As with the case with migrants from Fujian province, most people coming from Wenzhou to the US go directly to New York, and very few make their way to California, though there apparently are enough of them locally for there to be a Wenzhou Chamber of Commerce in El Monte. I first became aware of the Wenzhou population in New York a dozen years ago when I read about how they dominated the pirated DVD business back there, and how a couple of Wenzhou restaurants had opened in Flushing. And when I was in Spain last year, I learned that almost all the Chinese in Spain are from Wenzhou and they specialize in importing low cost knockoff products. The one Wenzhou dish from Flushing which stuck in my mind was something called variously fish dumpling or fish paste, served in soup with noodles optionally added. Iâm not exactly sure if dumpling or paste is a fair description, since there is no dumpling wrapper, and it was much firmer than cooked fish paste. (I would hazard to guess that minced fish might be a better description.) Anyway, while TonyC seems to have disappeared as a source of written information on Chinese food, he still has his finger on the pulse, and recently posted a picture from a Wenzhou style restaurant in El Monte.
After a couple of false starts I finally ended up at Masterbee Express, in the space right in the front in the Titoâs Market shopping center at 9814 E. Garvey Bl., in El Monte. But even upon arriving there, there was nothing to indicate anything other than a typical gringo Chinese fast food place. The proprietor who spoke almost no English appeared to indicate that his colorful little menu including fried rice, chow mein, chow fun and jalapeno chicken was all he had, but then he seemed to ask what I was looking for. I tried saying âfish noodleâ but that didnât get anywhere. But then he whipped out some hand held translation device and motioned for me to speak into it. When I said fish noodle, the machine spit something out and he smiled and said âfish ballsâ and brought out a Chinese language menu with a dozen items on it. There still was some confusion because the fish balls (which by no stretch of the imagination do not look like balls) came either with or without noodles, but an English speaking customer came over and straightened that out. Then when I said âWenzhouâ the owner smiled broadly and I knew we were on the same page.
The Wenzhou fish ball noodle soup was quite priceyâ$15.99 for a normal sized bowl of noodle soup. But if you hadnât tried that dish or any Wenzhou cuisine before, or if you had and liked it the way I did, itâs worth it. This version wasnât as good as what I had in Flushing, but thatâs to be expected given the disparity in the local Wenzhou population between New York and LA.
at delicious food corner, i recall them offering a soup featuring fish paste as an alternative to wontons. they were quite good. IIRC the flavoring included orange peel & cliantro, but the texture rivaled any shrimp filling iâve ever had. (corn starch maybe?)
or as itâs spelled in cantonese menus: âgaroupaâ which prompts me to speculate that words are not misspelled in chinese menus as much as they are a cantonese pin yin as to how the words are pronounced by native cantonese speakers: roast pok, sea cucumba, etc. (NOTE: i can make this observation and not be a bigot.)
I finally got there when they were actually open. They donât seem to have an English menu yet for the wenzhou specialties, but if you can speak Mandarin and donât read like me, the family is happy to help you order.
There are 2 types of âfishballâ noodles. Thereâs the regular type (circled in green) ($11.49) and the premium one (circled in red) ($15.99). You can get it with either wheat noodles or rice noodles. I prefer the rice noodles so thatâs what I got.
When I was there, there was a table of Shanghainese uncles and aunties that seemed to have ordered all of the specials: fish cake, pig oil cake (sorry, donât know what to call it in English), and stewed meat on rice.
You can tell that they do the premium fishballs in house because itâs not as broken down and have pieces of minced ginger incorporated in it.
Like some ABCâs I can speak Mandarin but I canât read/write for shit. I asked a relative to take a look at this menuâŚ
Itâs a full menuâŚappetizers, noodle dishes, and dessert. I think the price reflects that itâs not some muddy tasting tilapia. There is fish âballâ noodle soup, Wenzhou style wontons noodle soup, Wenzhou style stir fried rice noodle, some type of fish cake. Almond tofu dessert. Sorry I should have taken notes while this was translated.
From what I saw at the other table, itâs a savory dish. Less like a birthday cake type cake and more like blocks of aspic but tofu-colored, if that makes sense?
There is egg, seaweed, baby shrimp, and a soft boiled egg. The wontons are filling of pork and shrimp, they are tiny when compared to HK style wontons with the same filling. This is very âchingâ, light flavor. Very homey though even with the light taste.
These fish cakes are so pretty damn good with its crispy edges! As Taiwanese-American, tian bu la was something that I had with hot pots. My Taipei-born Mom would also throw in a bunch of tian bu la with pork neck bones and daikon! Delicious. So fish cakes are basically up my alley!!
This is probably the one dish you should try here. Itâs not really fish ball ala Fujian, more like fish pellets? The broth is light with a slight tang, be sure to add extra extra white pepper to really liven it up. The noodles were nicely cooked.
This is a welcome addition from the recent trends coming into SGV!