61 - Send Noods
A delicious adventure awaits, !
Here’s a list of my favourite noodle dishes :D
5th Place: Crab Noodles
A major treat in Cantonese cuisine (or Chinese cuisine for that matter) is when you get quality seafood. Hong Kong is a port, and so you could usually get the freshest prawns, clams, oysters, fish, etc. from the docks. My grandma used to tell me about the grilled fish you could get bought straight from the fisherman in Changzhou as they came up on the docks; dad revels in the memory of wonton noodle soups where the won tons had the freshest, tastiest prawns you could ever eat.
At most Chinese restaurants, the expensive stuff on the menu is usually fish, lobster or crab (if you see “market price”, it’s gonna be exxy). And because crab has a better meat:shell ratio (apparently), that’s the one we usually go for. Spring Onion and Ginger crab, with an extra noodle base - one of the greatest noodle dishes you can have as a kid. Slathered with the umami flavours and juices of the crab, it continues soaking in the perfumed aromas of the crab as it sits in front of you on the table.
It’s actually the best part of the dish - the juice isn’t really worth the squeeze when you have to crack through a bunch of shell to get to the nice crab meat…but those noodles are incredible. It’s not the main part of the dish though, so, 5th it is.
4th Place: Cantonese Crispy Noodle with Shredded Pork
The old staple of weekend lunches - I still love getting this dish to this day. Mum and Dad took us to these Chinese cafes where you see the same type of noodle dishes - hor fun, vermicelli, crispy noodles, udon, spaghetti - just with different toppings. Maybe you’d get some honey pepper beef, or a combination seafood. Maybe you’re in the mood for some dumplings, or chicken. It’s usually very easy to mix and match.
This dish, however, is pretty unique, in that it’s one of the only dishes on the menu where the method of cooking the noodles is to add a step of deep frying them. This way, you get these really crispy noodle-y bits on the edges, and then you pour a nice portion of shredded pork with sauce in the middle. Best of both worlds - crunchy, juicy, soft, flavoursome, delicious!
3rd Place: Laksa
I didn’t have Malaysian food for quite a while - the spicy red colours scared me off for the longest time. But once I got on to it (since the noodle dishes are so similar), I was hooked. What a delightful, overwhelming dish! The bowl of chicken, seafood, fried tofu, beanshoots, vermicelli, noodles and sambal (optional) is tied together with a fantastically flavourful broth - the wonderfully pungent laksa taste and aroma is something you don’t easily forget. The coconut-based soup provides a nice contrast to the spicy, acidic notes in the broth, and when you bite into a piece of tofu that has soaked up all that flavour…mmmmmmm
It’s not an always-eat kind of dish though - like my top 2 noodle soups below! Laksa is best on a wintry day, as the hot, spicy soup helps warm up your whole body.
2nd Place: Ramen
It’s a classic for a reason, right? The iconic Japanese dish seems to have become trendier over the last few years, with a bunch of places opening (Hakata Gensuke, Shujinko, Ippudo, Ramen Bankara, Mugen Ramen) - all with their own unique twist on the formula (even if it’s just a different broth).
But though there are a lot of different broths which change the nature of the ramen, the ramen itself is what I like to focus on. When I was younger, mum told us not to drink the soups when we were having noodle soup dishes - and it’s a habit I’m trying to break. I watched a fascinating video on how ramen gets made - the different thicknesses, the pulling, the kneading, the specific flour being used and ratios of water used to make the dough. Every place I go has a slightly different ramen - some thicker, some thinner - but at the end of the day, always delicious. I could slurp up BOWLS of the stuff!
1st Place: Satay Beef Noodle Soup, HK Cafe style
When I was younger, I went to Chinese school on a Saturday morning from 9 - 12pm. It was a Cantonese school, and my sister and I learnt how to read, write and speak in Cantonese there, a way for our parents to ensure the language would stay alive. Every weekend, like clockwork, we would finish school and make our way to the Jade Hong Kong Cafe in Box Hill. It was a HK cafe, complete with uncomfortable booths, HK news blaring on the TV, and TVBJ (the HK public access channel) posters adorning the walls. The chatter of Cantonese flowed around us, and my parents would exchange niceties with the tables around us - family friends or regulars of the place.
Usually, the cafe offered an A or B meal - two options that were the ‘special meals’ of the day. You get a choice of spaghetti or rice with [insert random topping here (e.g. black pepper beef, pork chop, curry chicken, spam and eggs etc.)]. We’d share two dishes between the 4 of us, and as a treat I’d sometimes get to order a mango milkshake. Mum and Dad don’t believe in ordering drinks - they’re too overpriced.
But one time, I saw a Chinese school friend of mine there order the Satay Beef Noodle Soup, and to try to be cool (story of my fucking LIFE as a kid), I ordered it too.
It was not love at first sight.
Essentially, it’s instant noodles, with a satay sauce infused in the clear broth. It’s simple, and delicious, but it was the spiciest thing I had ever tasted (I was like…what, 12?). God knows why, I stubbornly refused to stop eating it. I had to finish it, I had to like it. On one hand I wanted to be like my friend, but on the other hand I was eating INSTANT NOODLES which Mum didn’t like.
Rebellion is subtle, y’know?
But over time, as I kept ordering it, it grew to be the noodle soup dish that I love the most in the world. The instant noodles are slurped up with the flavourful soup, and the sauce leaves a pleasant aftertaste on the tongue. Every HK cafe menu in the world offers the dish, served with a ham omelette and buttered white toast on the side (don’t ask me why). The combination of it all is just a match made in heaven - a comfort food providing nostalgic memories of a more carefree time.
The Jade Hong Kong Cafe doesn’t exist anymore - it’s been closed down and replaced by a Hainanese chicken shop. But I’m happy I got to be in that place for a while, and every time I have another Satay Beef Noodle Soup, I remember what it was like there.
I’m really looking forward to lockdown being over, so that I can revel in more food memories.
Chat soon :)
✔️ Real Life Recommendations
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China, The Cookbook - I picked this up from the Readings Bargain Bin for like $20 - I was so surprised! It’s an absolute BIBLE of Chinese food - I’m still studying the recipes but it collects them from all across China; Hong Kong, Shandong, Guangdong, Fujian - and it does so brilliantly. Also it’s written by Chinese people - which helps?
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Anthony Bourdain: The Layover - I remember watching this on a plane, marvelling at how a food critic could travel to so many places in so little time. The Layover was more of a timed thing - activities and restaurants you could visit within 24-48hrs of being in the city. A man after my own heart.
🚌 Adventures on the Information Super-Highway
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Noodle Worship Instagram - I’ve started following a bunch of food instagrams and this is one of my recent favourites - it’s an account that posts pasta, ramen, udon, noodles - from everywhere and anywhere. I freaking love noodles dude!
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Mushrooms releasing spores - a really cool visualisation of how mushrooms release their spores. It kinda looks like water casting off an umbrella, or smoke from a candle.
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Why Ratatouille is Pixar’s Magnum Opus - I think this is my favourite Disney/Pixar movie…or maybe the Incredibles. This film theory dude does a fantastic video on why it’s so great - it made me rewatch the movie again right after I watched it!