Taipiien (Kumamoto Glass Noodle Soup)
Quick answer
- Total time
- 55 min
- Level
- Medium
- Servings
- 2 servings
- Ingredients
- 20
About this dish
Glass noodles, shrimp, squid, pork, napa cabbage, and wood ear fill a clear chicken broth, finished with half a hard-boiled egg on top.
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The dish came from Fuzhou in China's Fujian province, where it was a celebration food, and reached Kumamoto by way of Nagasaki in the late Meiji era. Today it appears at Chinese restaurants and home tables in central Kumamoto as lunch, dinner, or a meal after drinking. The seafood is added only after the pork and firm vegetables have cooked, which keeps the shrimp and squid from turning rubbery. To keep the broth clear, the glass noodles are boiled and rinsed separately, warmed in the soup only at the end, and the heat is cut as soon as the sesame oil and scallion are added.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Boil the glass noodles in plenty of water according to the package timing, rinse under cold water, and drain.
Cut into lengths of about 15 cm.
- 2
Soak the wood ear, remove its hard base, and shred.
Cut pork bite-size, kamaboko 3 mm thick, and squid and cabbage 2 cm wide; devein the shrimp. Shred carrot and onion and slice the green onion.
- 3
Boil the egg for 10 minutes until firm through the yolk.
Cool in cold water, peel, and halve lengthwise. Dissolve the chicken stock granules completely in the hot water.
- 4
Heat the stir-frying oil and ginger in a pot over medium heat until fragrant.
Add the pork and fry for 2 minutes, until no red remains on the surface, then pour in the sake.
- 5
Add the onion, carrot, wood ear, and white cabbage stems and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper and cook until the vegetable edges begin to soften.
- 6
Add the shrimp, squid, kamaboko, and cabbage leaves, then pour in the chicken broth and light soy sauce.
Boil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the pork is cooked through, shrimp are opaque pink, and squid is opaque white.
- 7
Add the glass noodles and boil 1 minute more.
Stir in the green onion and sesame oil, turn off the heat immediately, and divide broth, noodles, and solids between two large bowls.
- 8
Place one hard-boiled egg half on top of each bowl.
Rest it over the solids so the yolk remains above the broth when served.
References checked
These references were consulted when this page was prepared or corrected. A source check does not mean the recipe was independently kitchen-tested.
- 일본 농림수산성 うちの郷土料理
尚絅大学生活科学部 守田 真里子氏 · Checked: 2026-08-11
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