Chow Chou (Teochew) food in Richmond

[hzrt8w]

I went to try out this small noodle house in the new shopping mall in Richmond, California (Pacific East Mall):

VH Noodle House

In Pacific East Mall (I-80 exit Central Ave)

3288 Pierce Street, #B101

Richmond, CA

(510) 527-3788

They advertise as a "Chiu Chou" (Teochew) style noodle house. We went in and ordered a few items. They tasted pretty good. Please comment if you know whether they are "Chiu Chou" (Teochew) specialties or not...

Pacific East Mall, Richmond, California

VH Noodle House inside the Pacific East Mall.

Fried Fish Cakes. Pickled cabbage on the side. No special condiment. We just dip them with some Hoisin sauce that's on the table. The fish cakes were quite tasty. 8/10.

Beef Fried Rice Noodle with Satay sauce (Sa Cha sauce). I didn't like their version. It seemed a bit too plain (and not salty enough) compared to the Satay sauce that I am used to. 6/10.

This is the Duck Noodle Soup. The duck is "Preserved Orange Peel Duck" (Chun Pei Aup [Cantonese]). The duck meat was excellent, very fragrant, albeit a little bit too salty. 9/10. (It would have been a 10/10 if it wasn't overly salty).

Edited September 12, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[Tepee]

Somebody has been eating at a lot of interesting places recently....

Having never gone to Chow Chou, China, I can't vouch for the authenticity of those dishes. As the spouse of one Teo 'Jew', the local Teochew dishes I'm familiar with and off my head are:

Loh Ark (braised spiced duck)- usually served during festive occasions.

Mue (thin rice gruel which is very different from Cantonese jook. For Teochew porridge, the fire is switched off when the rice grains 'flower'). Eaten with many, many side dishes.

Fish Ball Noodles - clear soup with some kiam chye (salted veg) in it.

Fish steamed Teochew style - fish is steamed together with kiam chye, tofu and tomatoes.

Vegetable Dumplings - there are various, but you can find the one filled with jicama easily. I prefer the yam/taro one.

Or chien - omelette fried with small oysters.

Oh nee - yam/taro paste with gingko nuts.

I'm surprised to see the satay sauce noodle, because Teochew food is supposed to be one of the lightest (except for the Oh Nee) and healthiest in chinese cooking, and satay sauce seems....off.

Edited September 12, 2005 by Tepee (log)

[Pan]

The Chao Zhou places I know in New York (Chinatown and Flushing) serve a lot of noodle soups, some like the one you had, which looks good. I share TP's skepticism about satay sauce, unless this is a Malaysian or Singaporean Teochew restaurant. The fish cakes look like the Thai ones I like, and unlike the rectangular strips I usually get in soups like Triple Ball Soup at Chao Zhou Restaurant in Flushing (which comes with fish balls, beef balls, shrimp balls, fish cakes, and various vegetables and such).

[hzrt8w]

Thank you Tepee and Pan.

I know that Teochew style offers many more varieties. This particular eatery only serve noodles and some appertizer items (as from their name).

I had those Teochew fishball and beefball rice noodles in Hong Kong. The freshly made ones are really really good. Unfortunately my DW is not a fan of any kind of meat balls... that limits our choices.

Yes, the Teochew style portridge is more grainy - not cooked as long as the Cantonese style.

Oysters with eggs (flour mixed in)... yeah... that's to die for.

I also had the Teochew style duck and chili-leave diced chicken and many other things before... (the long lost memory is coming back to me now...) in Hong Kong. We have a term "Da Leun" [Cantonese] for those Teochew style dishes - served cold, such as boiled peanuts, pork intestines, duck feet, etc. (many others).

P.S. I need to make a trip back to Hong Kong... just to eat!

Edited September 12, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[Tepee]

I have those Teochew fishball and beefball rice noodles in Hong Kong.  The freshly made ones are really really good.  Unfortunately my DW is not a fan of any kind of meat balls... that limits our choices.

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*cough* Don't they have single serving noodles? Of course, the single serving in the US would be a double serving for me.

[hzrt8w]

*cough* Don't they have single serving noodles? Of course, the single serving in the US would be a double serving for me.

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Well.... I usually only order things that we both like... out of respect...

But... great idea... I may be a rebel next time. (And hope that I don't get my head chopped off.)

Edited September 12, 2005 by hzrt8w (log)

[Tepee]

Please do not mention your source of influence.....out of respect.

[jo-mel]

AAARRRGGGGGG ---- The pictures on these pages lately are driving me crazy! I am on a special diet for a while, and my simple salmon with black bean sauce / fried brown rice for dinner tonight, pale in comparison!

[hzrt8w]

AAARRRGGGGGG ---- The pictures on these pages lately are driving me crazy!....

