Parboil pork bones, then rinse, clean, and add to a 24 quart pot.

Charbroil onions, ginger and squid, add to pot.

In a frying pan, on high heat, dry fry (no oil) the dried shrimp for 3 minutes, occasionally stirring. Add to pot.

Add salt, rock sugar, mushroom powder, daikon, cilantro stems and fish sauce. Top off pot with water and bring it to a boil, then reduce heat to low and let it simmer for 3 hours. Once the broth is done, remove pork bones, daikon, dried shrimp and discard. Return clear, clean broth to a pot. I usually transfer it to a 16 quart pot at this point.

While the pot is simmering, cook the rest of the items.

For the shrimp: in a pot, with boiling water, squeeze one whole lime or lemon and a pinch or two of sugar then add Unpeeled shrimp and cook until it turns pink/orangeand and remove from water and put in ice water bath for it to cool.

Boil water and add the quail eggs. Cook them for 5 minutes. Transfer quail eggs to an ice water bath. Let them cool, then gently peel and put aside.

For the liver (if you are using): soak in milk for 60 minutes. Strain and then put in a pot of boiling water, reduce heat to medium and let it simmer for 15 minutes with one whole shallot cut in half lengthwise. Once cooked, put it first in an ice water bath and then slice it thinly.

For the sauce: saute shallots and garlic together with oil for a few minutes until shallots are soft. Add the remaining ingredients, let it boil, stir and turn off the heat. Set aside.

For the minced pork: in a large skillet or pan on high heat, add oil, then add marinated pork and cook it untouched for 3 minutes. Then break it up by using the tip of the spatula. Turn meat over and cook for another 3 minutes, untouched. Then add ½ cup of the simmering broth and stir and cook until the pork absorbs all the broth.

Serve with noodles of your choice, and top with minced pork, shrimp and quail eggs. (You can also add BBQ pork and wantons if you like). I find that to get the true essence of this dish, you will need to serve it with garlic chives and Chinese celery.

Some people like to eat this as a regular noodle soup, but it’s also common to eat the noodles as a dry version. This means with no broth, and instead you drizzle the sauce over the noodles, mix it and add your toppings. I like to eat it dry, but with one scoop of the broth in the bowl, and serve with a cup of broth on the side with added cilantro and green onions for sipping.