This week on Food For Thought I visited Jim’s Noodle Express at 382 Robson Street in Vancouver, right across from the Vancouver Public Library Building.
This little shop is the baby brother to the original Jim’s Noodle House in Richmond. It was opened in 1996 by Andy Wong, grandson of the ‘Jim’ in the title of the shop.
Andy and his staff make excellent wonton noodle soup, with a secret formula for the rich soup stock, and noodles and wrappers made to a specific recipe for the shop. I had a chance to try stuffing the wonton wrappers like they do at the shop. I was supposed to be able to wrap 16 wontons in a minute. I managed 3. But when I did finish the 16, they weighed exactly one pound, just like they should have. At least I wasn’t ripping off the customers by making small wontons. To hear my attempts at making the wontons and more wonton history, listen to Food for Thought as an mp3 by clicking here .
At Jim’s, the ‘express’ is for real, as you can get a bowl of noodles and wonton to go in just a few minutes, but the wontons, noodles and greens have been cooked just seconds after you ordered them. Don’t stop at the pork and shrimp wontons, though. They also offer delicious curried fish balls, scrumptious hoisin short ribs, shredded pork and beef tendon.
I never thought I would like tendon…as the pieces look like chunks of hard fat…but surprise! The texture was toothsome and the flavour superb. If you’re in a hurry, and on a budget, check out Jim’s.
