We dragged our tired, sick bodies to Hong Kong for a short stay. Hong Kong is a tiny place of extreme abundance, our experience here is really true to its materialistic glory: Shop till you drop, Eat till you pop. Since it is our hometown, we went for nostalgia and the more local, grassroot food. The hotel we stayed at is right next to Jardine’s Bazaar, a foodie hangout packed with small local eateries. First thing we did after landed? Dashed to a Wonton noodle joint!
Mak’s Noodle is one of the most famous Wonton Noodle in Hong Kong (it has its own English Wiki), though the fame is rather notorious for its overpriced stingy portion.
The one at Causeway Bay is typical HK local joint size: TINY (6 tables).
The famous Mak’s Wonton Noodle. $28 I know everything in HK is painfully small but this is just…ridiculous! The bowl was shallow and smaller than my small girly palm. The broth was very flavorful (made of powdered dried flounder, dried shrimp roe and pork bones) and without the ‘alkaline water’ flavor at all. The four pieces of wontons (radius 1.5cm) were really eye popping-ly mini, but I have to say they’re indeed very tasty, fresh and got great texture…but it’s really hard to savor them due to the stingy size.
Shrimp Roe Dry Noodle. $48 Great texture and the noodle didn’t have that ‘alkaline water’ flavor at all, though portion was still small.
Our stomach is still emptied, so we walk right into next door for more. That’s how you eat in Hong Kong! I really appreciate the lighter Cantonese flavor after a week of Shanghai’s brown sauce flavor.
Mak’s Noodle
44 Jardine’s Bazaar, Causeway Bay
77 Wellington Street, Central (the original shop)
Boo to stingy portions! What exactly does “alkaline water” taste like?
It taste like chemical, kinda like soap…it’s unpleasant. When making the Cantonese noodle/wonton skin they tend to add alkaline water to make the texture springy (hence the yellow color). Most sloppy places didn’t do a good job in removing the taste, so the broth would have that soapy flavor in them. The process is tricky I think…you can’t overcooked/over soaked the noodle, yet you have to remove the alkaline water. Some places added certain things in broth (preserved cabbage/pickle) to balance out the flavor. I don’t know how Mak’s does it (trade secret)…because theirs doesn’t have any trace of alkaline water taste at all.
So funny….I know EXACTLY what you mean by alkaline water!! ^^;;;; But I sometimes wonder….have I ever tried drinking alkaline water before? How do I know its taste…^^;;;
Hi Freda, so do you like alkaline sticky rice?
Angus, I didn’t like alkaline sticky rice either (the Cantonese style “Zongzi” right?) I think why I didn’t like wonton noodle as a child was because of the alkaline water flavor.
Seat, I didn’t what alkaline water taste liked back then either. I think we get influenced by our parents a lot…and I remembered my mom never like Hong Kong noodle because she often complain about the alkaline water flavor (while my dad thinks Taiwanese noodle has no texture and bland). I just keep hearing the word ‘alkaline water’. I notice this consistent unpleasant ‘soapy’ flavor that I now recognized as the alkaline water.
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