I’d like to know as well, specifically for rice noodles
Rice noodles. Huong Lan, San Jose, Tully Road.
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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.
Photo from Yelp
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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.
Example of fresh rolled flat noodle sheets from Lo Banh Cuon Thanh Tri:
Photos from Yelp.
My mention of Sun Kau Shing was in reference to fresh rice noodle sheets. I wouldn’t shop for fresh noodles there otherwise.
North American Noodle Company in the Bayview might be worth a try.
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.
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New May Wah in SF has fresh rice noodles on a rack in front of the produce section. There are also wheat noodles in the refrigerated section.
Edit: just noticed the part where you preferred fresher than packaged - the ones at New May Wah may not be that fresh.
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Also, I assumed @sck was referring to wheat noodles, not rice noodles, since he didn’t specify. We somehow got sidetracked on rice noodles.
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!
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I was thinking wheat noodles originally. But if there is a good source for rice noodles, I can easily cook something with it.
I was in Chinatown today. Pretty late and CNY so didn’t look for Wo Chong. How’s their tofu also? bulk or packaged?
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).
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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.
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The noodle selection:
ETA: Wide and narrow wonton noodles, shanghai noodles and a green noodle that I didn’t notice until looking at the picture now:
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Oakland Yuen Hop’s selection:
Got some alkaline wonton noodles, sold by the pound. They are fine. Got a chew though could be a bit more ‘bouncy’.
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.
Ah thanks, I’d give those a try next time I am in Chinatown. I did see the whole sheets by the counter, though no sightings of the ho fun noodles.
