Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

(a plate of noodles with dumplings)

This shop, I was told had been in operation at the same spot for decades! Fifty plus years, if I remember correctly!

It was my second time at this shop and my parents’ first.

Like most noodle houses, patrons are given a seat at a table, not the whole table. There were five of us and my Auntie Betty, our Hong Kong friend, had to share a table with a stranger.

I ordered the “dry” noodles with dumplings. “Dry” means the soup is served separate from the noodles. Their soup is a clear broth with a slightly peppery taste, with a predominant dry shrimp flavor. The dry shrimp flavor resembled that of the “dried alamang” (small shrimp dried whole with shell) that we find locally, not the “hibe” (dried shrimp meat) flavor.

The small bowl of steaming hot soup was served with a plateful of noodles. For a moment I thought my dumplings would be served on a third plate. Beneath the pile, however were around eight or ten dumplings. Quite a lot for one serving, I thought. I could only dig up two at a time as the plate was so crowded. By “dumplings,” it means wonton wrappers stuffed with a mixture of pork and shrimp with some finely julienned mushrooms. As always, it was superb! There seemed to have been an equal mix of pork and shrimp, yet you could taste the two individually as you chew. The pork was tender and did not have that “off,” porky flavor. The shrimp was crisp, as is the case with freshly cooked prawns.

My father had the shrimp dumplings (pure shrimp with some pork fat), whereas my brother asked for a bowl of beef noodles. I was too busy with my plate, they had finished theirs before I could ask for a taste!

When the words “pork trotters” were mentioned, we begged that we be served a plateful of it! It may not be the healthiest or most glamorous of dishes, but it certainly is heavenly in all its porkiness. My parents have asked for this dish in just about all of the Hong Kong noodle houses we have eaten at.
It is a stew of cut up pork feet, simmered in a delightful sauce - made thick by the pork’s tendons melting away as the meat becomes tender, and reddened by the local favorite, the spicy fermented tofu. We all know this type of “tofu” as “tahure,” although if one reads the label carefully, the mainland Chinese made bottles declare it as being made of flour! I only buy the ones made in Hong Kong, so I know it was made from soy beans.

(pork trotters stew)

Two plates of pork trotters later, we were ready for another round of shopping!

Mak Man Kee Noodle Shop

51 Parkes Street

GF Kowloon

(Jordan MTR Station Exit C2)

Tel +852-2736-5561