Congee Noodle King - but no congee

When you've been away from home for a while, and the excellent Chinese food that is available here, you really miss it. Such was the case for me a few months ago. I craved my BBQ duck rice noodle and perfect shrimp wontons.

First off, we started with some Gailan, Chinese broccoli, as it is know in some circles. Simply boiled but properly trimmed, these are probably easier to eat with your fingers instead of with chopsticks. The little dish of oyster sauce on the side is perfect for dipping. Imagine this as a very healthy of version of fries and ketchup. Okay, it's a stretch, but use your imagination!

Ah...my favourite...BBQ Duck, thickly sliced, served atop a pile of Chinese spaghetti in soup. Underneath the duck is a generous portion of gailan as well. The noodles, called "lai fun" are slippery little buggers and take forever to eat. However, one good thing about them is that they don't absorb the broth as quickly as regular rice noodles. For someone who eats slow, this is imperative. I can recall many a time where my rice noodles were clumped at the bottom of a bowl, having soaked up all the soup. These noodles will not suffer the same fate. I can eat as slowly as I wish!

My friend ordered the dry noodles with shrimp wontons. It's a huge pile of wonton noodles, topped with six prawn-filled wontons, served with a side of gailan as well. Had I know that we would have so much veggies, I probably wouldn't have ordered the veggie dish, but then again, they are good for your, so it all works out in the end.

The dish is completed by a little bowl of soup, since the noodles are served dry. Some people take a chopstick-full of noodles, dunk it into the soup, and then slurp it up. The other method is to put about four mouthfuls of the noodles into the soup at a time, and then eat it as if it was a small bowl of "soup noodle". To each his own. The sauce you see near the top is a concoction of green onion and ginger in oil...it just make everything taste better. Commonly served with Plain White Chicken, ask for this on the side and try dipping the wonton in, you'll be hooked.