New Noodles: Du Hsiao Yueh Brings Taiwanese to Parkview Green

There are two food items that people who grew up in 1950s Taiwan will never shut up about: One, the bento lunch boxes on train rides (“They used to be metal or wood but now they’re all paper”) and two, street cart noodles (pork-based qiezai noodles for the north and shrimp-based danzai noodles in the south).

When it comes to the danzai (or “pole-carried”) variety, no brand is more time-honored than Du Hsiao Yueh. Its name, which means “taking a small vacation,” refers to the story of a fisherman named Hong, who turned to selling noodles when typhoon season kept him landlocked in Tainan City. Now, 118 years later, the shop’s first location on the Chinese mainland is already doing brisk business despite still hiding behind its hoardings. Word of mouth has traveled fast.

You can order a snack-sized bowl – faithful to its street-cart origins – for RMB 18. Chewy, thin yellow noodles are topped with a pork-and-fried-shallot meat sauce (called rouzao) and a small dollop of fresh garlic puree. A lone, tender little shrimp signals the prawn shells used to flavor the accompanying broth, which is light with a hint of sweetness. A “dry” option holds back the broth and lets you focus on the savory rouzao – satisfying in its own way, as the noodles stay pliant longer. If you’re in a non-noodle mood, you can order the meat sauce over rice (RMB 18).

If small servings make you grumpy, don’t worry – there are plenty of side dishes to fill you up. The deep-fried shrimp roll (RMB 36) and soymilk fried chicken (RMB 28) were both lip-smackingly good, and the shrimp omelette (RMB 22), a variation on the popular oyster o-a-jian, delighted with both tug and crisp. Even the “Hsaio Yueh shrimp pastries” (RMB 15) – basically glorified shrimp chips – were a happy snack, with a nice thick crunch and rich prawn flavor.

After all this, you’ll be glad your bowl of noodles was small, so you can fit one last thing: the slush with taro balls (RMB 20). The shaved ice is spiked with an almost-floral banana oil, which might put off some diners, but the manager explained that it’s yet another nostalgic holdover from the ’50s era. The taro balls were perfect: sweet, soft and “Q” with the faintest touch of salt.

Ah, typhoons. We knew you were good for something.

Du Hsiao Yueh Daily 11.30am-2pm, 5-7.30pm. B2/F, Parkview Green, 9 Dongdaqiao Lu, Chaoyang District (8563 1105) 朝阳区东大桥路9号芳草地地下2层

By subway: 300m south of Dongdaqiao station (Line 6)

Photo: Sui