Credit to theminty.com for chiu chow dry noodles (Kim Ky Noodle House)
Maybe I’m overdue for a trip to a hawker stall in Thailand or Singapore. Or I’m just watching too many episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s ‘No Reservations’ – my equivalent of food porn. I can’t help but have food envy seeing him hit up a street vendor and get turned on as he hungrily anticipates his humble bowl of noodles. My memories of Southeast Asia usually summon up cravings of dry soup noodles – basically noodles with all the fixings but with the broth on the side. It’s a different experience from the traditional soup noodles. The ingredients are not bound together by a mellow broth, but suffused with usually some kind of pork or chicken fat – a special sauce that like the Dark Knight, is both evil and good.
Fortunately in LA, there are some options. Here are just a few where I get my dry noodle fix. Would love to hear from those of you who have had happy experiences with your noodles.
Kim Ky Noodle House: This place is located across the street from my bargain basement mechanics at Silver Seas who go here for lunch everyday. I’ll start with stating the redundant – this place like all good noodle shops is a bit hole in the wall-ish and has long lines at lunch (which seems to be when it’s only open). Most of the locals were eating the Chiu Chow Noodles (dry) accompanied by a side of fried cruller (aka you tiao in Mandarin, the Chinese churro, etc.). It’s a solid bowl of egg noodles topped with a potpourri of meat – bbq pork, ground chicken, onion, scallions and fried shallots that when tossed with a bit of fish sauce is umami heaven.
Sanamuluang: I think most Los Angelenos who have suffered a late night pub crawl will end up in the early am at Sanamuluang – a Thai joint that has the outdoor seating and blaring neon to conjure nights in Bangkok. They know how to serve up the perfect preventative medicine for your morning hangover with a comprehensive menu that is sort of a greatest hits album of Thai/Chinese street food. Their General Noodles is essentially their version of the Chiu Chow Noodle and stands up quite well though could use more pork fat for fuller flavor and better consistency.
Yai: Yai is my go to Thai place in LA with two locations – one in Hollywood and one in Los Feliz. They make a fried pork with Chinese broccoli dish which is I think the best thing there. But if I’m craving noodles, their dry noodle dish with crab is very good. Egg noodles with bits of crab bound together in nuptial bliss with some kind of fat laced fish sauce.
Idk about LA, but in Seattle all the Thai places have basically the same menu, and I’m not sure about if they have these dry noodle dishes. The names don’t seem familiar. Most of the spots seem to have their own way of spelling the name of the dish too, so I have to look at the ingredient list to find what I’m looking for. My personal addiction in Thai food though is called ‘Phad See Iew’ and its the wide, flat rice noodles with a meat and a bevy of vegetables, along with fried egg and the most heavenly sauce. I always order the hottest the place has to offer too. Dang, now I’m salivating just thinking about it… Lol. But, next time I visit a Thai restaurant, I will look for the dry noodle dish and give it a try.
Mmmmmmhhhh
what exactly is fried cruller? sounds scary…
oh gosh, just googled it. i’m so embarrassed. i’ve been eating fried cruller since but a wee lad. in mandarin we call it “Yu Tiao” or in english translated – Oil Stick. yeah!
Roger – made the edit to clarify ‘fried cruller’ as you tiao or Chinese churro so that readers would not think they were getting Dunkin Donuts with their Chiu Chow noodles. Though, I personally wouldn’t say no to a glazed twist anytime whether with my coffee or Chiu Chow noodles.
We called Fried cruller that “Pla tong ko” in Thai. Usually we eat it for Breakfast with hot coffee/hot cocoa or rice gruel. Somebody spread out it by sweetened condensed milk and eat like a dessert. But I dislike, it’s oiliness.