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Sorry, jo-mel. There are more coming... I haven't cut up my double yolk lotus seed paste moon cakes yet.

[Makan King]

I don't recognize the photographed dishes as being particularly Teochew. I don't think you would be able to find them in any of the Teochew restaurants in Singapore. In particular, the fried beef rice noodles (or kuay teow) with satay sauce seems very un-Teochew to me. Satay sauce is more of a Malay/Indonesian concept and not at all like Teochew style cooking. Of course, in Singapore, there is a hawker dish called satay beehoon (or rice vermicelli), but that's local fusion and not Teochew.

I miss the Teochew restaurants in Singapore. Teochew cuisine is sadly lacking in Beijing.

Oh for a promfret delicately steamed with sour plums, sliced shitake mushrooms and fat; braised goose and tofu; hae cho (beancurd skin wrapped with minced shrimp, crabmeat, minced pork, waterchestnut and diced mushrooms, steamed and then deepfried); and oh nee!

[Pan]

Hey, Makan King, Beijing food not good enough for you, is it?

Edited September 13, 2005 by Pan (log)

[Yuki]

I miss all the teochew food in HK too, I like the teochew style of satay beef noodles since they have eggs in it(I think they do..).

I miss:

-Cold crab with all those delicious roe

-Pork Stomach soup with peppercorn and preserved vegetable (of course they need some bean curd for the soup base, extra peppercorn for me please)

-the whole range of meat, organ, feets, and tofu soaked in soya sauce and other seasoning (I have discovered that thin slices of lotus root are also very good when prepared in this style)

-cold fish served with bean sauce(it is yellowish)

-fried shrimp paste

-Stir fried fish noodles

-oyster egg pancakes

-oyster and some kind of dried fish congee

-crystal dessert bun with taro, red bean or green bean

-steamed taro paste

-the grean bean dessert soup with the chewy jello

The teochew people are really good when dealing with seafood and organs meat. We used to go for midnight snack at the Teochew restaurant near the old airport, and they still have lots of teochew related store around that area. When I went back to HK this year, I had some freshly fried fish balls and amazing teochew dumplings while shopping for dinner.

[Pan]

Fried Shrimp Paste is a dish by itself?

[Yuki]

Fried Shrimp Paste is a dish by itself?

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Hehe, I forgot some major ingredients...

It is a paste made that is made with shrimp, and some fatty pork. The paste is then wrapped with bean curd before flying. I think most places just use shrimp in the paste now and they came up with crab paste too.

[hzrt8w]

Fried Shrimp Paste is a dish by itself?

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I have a feeling that you were thinking of the shrimp paste that is the salted fermented shrimp paste (belecan) used for cooking.

[Pan]

Fried Shrimp Paste is a dish by itself?

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I have a feeling that you were thinking of the shrimp paste that is the salted fermented shrimp paste (belecan) used for cooking.

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Or the red Chinese equivalent. Which is why the name of the dish sounded so odd to me. I have had tofu stuffed with shredded shrimp and crab before.

[Ondine]

The paste is then wrapped with bean curd before flying.

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The mind boggles - a new aromatic, not to mention tasty, inflight skin treatment!

All the glitterati will want one!

[Dejah]

The paste is then wrapped with bean curd before flying.

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The mind boggles - a new aromatic, not to mention tasty, inflight skin treatment!

All the glitterati will want one!

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That's the best TYPO and response I have ever seen!

[Laksa]

The paste is then wrapped with bean curd before flying.

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The mind boggles - a new aromatic, not to mention tasty, inflight skin treatment!

All the glitterati will want one!

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That's the best TYPO and response I have ever seen!

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I don't get the joke.

Laksa (whose favorite dish is flied lice)

[Tepee]

Laksa....those late nights are taking its toll....duh. Have some shut eye and come read again.

[Laksa]

Laksa....those late nights are taking its toll....duh. Have some shut eye and come read again.

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Oledy lah. You lap wid the bean curd skin then you fly lor. If not then how?

[Makan King]

Hey, Makan King, Beijing food not good enough for you, is it?

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Beijing food is okay, I guess, but I miss the Teochew food I grew up with.

[lemoncoke]

I think this restaurant is a spin off from Vien Houng in Oakland Chinatown (next to Legendary Palace).

My friends and I think that the original spot in Chinatown is better...

[Yuki]

I guess my typo last night did provide lots of entertainment. I guess I won't go back and change it.

[Ondine]

I guess my typo last night did provide lots of entertainment. I guess I won't go back and change it. 

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Aww, I didn't mean it in any hurtful way, it was just a joke, honest!

And I guess I pounced on it as I've been ribbing my uncle about his accent for years - I swear it gets thicker when he's bargaining with shopkeepers!