Also, I’m not sure if this is intentional or not on Bill Addison’s part, but the advocacy is also timely given that the public is shying away from Chinese restaurants at the moment due to Covid-19 fears.
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Ahhhh that ol’ blawg of mine (stopped doing it after a while). I believe you’re referring to this article about Broken Bridge way up in the mountains in Miaoli County Taiwan, but I did not have Mui Choy Kau Yuk there during my visit.
There is actually a difference in the way the pickled mustard greens are done. The Hakka Cantonese renditions (and a few other regions such as Shanghai, Chongqing, Zhejiang ) employ the use of sweeter centric pickled mustard greens in the cooking, and the ones in Taiwan (and other parts of China) are far more savory and pungent. The sweeter versions are easier and more popular to like.
Mui Choy 梅菜 is what the Cantonese call it. In other parts of China and Taiwan they call it Mei Gan Cai (Tsai) 梅干菜. In Taiwan, if mustard greens are cured in salt, they become suan cai, the pickled sour greens that is a must with beef noodles. and minced pork rice. There is another step of sun drying the salted greens about halfway through, which becomes another baseline. What farmers do next is insert these salted then partial sun dried greens into glass bottles and let them ferment for upwards of a month. Then this offering called Fu Cai written as 福菜 or 覆菜; it’s more common in Taiwan, and appears more prevalent in Miaoli County (Taiwan). Also, the mustard greens they use for Hakka Fu Cai in that part of the world are humongous, and perhaps naturally far stronger, pungent, and bitter after the curing/fermentation process.
Other than pairing it with braised pork belly, another option is to add mui choy together with pork patty and steam it.
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Took a return trip to Needle this weekend, this time without the overhang of a multi-restaurant jaunt, and was able to savor the meal there. Having returned for a second time, I gotta say, this place is really great, and I hope they keep increasing their traffic so they can be successful. There were only a few tables full tonight, probably due to the same factors reducing traffic everywhere 
Service is pretty warm and earnest, and they were pretty knowledgeable about all their dishes. The chef came out to serve and briefly chat with us as well. I know I’ll be making repeat visits here. @PorkyBelly and @moonboy403, hope you get a chance to do the same!
Cucumber with Black Garlic and Sesame
Great start to the meal; fresh, bright cucumbers, the nuttiness of the sesame permeated, with some slight rich earthiness from the black garlic. Didn’t know about black garlic before, but evidently it’s fermented to get the color (through the maillard reaction).
Their Collection of Tea
Our bottomless pot of Chrysanthemum Tea
White Cut Chicken
This is a must order for us at this point - between the silky-but-just-toothsome-enough skin and the tender meat, along with the crack-infused ginger soy sauce, this is dish is really yummy
Pea shoots
Reordered this - just as good as last time
Braised Beef with Lobok and Tofu chips
It’s really impressive how they get the depth of richness and sweetness without it being cloying or overusing salt - the texture of the beef and daikons are really on point.
Majordomo charges 3x for their stewed beef (yes, I know it’s kalbi jjim - a Korean dish), and the execution is much inferior
Taishan cauliflower
As @JeetKuneBao mentioned, this is a really nice dish, and the wok hei really flourishes in this dish. Our pomelos were really sweet, but they still leant some brightness to the dish to lift it up. Agree with Bill Addison - this is a great vegan dish that’s maybe more satisfying than many versions of the meat (cashew chicken) dish you see served.
Char Siu
Also reordered this, and I appreciated it even more this time. Just a really well executed version.
Fun fact - Needle (really Ni Du) means “here” in Cantonese
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I think I need to make an effort and have 1:1 lunch meetings here with my team.
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May you have a large team.
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FYI - lunch menu is very condensed and does not include char sui
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Thanks for saving me considerable angst
If you didn’t know they’re not open for weekday lunch, just saturday brunch from 11-2.
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Taishan cauliflower stir fried with belachan from a few years ago at the now closed legendary Yum’s Bistro. These were super prevalent at Chinese farmers markets but haven’t seen them around as much up here.
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I’ve seen this variety quite often but didn’t know what to make of it. Thought they were malnourished cauliflower.
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The Chinese farmers were calling it Taishan vegetable 台山菜, probably grown by farmers of Taishanese extraction.
Several vendors at the Saturday Irvine FM have this vegetable when in season.
This makes me sad. I was hoping for excursions from the Valley so I can get to know my team on an individual basis.
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Aren’t they common at Stockton Street markets?
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Maybe, but I rarely go there anymore.
Nice visit!
Have you thought about returning for their weekend brunch?
Have you had the Pork Chop Sandwich?
Actually tried to go for lunch last week—Didn’t even bother to check, but they are actually open only for dinner. Lunch only on Saturday.
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I’d recommend trying the BBQ Pork at Paul’s Kitchen near the Fashion District of DTLA.
Sprouted cauliflower.