In the past, the authentic Wonton noodles landscape in Hong Kong has been largely dominated by outfits bearing the name or related to the ‘Mak’s‘ family heritage…….Mak’s, Mak Man Kee, Mak Shiu Kee, Mak ‘An’ Kee, Ho Hung Kee…..etc. However, most of them have become tourist traps with hefty price hikes and reduced value in both quality and quantity!
Local foodies have since turned to a few emerging rising stars offering similar if not more superior and better value products. To those still wanting to stick with the old school, iconic institutions. To get the best bang for the buck, care in selection is paramount!..eg., skip Mak’s on Wellington Street and eat at Tasty’s in IFC instead!
During my recent food crawl around Hong Kong, I gave a few of the past and current, most popular and highly rated, establishments a try. Guess what?! One could actually identify a clear winner!!
I sampled Wonton noodles, Braised Beef and tendon noodles, Shredded pork, penny-hotsauce noodle as well as ‘Yellow-sand‘ Pig’s liver rice congee at the following top rated noodle and congee joints:
‘ Shing Kee, Jordan ‘; ‘ 10 Noodle Shop, Prince Edward ‘; Tasty’s, IFC
Based on the following evaluation criteria used:
- Degree of Al-Dente and thickness of the silver thread noodle
- Success in eliminating the alkaline odour and after-taste of the noodle
- Complexity and deliciousness of the roasted sun-dried Flounder, shrimp shell, shrimp egg, pork and chicken based broth
- Comprehensiveness of the condiments and dressing used…..lard, shrimp eggs, yellowing chives, white pepper…etc
- Taste and composition of the wonton morsels…..75% shrimp, 25% pork, seasoned with roasted flounder powder, sesame oil…etc
- Size and shape of the wonton morsels and wrappers … .fish tail shape etc.
The clear winner is hands-down ‘ Shing Kee, Jordan ‘!!
BTW, authentic single-bite morsels practiced there! NO golf ball size travesty!!
