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2014-02-20
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As a child I remember some early memories of won ton noodles, and one in particular was I think Wah Lai Yuen in Causeway Bay, which used to be very near the CWB location of Tai Ping Koon. The details are now very blurry, but times were a lot simpler then.After living overseas for over half my life, I don't miss won ton noodles that much. Maybe whatever I remembered from my youth was just a faded memory, and whatever is remaining now in Hong Kong, is unfortunately being overlooked in place of tre
As a child I remember some early memories of won ton noodles, and one in particular was I think Wah Lai Yuen in Causeway Bay, which used to be very near the CWB location of Tai Ping Koon. The details are now very blurry, but times were a lot simpler then.After living overseas for over half my life, I don't miss won ton noodles that much. Maybe whatever I remembered from my youth was just a faded memory, and whatever is remaining now in Hong Kong, is unfortunately being overlooked in place of trends, fancier food, with little respect for time and tradition.
Thanks to a great local food friend, I was recommended to come specifically to this location of Mak An Kee, and for one dish in particular...and that was the dried roasted shaved flatfish brothless noodles (lo mein). There aren't many or any other places that offer such a thing, because a whole roasted dried flatfish usually ends up becoming the key ingredient, and used in making the classic wonton noodle broth.
As I put my order in with the waiter in Cantonese, he immediately responded "you know that is dried flatfish right?" (since the menu name of the dish is po yu lo mein). I nodded and he kindly offered me a choice of oyster sauce or brisket gravy for the brothless noodles, to which I gladly accepted the latter.
The brothless noodles arrived first. A piping hot brothless clump of thin egg noodles (no doubt drizzled with good old fashioned lard), with a steamy side mini bowl of fragrant dried flatfish broth, and it was apparent there was some shrimp roe at the bottom....with the requisite young yellow chives on top. The dried roasted flatfish shavings appeared on a soy sauce dish (and as an out of towner visiting, still trying to get used to this, and telling myself it is portion control!). But once you pour the shavings over the noodles, drizzle some brisket gravy, it becomes a wonderland. You are not tossing salad, but noodles, lard, and a ton of flavor.
Prior to the tossing I had a taste of the roasted flatfish....a lot crunchier with a nice savory presence. It was way crunchier than fish or pork floss in Taipei! A very pleasant aroma and aftertaste.
I suppose this is not a heavily ordered item, and given the various openrice reviews, probably not everyone's cup of tea....but I quickly learned to enjoy its subtleties.
Next up was a small bowl of plain wontons in soup. I had completely forgotten that the classic Mak style was pretty much all shrimp...as wontons in the USA have more or less been infected with the Tsim Chai Kee model of "ping pong" or god forbid "golf ball" sized wonton monstrosities. It was quite a pleasure to finally have some delicately made wontons, pretty much all shrimp, and in this kind of quality. For me, it doesn't matter if they are not the best in town, pretty much anything around will be 100x better than in the USA.
Now even with just these two items, came the sticker shock when it came time to paying the bill. It was close to HK$80. Yes....we're living in expensive and difficult times, and this is Central. If you tell locals you spent this much for noodles during lunch, they will think you are crazy. But c'mon....you cannot get this kind of quality and history in the USA!
If anything, the dried roasted flatfish noodles is worth a visit just to try.
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