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[Eat It]: Chinese Chowder

Tucked away in a Huaihai Lu nongtang, Ding Te Le Zhou Mian Guan does some seriously delicious noodles 24 hours a day, 7 days a week...
Last updated: 2015-11-09


Eat It is a regular feature that cuts to the core of a given restaurant's menu, highlighting a specialty, favorite, or otherwise good thing to eat.

If you can get past the ludicrous fashion choices of the hosts, those restaurant shows on Channel Young or TVB can be a great resource for finding Chinese eats. That's how I learned about Ding Te Le. And when I finally figured out where exactly this place was, I was, to be honest, a bit embarrassed. For God knows how long, I'd been walking by this nongtang noodle shop on Huaihai Lu, completely unaware of its existence. Even worse, all that time I'd been missing out on this...



Xuecai huangyu wei mian(雪菜黄鱼煨面). You could translate it literally as "simmered noodles with yellow croaker and preserved vegetables. That's a lot of words, though, isn't it? So let's just call this one "Chinese chowder." That's pretty much what this dish is. They simmer a wonderfully fragrant fish stock to a dense, almost creamy consistency. Along with the noodles, they toss in a mince of xuecai, or preserved vegetables, and a couple of delicate, sweet, buttery filets of yellow croaker. After you've slurped up every last noodle, be sure to dredge your spoon across the bottom of the bowl, that's where all the good chunks of fish tend to hide. You'll inevitably encounter a bone or two, though, so if that's a problem for you, don't worry, you've still got plenty of other options here, like this...



La rou xue cai mian (辣肉雪菜面), or spicy pork noodles with preserved vegetables. It's a common fixture in noodle shops like this, but this is one of the better I've had in town. The set-up is pretty self-explanatory: a rich pork stock, noodles, shredded pork smothered in chili sauce, and, once again, preserved vegetables. A little hint: They precook the pork and keep it in their mise en place, so it may be a little cold. The stock is scalding, though, so just give it all a quick stir. That'll heat it right back up.

Bai zhi cong you rou si ban mian (白汁葱油肉丝拌面) is another must-try. These are dry noodles tossed with onions caramalized to a yielding crisp and shreds of pork. It comes served with a bowl of white pepper-laced pork broth on the side. Some like to pour this onto their noodles. My advice: Don't even bother with the soup. It's a distraction. Just splash some worcestershire sauce (supplied at each table in a bottle with a yellow label) into the bowl and it's perfect.



Along with your noodles, you're going to need to order at least one of these...



This is Ding Te Le's signature xiang zha da pai (香炸大排), the fragrant fried pork chop. Fried pork chops are a fixture in most noodle and dumpling hovels around town. But you don't see them like this terribly often. The difference is a generous sprinkling of "five spices" that they add to the breading. Sweet flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and anise are a perfect match for the pork. Drizzle some of the worcestershire sauce over it and you're golden.

Oh yeah, and get this: Not only is Ding Te Le damn good, it's open 24 hours a day, seven days a week! And wait, it gets better... well, for me, at least... It's right across the street from Scorby. So if they close down their kitchen and I can't get my late night quesadilla, I have another option for hangover prevention. Result!

For a listing of Ding Te Le, click here

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