Noodle

Vivian was on call last Saturday and I had to lunch alone. I decided to take the first bus that I saw outside the hospital, and in no time I found myself in a Sichuan restaurant at WTS.

Of course I ordered dan-dan noodle (擔擔麵).

Like many of the traditional Chinese dishes, each restaurant seems to prepare the noodle in a very much different way. The one served here may not be absolutely traditional, but is definitely original - it has a character of its own.

The restaurant was somewhat dingy and meant for the grass root class, and I had to share the table with two friendly ladies - one of them was no doubt an experienced gourmet. One dish that they ordered was yellow peas cake (碗豆黃). When asked by her friend what she thought of the cake, my new table-mate gave a remarkable answer:

"It is not (the traditional) yellow peas cake at all; but if you forget about the name and just take it as a kind of dessert, it is gorgeous."

As Shakespeare said (in Romeo and Juliet): What's in a name ? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.