• Sprinkle ground pepper all over pork. Heat vegetable oil in a large pot. Brown pork for 3 to 4 minutes.
  
• Push pork aside. Reduce heat and add garlic. Stir fry for 20 seconds.
• Add dark soy sauce and pour in water. Cover, increase heat, and to bring liquid to a boil.
  
• Remove the lid, add hard cooked/boiled eggs and tofu. Lightly season with salt. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 35 minutes.
• While soup is simmering, bring a medium pot of water to boil. Blanch choy sum for 30 seconds. Remove and place blanched choy sum in a cold bath to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside.
• Add fish cake and boil for 4 to 5 minutes. It is cooked when it starts to float. Remove and cut into thin slices. Discard the water.
• Refill pot with fresh water. Blanch noodles for 4 to 5 minutes. Remove with a strainer. Set aside.
  
• Transfer pork, eggs, and tofu from the soup pot onto a plate.
• Mix cornstarch with 2 cups (480ml) water. Pour into the soup and allow it to come to a gentle boil. Soup should thicken.
  
• Slowly pour in the beaten egg and give it a gentle stir. Egg ribbons will form in the soup.
• Do a taste test. Add more salt if needed. Turn off stove.
• Cut pork and tofu into thin slices and eggs into halves.
  

To Serve

• Place some noodles in a bowl. Add some choy sum, a few slices of fish cake, pork, and tofu. Place half an egg on the top.
• Ladle soup over noodles and ingredients. Garnish with green onions and fried shallots. Serve immediately with fried chili paste and vinegar.