Cart noodles (Che zai mein)
Photo: Apeach316 · CC BY-SA 2.0

History

Cart noodles (che zai mein) emerged in the 1950s among postwar Hong Kong street vendors who pushed mobile wooden carts with metal basins through Sham Shui Po, Yau Ma Tei, and the public housing estates. Each cart held one broth pot and a row of pre-cooked toppings; customers paid by the topping, and the dish was a working-class meal for the urban poor. Although the mobile carts are now extinct, the format survives in shop-front noodle eateries across the city. Block 18 Doggie's Noodle in Jordan, Tak Hing Fish Ball Noodle in Kowloon City, and Good Hope Noodle keep the original che zai mein tradition alive.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Fish, Shellfish, Soy

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 35 minTotal 1 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 2L good chicken or pork stock
  • 2 tbsp curry powder (or 3 tbsp Hong Kong-style curry paste)
  • 1 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 400g fresh egg noodles or thin rice noodles (for 4 portions)
  • 300g curry fish balls (buy frozen at a Cantonese grocer)
  • 300g beef brisket, simmered separately 90 minutes until tender, sliced
  • 200g daikon, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
  • 200g pork skin or pork belly, blanched and sliced
  • 150g leafy greens (choy sum or gai lan)
  • 2 spring onions, sliced
  • Chilli oil and Chinese black vinegar, to serve

Method

  1. Bring the stock to a simmer. Whisk in the curry powder, light soy, and sugar.
  2. Add daikon chunks to the broth; simmer 30 minutes until soft.
  3. Add curry fish balls and pork skin to the broth; simmer 15 minutes.
  4. Cook the egg noodles in a separate pot of boiling water for 2 minutes; drain.
  5. Blanch the greens in the noodle water for 30 seconds; drain.
  6. Divide noodles between 4 deep bowls. Top each with a portion of beef brisket, fish balls, pork skin, daikon, and greens.
  7. Ladle the curry broth over to cover. Scatter spring onion. Serve with chilli oil and black vinegar at the table.

Tip from the editors. The point of cart noodles is choice; let each diner build their own bowl by laying out the toppings family-style and ladling the broth from a single hot pot.

Where to eat cart noodles (che zai mein)

Cart noodles (Che zai mein) in Hong Kong

Block 18 Doggie's Noodle ★ 4.2

$$ CantoneseYau Ma TeiUntil Open 24 hoursCash only

Block 18 Doggie's Noodle in Jordan is open round the clock, plating curry fish balls and short tail shaped doggie's noodles to taxi drivers and Temple Street.

TryDoggie's noodles with curry fish balls

TipAdd the curry fish balls to the noodle bowl; that combination is the canonical late night order.

Directions

Tak Hing Fish Ball Noodle ★ 4.0

$ Street foodKowloon CityCash only

Tak Hing on Fuk Lo Tsun Road in Kowloon City hand pounds its own fish balls fresh each morning, serving them in clear broth with thin noodles.

OrderHand pounded fish balls in soup with thin noodles.

TipOrder the fish balls plus fish skin combination, or buy a bag of the freshly made fish balls to take away.

Directions

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