Homemade: Chinese Spaghetti With Shanghainese Noodles
Raw and cooked Shanghainese noodles.
I’m not even sure how to describe the flavor of this. No idea what’s in the sauce. As I was getting ready for work this morning I ran into anthony’s mother rummaging through the pantry looking for the other jar of Chinese spaghetti sauce. Chinese spaghetti sauce? I didn’t realize there was such a thing. I guess it shouldn’t have surprised me…it kind of makes sense…why not? Spaghetti did originate from China after all, why not have sauce to go with it? When I got home from work I walked into the kitchen and found the sauce simmering on the stove. I think she added ground pork to the sauce but not sure because I was too excited to try Chinese spaghetti that I forgot to ask her. She instructed me to top the Shanghainese noodles with the sauce, bean sprouts, green onions and sambal olek if I wanted spice. The noodles were perfect, kind of like mini udon. How do I describe the sauce? It was like spaghetti bolognes without the tomatoes and a little spicy. There were bits of soy and other stuff that I couldn’t figure out. The flavor was very concentrated so the green onions and bean sprouts balanced it out and added another dimension of texture. If you can find a jar of Chinese spaghetti sauce in your local asian foods market, I would recommend trying it. Why not?
Millbrae, CA: Hong Kong Flower Lounge
Lobster Lo Mein from the Hong Kong Flower Lounge in Millbrae. They charged us $30 for one and a half pounds and $3 for the noodles. What a bargain – for the noodles. The noodles were good but didn’t get a lot of the lobster flavor. I did like that it was very saucy and that the sauce clung to the noodles. It was lacking the toasty wok flavor that I really like – that you can only get from a restaurant. The lobster wasn’t over cooked and was very meaty. Overall, the noodles were not worth paying $33. I miss the lobster lo mein from ocean restaurant clement street – not as saucy but so flavorful. Unfortunately, ocean restaurant no longer exists and is now a vietnamese restuarant.
Hong Kong Flower Lounge
51 Millbrae Ave
Millbrae
California, 94030
P:650.692.6666
F:650.692.0522
#029 NONGSHIM An Sung Tang Myun Hot & Spicy Noodle Soup
Not so hot and not so spicy, especially for korean noodles. When I opened the package, there was only one seasoning packet. I realized at that moment that I like finding multiple seasoning packets in my bag of noodles. It’s the fun factor. Anyways, the soup was packed with msg so I was able to get my fix. Other than that, there was nothing different or spectacular about these so I don’t have a lot to say.
San Francisco, CA: Halu
Halu is located on 8th and clement and is formally known as mama san japanese cuisine (look closely at the awning). We originally came here for the ramen but was happy to find that the specialty of the restaurant was yakitori and kushi katsu. This was my first time seeing kushi katsu on a menu. Turns out Kushi katsu is deep fried stuff on a stick! Who can resist that?
The feel of the restaurant was very homey. It’s the size of a closet, but they have an open kitchen and counter which added to the casual atmosphere. I wish I was taller or the counter was lower so I could watch the chef in action.
The beatles posters and paraphernalia and the rock and roll makes this place a hip hole in the wall.
I ordered the chashu ramen which was pretty good. However, if it weren’t for the chashu, i would say it would have only been okay. The chashu was sweet, juicy and very tender. I could hardly pick it up with my chopsticks. The texture of the noodles were al dente and well cooked, but definitely not as good as the noodles from suzu noodle house in japan town. I wasn’t crazy about the broth, it wasn’t bad at all, it’s just that it tasted like miso and i tend to like shoyu broths better. Overall, the ramen was good and we did finish the entire bowl of noodles and I would order again just for the chashu. : )
Even though we went to halu for ramen, the kushi katsu ended up being the main attraction. It was a toss up between the yakitori dinner and the kushi katsu dinner, but we decided on the kushi katsu since we’ve never had it before. Best decision ever. We ordered the kushi katsu dinner which came with an assortment of 6 deep fried panko skewars. We were served a combination of proteins and vegetables from left to right: chicken, beef, shrimp, trumpet mushroom, okra and pork. There is just something about eating food on a stick, it’s so fun! The trumpet mushroom was amazing. The texture was like meat…hard to explain you just have to try it for yourself. The chopped onions, parsley and extra mayo on top sent my taste buds to flavor heaven.
Halu
312 8th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94118
415.221.9165