I thought I asked this question last year but I can’t find any discussions about it- what are the good places to buy fresh noodles? Ideally so fresh that they don’t even have to add preservatives.
There is: Yuen Hop in Oakland Chinatown. Any similar places in the South Bay or in SF? Souperman mentioned Sun Kau Shing here. I understand places like 99 and Marina have packaged fresh ones. But I prefer fresher ones. Fewer varieties is ok, as long as its fresh. And the available variety doesn’t matter too much to me. Pasta is not in scope. Restaurants that are willing to sell (good) noodles raw is ok too.
Does the New Hong Kong Noodle factory in South San Francisco sell to retail customers?
This place specializes in store made rice noodles, including noodle sheets and rolls. Banh hoi is super thin rice vermicelli woven into bundles or sheets so it’s not the kind of noodles you’d eat in a bowl or slurp in a soup.
I know of lots of places that make fresh rice noodle sheets that can be cut into flat noodles. For round vermicelli noodles, I only know of Dai Loi from my other post andVan An Bakery but I’m not positive they make it from scratch. I think they do though.
In SF Chinatown, Wo Chong (the tofu maker) often has fresh wheat noodles in unlabeled plastic bags. I have no idea where they come from, but they’re good quality.
I think the ones on the shelf (room temperature) are from that day’s batch, as they tend to go bad after that. The nice thing about getting noodles from Yuen Hop (early in the day) or a restaurant is that they will often sell the noodles cut from the sheet and pulled apart by hand, loose in a bag. I’ve found even the room temp versions where the entire sheet is cut while rolled and packaged can be hard to pull apart completely.
Sorry none of that helps with the search for these outside of Oakland, but I did note the producer Win Kee in the picture is listed at 1054 Revere Ave, San Francisco, CA. The location may be truck distribution only, but it never hurts to ask!
Hmmph… Someone still making noodles with a bamboo pole in the Bay Area! Gotta give their noodle a try. I really don’t like Hong Kong brand Noodle sold in 99. Bland and soft. Every few years I’d forget and buy a bag and every time I wonder why I do that.
Wo Chong makes supermarket packaged tofu at their Potrero Hill factory, but sells small batches of tofu skin and smoked (or five spice?) at their Chinatown storefront. It’s been years since I’ve had the latter—- they run out and tell me to come back in two hours. Better to go early for noodles too.
I’ve been using their soft (blue container) tofu for Mapo Doufu since a server at Oakland’s Spices 3 revealed they do the same. It’s custardy, yet sturdy and absorbs favors. I’ve not tried other varieties of their packaged tofu (I buy Hodo Soy in bulk at Rainbow for firm).
It’s useful to find out when they deliver. There’s an Asian market in Suisun where I found some great rice noodles that were in a bag and still warm. The proprietor said they’re delivered on Saturday and usually sell out right away. I just happened to be there on a Saturday and got the last bag.
I made it to Wo Chong before the parade. Their noodles are made by a manufacturer called ‘Kam Ho’ (if I heard correctly). They don’t know where its based out of. Sold by weight. I got their wonton noodle. Nice hyper-al dente texture. Much better than the egg noodle made by the Hong Kong Noodle Company sold in 99. They got plenty late in the day though.
I also got 3 small pieces of bulk tofu ($0.2/ piece) inside the fridge behind the register. Somewhere between silken and dense. Pretty good. So is their unsweetened soy milk (blue cap). Add some sugar/ honey and its good to go.
All 3 items for just under $5. Noodle looked to be a pound to two. Big bag. Enough for several big meals.
My favorites are the medium egg noodles, the Shanghai noodles, and if they have them by the counter the whole sheets of rice noodles, or better yet, and only occasionally seen, rice noodle sheets that they’ve cut and pulled into individual ho fun sized noodles, loose in a bag.