I don't get the name NoodleGal for nothing. My last postings about noodles has received some good feedback. So, I decide to share more my experience of “zulupping” the best noodle shops in town.
Being single, living by myself and, more importantly, not making a lot of money, have brought me loads of opportunities to try out new and cheap noodles places around town. Trying out new noodle places is often highlight of the day, after staying long hours behind the computer screens.
To me, having noodles is a very personal experience. It's great to enjoy being alone and not to be disturbed. For those of you from Hong Kong, you might still remember this news a few months ago. An explosion happened at a noodle shop in Tai Kok Tsui because a bottle of insect spray was placed too close to the stove. The explosion injured five people, including some customers. If I were at the shop, for sure I'll be one of the injured, because I would be so busy zulupping noodles that I couldn't be bothered to run. Of course, provided the shop made good noodles ;-)
Unfortunately, my noodle experience have been quite limited around my neighborhood and area near my workplace. But, for a small area like Hong Kong Island, it has so much varieties of noodle shops that I don't need to go too far to find something I like.
I mentioned in last posting there are a few types of noodles are my favorite. Not only I love these noodles, there is a particular shop that I go to for each of them. So, here's the NoodleGal's favorite noodle shops:
Yuanan noodles
Yuanan is the southern province in China. It is known for its diversified ethnic groups, as well as its noodles. Also known as the “Cross-bridge Noodle”, it is a big bowl of hot soup filled with white rice noodles and variety of ingredients and spices. The best one I had was in Lijiang Yuanan.
In Hong Kong, the noodles have been localized with a smaller bowl and less spices in the soup base. But I still crave for the Yuanan noodles at this shop at Causeway Bay, whenever I'm around the area. “Kim Sai” has a spicy and sour soup base, with a variety of ingredients that you can pick and choose. All in a great deal of less than HK$25! The soup base could be spicy and sour. You can always ask for a lighter soup base. But why go for less tasty when you can get the best! I always left the place with running nose and satisfaction!
Laksa
This famous spicy noodles from Singapore and Malaysia has only been one of my favorites in recent years. I've tried a few shops in Central and Sheungwan. The Laksa tends to taste really good when the shop first opened, but it got worse after awhile. Only Pasar, I think have the most consistent quality.
Prawn Meen
Another famous noodles in Malaysia and Singapore is Prawn Meen. Different from Laksa, which uses coconut milk in the soup base, Prawn Meen uses prawn as the base of the soup base. You can choose to have chicken or prawns or both of them as the major ingredients. For having prawn meen, I'd only go for two places: Malay MaMa and Prawn Noodles Shop. I like the friendly environment and their super tasty soup base, which has the sweetness from the seafood, but not fishy at all.
Wonton noodle
If there's a Hong Kong cuisine, wonton noodle has to been one of the main dishes. Everyone from Hong Kong grow up with wonton noodles, so I'm not surprise everyone will have their own favorite shop. I was not a big fan of wonton noodle until only about six years ago, when I first live by myself in this big and pricey city. Wonton noodles from Jim Chai Kee (URL) become my favorite food, especially when I'm broke! The HK$12 (it used to be only HK$10) per bowl is still a wonderful deal for a quick and simple meal. Each bowl contains three huge wontons, with the size of a ping pong ball! The noodle also come in great texture, its solid and chewy texture, which is just the way what I like. I hate when the noodles are overcooked, because the texture becomes soft and soggy.
The pingpong-wonton
Apart from JCK, my latest favorite is Wong Chee Kee. It is not a local brand, it's a shop with long history in Macau and has recently opened in Hong Kong. WCK is the delicate version of JCK. The wontons are much smaller, but the size is perfect for a mouthful. The noodles are much finer, but still maintain a chewy texture. It is almost double the price from JCK, but totally worth when I want to treat myself a one fine bowl of wonton noodles.
One fine bowl of wonton!
Ramen
Japanese food has become most Hong Kong people's favorite cuisine. Sushi shops, ramen places are all over town. But too many of them have been localized, so I didn't have my favorite ramen place, until I tried those from Sapporo (URL).
That's probably the most authentic ramen place in Hong Kong. Authentic, in both the menu selection and service. It does not have a lot of collection, basically the menu is only a list of 4-5 types of soup bases. The shop decide your topics, which is mainly char siu, roast pork. The usual soup bases are miso, soy sauce and salt. But this place has the traditional soup base that I yet to find in any other ramen places in Hong Kong so far, that is butter. It is probably more Hokkaido style then Japanese in general. But I must say during cold winter, (HK's winter could be really chilly), seeing a think piece of butter melting in the salt soup base is the most comforting experience. Having a zip of the melting butter brings me instant warmth to not only my belly, but the entire body!
A bowl of hot warm soup that melts the butter!The list of my favorite noodle places can go on and on... but it may change anytime. If you have any other places, you'd like to recommend, please do so! I need more incentive to explore outside Central and CWB :-) Of course, it's also great to hear from you guys!
1 comment:
finally i have tracked u down online!! hehe......s
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