Yiu Wah - Name That Dish

[tbonetak]

Does anyone know what this is called? Celery, carrots, bean sprouts and little bits of bbq pork with some kind of vaguely grub-shaped noodle, served under an overturned glass bowl. I asked the lady whose cart it was on and she told me, "Chinese noodles." I'm guessing there's probably a more specific name than that, however.

At any rate, I'm a huge fan of it, although I admit some of that love might be nostalgia for eating it at the old Pink Pearl at Dundas and Elizabeth.

Anyone? And any suggestions for another place with good/better?

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Yiu Wah
421 Dundas W, Toronto, ON M5T1G6, CA

[baby_tran]

You can make it at home...I've purchased the noodles at large chinese supermarkets.

[tbonetak]

Found them again, long after the demise of Yiu Wah! When Dim Sum King replaced Yiu Wah, the silver needle noodles didn't make a similar comeback. But they were there all along, right under my snoot, at King's Noodle. Look on the dim sum menu for something like, "mixed meat and vegetables with pasta," right at the bottom, near the Singapore Turnip Cakes. That's them. While waiting for the rest of my table to arrive, I recognized the Chinese characters for 'silver' and 'needle' (same as in Japanese) and we were off to the races. Not as much celery flavour as the ones at Yiu Wah, but it's way better than the none I've been eating since it went away.

[magic]

How is Dim Sum King??

Is it as good as Yiu Wha was?

[Big Kahuna 1]

It's OK, not great; some hits, some misses. Typical economical Chinatown dim sum. A lot of the old Yiu Wah staff are still there, and the maitre d' recognized me immediately. Service is fast and friendly. I really missed Yiu Wah's lobster with ginger and green onion chow mein ( a Yiu Wah perpetual daily special) which was not available the day I went.

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Wah's Restaurant
23 Simcoe Plaza, Terrace Bay, ON P0T2W0, CA

[magic]

So the food is different? Not as good as Yiu Wah’s was?

[Big Kahuna 1]

Sorry for the delay. The food was about the same. Based on one visit, it's hard to make a definitive comparison, especially since we went to Yiu Wah regularly. On one visit, the limitation on the number of dishes we could sample makes a blanket statement impossible. What we had was fine and about the same as the old place. Because the service is by cart, not all of the items we used to have at yiu Wah came around that day. We will be going back for further investigation.

[magic]

Ok, no, that's good enough, thank you.

Is it only cart service or can you order off menu as well?

[Teep]

When I went, there were only carts and no menu. You could ask for something you really want and they'll check to see if they have it, but places with carts don't usually have a menu.

[magic]

I don't know, I've been to plenty of places that have both.

I believe Yiu Wah had both.

I don't care for carts. My preference is to order what I want, not what happens to be carted around.

[Teep]

These are called silver needle noodles ("ngan jum fun") because they are pointy on both ends. However I have not had any good ones in recently memory. They are most often rather dense and oily, especially after they are cooled down by staying on the carts too long.

Edit: here's how to make your own
http://www.fotop.net/Macy/Macy3547
to 250 g gluten-free flour, add 250 g boiling water all at once. Mix, cover and let rest 3 minutes. Knead a little with oiled hands. Form pieces into needle shape and put on oiled baking sheet. Steam 10-15 minutes. Prepare as stir fry or in soup.

[T Long]

Not seen that often in Toronto dim sum and an acquired taste....I like dip them lightly in soy sauce.

[tbonetak]

Awesome. Thanks for the help. It's funny, now that I know what they're called, there's a ton of info out there, but it was totally impossible to figure out the right search terms to get there myself. Huzzahs to Teep!

[JFUNG]

I always see this dish on the dim sum carts at Pearl in the Queens Quay at Harbourfront. Maybe try there...