeled bell peppers and green chillies layered over tender steamed eggplant. Order this over the Specialty ‘Liang Fen’ Cold Bean Jelly, $3.50 (bottom in pic), made from boiled pea starch and a breakfast fave in northern and western China. The chilled bland jelly is meant to be eaten with the accompanying sauce, which combines fried doubanjiang and fermented black beans with fried-and-chopped Sichuan peppers. We’d much rather spend our carb count on more noodles.

Like a sour, lacklustre non-alcoholic unfiltered sake or Korean makgeolli, the sweet fermented rice liquid was paired with house-made plain tang yuan that were too starchy and lacking in flavour.

Chilled rice starch pudding drizzled with black sugar syrup, pleasant, but this simple dessert reminds us of a less satisfying gula melaka sago pudding.

Need a drink to douse all that Sichuan pepper? There's this chilled green tea, grapefruit, apple, white fungus and jujube, prettily presented in a bottle. Quite refreshing if a little light-tasting.

This is our first time having Mianyang noodles and we love its ultra smooth, springy texture. Pair them with the fairly tasty red and clear broths here. Meanwhile, the side dishes are hit-and-miss, so choose carefully. And we'd skip the blah desserts altogether since the noodles are really the stars of the show at this Sichuan joint.

Chuan Hung is at 51 Telok Ayer St, #01-01, S048441. Tel: 9755 1058. Open Mon to Fri, 10am-3pm & 5pm-9pm; Sat to Sun, 10am-9pm. Last orders 30 mins before closing. www.facebook.com/chuanhungnoodle/.

PHOTOS: Chuan Hung