From Laksa to Pho: Types of Soup Noodles in Chinatown, New York City
Soup noodles are delicious cheap eats, perfect for the colder months. There are surprisingly a lot of scrumptious options in Chinatown. So with everything from laksa to pho, here are the different types of soup noodles in Chinatown, New York City and our recommendations on where to find them.
Laksa
Laksa is a spicy soup noodle that can be found in Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine. Laksa are rice noodles or rice vermicelli in a spicy curry and coconut milk based broth and it is often topped with chicken and all sorts of yummy seafood. Laksa is Aux Epices’ (121 Baxter St) specialty and it is definitely worth checking out.
Wonton Noodle Soup
P.C.: yelp, Jonathan B.
Wonton noodle soup is a popular Cantonese dish. It is a yellow, thin and springy egg noodle served with wontons and often with either roast pork, chicken or duck. You can also substitute the egg noodles with ho fun, a white, flat and wide rice noodle. Our go to spot for both is H K Wonton Garden (79 Mulberry St).
Pulled Noodles
Also popular in Chinatown are pulled noodles. Pulled noodles are made by twisting, stretching and folding the dough and this makes a nice chewy noodle. Also, they are knife cut noodles which makes them thicker and chewier. There are a lot of excellent pulled noodle shops in Chinatown but we highly recommend Lam Zhou Handmade Noodle & Dumpling (40 Bowery St).
Udon
Udon is a thick wheat flour noodle, popular in Japanese cuisine. Udon is often served in a dark dashi and soy sauce based broth. The nabeyaki udon from Quan Sushi (375 Broome St) is absolutely delicious and it is just loaded with chicken, vegetables and shrimp tempura!
Ramen
Ramen is incredibly popular in New York City in the last few years. Raman is a quick cooking, thin and curly noodle and it is prominent in Japanese cuisine. The broth is usually made with either pork or chicken and most ramen generally falls in one of four flavors shoyu or soy sauce, shio or salt, miso or curry. Ajisen Ramen (14 Mott St) has been one of our favorite lunch spots and if you are looking for something a little different, there is also the Ramen Lab (70 Kenmare St).
Soba
Soba is also popular in Japanese cuisine. Soba are thin buckwheat noodles. Cocoron (16 Delancey St) just on the outskirts of Chinatown is a must if you are looking for top notch soba noodles.
Pho
Finally pho (pronounced “fuh”) is a popular Vietnamese dish and pho is a thin rice noodle served with a tasty broth, herbs and often with either beef or chicken. If you are looking for pho, you have to check out Baxter Street and on Baxter Street, we love Thai Son (89 Baxter St).