Next on  UPL’s list was the Freedom Noodle Stall.

Freedom Noodle Stall

The main barrier I faced in looking for Freedom Noodles stall was my limited ability to read Chinese characters. Ok, I admit that I was very idiotic to look for “Freedom Noodle stall” not thinking that it was a direct translation from mandarin… so just for those who would be looking for Freedom Noodle Stall, please look for the red signboard and follow the google link… My google directions weren’t working quite as well when we went…. and we walked up and down the street on both sides. Eventually, we asked a nice elderly man who kindly directed us to Freedom Noodle Stall.

You won’t find much written about Freedom Noodles on websites as it’s more of a local favourite. That’s what I like about it, their food has not been hyped up.  The locals that go there seem more like regulars who go there for their weekly serve of wonton noodles.

To try something different, I had the shrimp dumpling noodles, however, the shrimp dumplings lacked flavour. Even though there were alot more ingredients used, like dried mushrooms, carrots and black fungus, it did not taste good.  The wantons (which are only made from shrimp and pork) were alot tastier. The  soup had  slight “alkaline” flavour from the noodles which did not taste pleasant.

Chinese egg noodles usually have alkaline water added in to make the texture of the noodle springy, also responsible for the yellow colour of the noodles. When a wonton noodle dish has an ‘alkaline’ taste it’s similar to tasting soap. I obviously do not recommend eating soap tasting noodles. Many specialised wonton noodle shops are able to find the balance between removing the alkaline flavour from the noodles and not overcooking the noodles to maintain the springiness. When the noodles are not blanched and rinsed well, the alkaline taste can come through in the soup, making the whole dish taste slightly vile… I hope that it might have just been my serve…

My sister had the dry noodles with wontons, I’m happy to say that her wontons were scrumptious and was well worth our trip there.

Freedom Noodles has an English menu, even though I’m pretty sure that the 5th entry “Fresh dumplings (filling-pork and green chives)” reads as fish skin in Chinese characters… the rest seem to be a proper translation.

So, in summary, while the wontons from Freedom Noodle Stall were yummy, I still much prefer my first wanton noodles at Wing Wah Noodle Shop

Freedom Noodles

G/F, 15 Canal Road West, Causeway Bay (or edge of Wan Chai)
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Tags: hong kong, Wonton Noodles