[Taiwan, Taipei] Xiao Du Noodle House – Rich Chicken and Fish Maw Soup Amidst the Huang Renxun Chicken Soup Craze

I spent a few days travelling in Taipei over the 1st July holiday. One evening, I made a special effort to book a table at ‘Xiao Du Noodle House’ to give it a try. I’d booked for 6 o’clock, but I was already standing outside chatting at half past five because I was so tired from shopping. Suddenly, an old friend – the renowned Hong Kong chef Master Lei – sent me a photo of me sitting outside Xiao Du’s. It turned out he was the restaurant’s consultant chef.

Xiao Du Noodle House is a small noodle shop opened by Du Wenze after he moved to Taiwan; he says he wants to bring the flavours of Hong Kong to Taiwan. The restaurant specialises in a range of staple dishes known as the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’, which consist of fermented bean curd pork knuckle noodles with chilli sauce, wonton noodles, curry beef brisket rice, and Chau Hau-style beef tendon and brisket with thick noodles. In addition, there is a limited-availability shark’s fin chicken soup, as well as a wide range of Hong Kong street snacks such as pan-fried stuffed trios, fried wonton, ‘bandit’ chicken wings, spicy curry squid and thick pork chops with sand ginger and spring onion oil.

I ordered a few of my favourites… shark’s fin chicken soup, pork knuckle noodles with chilli sauce, ‘Bandit’ chicken wings, and a Highball to round it off.

I’ve always considered shark’s fin chicken soup to be a hidden gem of Hong Kong cuisine. Many small eateries in Hong Kong do it well, but none are quite as delightful as Xiao Du’s—especially here in Taipei today, where Huang Renxun has sparked a bit of a craze for chicken soup. The moment I took a sip of Xiao Du’s fish maw chicken soup, I found it rich and full of flavour. That subtle hint of Taiwanese Jinhua ham, it turns out, comes from simmering the broth for a full eight hours. Chef Lei explained that they also add Taiwanese corn-fed chicken thighs, which have been par-cooked, to the soup to simmer until ready to serve. The corn-fed chicken is distinctive even at first glance: the skin is white, smooth and translucent, whilst the meat is tender, sticky and delicate. It’s truly different from the chicken we usually eat in Hong Kong or mainland China; the texture and depth of flavour are in a league of their own.

The dish ‘Thin Noodles with Fried Pork Knuckle in Red Fermented Bean Curd Sauce’ also left a lasting impression on me. The South Bean Curd Pork Knuckle is marinated until well-flavoured, simmered until tender, and then deep-fried until fragrant. The crust is somewhat reminiscent of German-style salted pork knuckle; the meat is substantial and full of flavour, and having been braised, the pork knuckle falls off the bone easily with just a pair of chopsticks. The pork skin is fragrant, crispy, soft, chewy and rich with oil – even now that I’m back in Hong Kong, I still find it hard to forget.

Beneath the pork knuckle, there are some shreds of pork accompanied by a tangy, fragrant sauce; I believe the inspiration comes from the combination found in zhajiang noodles, though this time the intensely sour sauce typical of Hong Kong-style dishes has been toned down considerably. Taiwanese people are naturally very fond of noodles, and Xiao Du manages to produce the same crisp, springy texture of the thin egg noodles found in Hong Kong noodle shops, so this dish is the perfect way to satisfy one’s longing for Hong Kong.

Some friends online have remarked after eating there that the ‘Four Heavenly Kings’ taste different from those in Hong Kong! Yes, if you’re going to use a yardstick to compare Xiao Du Noodle House with a typical Hong Kong wonton noodle shop, I can tell you straight away—they’re absolutely different. However, Xiao Du Noodle House’s entire menu and culinary skills far exceed the standard of your average Hong Kong wonton noodle shop. I’d even go so far as to say that dishes of this calibre are more than worthy of being served in a high-end Chinese restaurant.

On the contrary, I would ask: when a Hong Kong foodie celebrity or a Michelin-starred chef from Hong Kong comes to Taiwan to open a restaurant, what flavours are they seeking to express? What I sense is the sincerity with which Chef Lei and Du Wenze aim to present their cuisine – doing their utmost to use high-quality Taiwanese ingredients, whilst incorporating Hong Kong’s culinary techniques and style, to create a series of traditional Hong Kong noodle dishes and snacks that are more sophisticated, more refined and demonstrate a higher level of culinary skill, right here in the city of Taipei.

Whether it’s to show support for the people of Hong Kong or simply to enjoy a meal in Taipei, this meal is ‘well worth it’.

The shop is located on the ground floor at No. 15, Lane 5, Alley 107, Section 1, Fuxing South Road, Da’an District, Taipei City. Opening hours are approximately from 12:00 noon to 9:00 pm.