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mong all of the places we’ll visit throughout this
multi-part series of food, none holds a greater place in my heart within this
street than Nyan Shin. No it isn’t the cute setup they have, but how family
oriented this shop is. Yes, you will see family members from cute grannies to grandkids
that are currently in their early 20’s, but those aren’t who I’m mainly talking
about. I’m talking about you too. The customers.
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| Badass Old guy and Candid Shot with me in glasses |
In my experience at least, I’ve never felt unwelcome. Even
when a trip is months apart from the last, the owner will exclaim, “Minced Beef
Noodles!” when I try to order.
As hospitable as they may be though, good hospitality isn’t
enough to bring you forward in the food industry. Fortunately, hospitality isn’t
the only thing that draws customers here as the food is superb. Besides,
you don’t get to sell the exact same bowl of noodles for three generations
spanning the course of a century if it wasn't the case.
First of all, the noodles here are a little different from
what you may be used to. Not only are they fresh, but they are also home-made. The
noodles maintain its springiness while soaking up the juices (which also usually
are topped up with lard by the way) that they are exposed to, thus creating
noodles with mildly different tastes depending on what bowl you order.
Its ability to soak up juices is admittedly prone to drying
to dish quicker than most, which means a drier bowl of noodles if you’re not
quick to act. My word of advice is to not spend most of your time taking food
pictures for your food/travel blog if you want to make sure that you finish
this quickly before it dries up.
On that note, let’s try us some Hakka Noodles!
If I have to be honest, this is the most lacklustre of the
few you will try here. On top of the noodles, you will have fresh spring onions
that add a full aroma on top of the Char Siew and Minced Pork.
The Char Siew isn’t
anything to really sing about as it’s too thinly sliced to notice if it’s juicy
or not, while the Minced Pork on the other hand is juicy and appropriately sized to still be able to taste mild flavours of pork.
The Wan Tan Noodles are similar in hand with the Kolo Mee in the sense that it is also topped with similar garnishes, but what the Wan Tan noodles lack in
ingredients, it does well in its simplicity – if that’s what you’re looking
for.
The Wan Tan has a nice bite to its skin as you can see,
while still being soft. The inside of the Wan Tan is a good mixture of fat and
pork meat that you can still taste the texture of the grounds as it isn’t overworked.
Mind you, there might be a little more MSG for those who don’t like the taste.
The Taiwan Beef Noodles, as the name suggests isn’t really one
of their more traditional bowl of noodles that they sell here. The noodles swim
in a savoury beef flavoured broth while topped with some fresh herbs, a sliced
tomato (which feels a little out of place), pickled cabbage and slices of juicy
beef.
If the Taiwan Beef Noodles bring forth natural flavours of the
meat used, the Mutton noodles do the same in bringing out the natural flavours
of Mutton.
The slices are thick enough to feel the texture of the juicy Mutton
and are cooked perfectly to slide off the bone. In terms of garnishes, it’s
rather simple with only herbs to top it but it does well to balance the heavy
flavours of the Mutton.
The coup de grace to this trip is the Minced Beef Noodles.
This bowl is my personal favourite and is the noodles that have brought Nyan
Shin to fame since its first inception about a century ago – and it’s easy to
see why.
While simple at first glance, the textures that play in your
palate is the combination of crispy pork and garlic that top the juicy Minced
Beef.
They are not stingy with their portion either, as this amount ensures
that you have everything you need with each pull of noodles if mixed well. The
balance of Beef and Pork sing as the pork complements the flavour of beef with
crunchy pork bits and lard that coats the Minced Beef.
This business has been alive for a long time, and it makes
perfect sense when you look back on the warm welcome that this family gives to
their customers as well as providing delicious food. It seems fitting that an
establishment with their legacy chose to set up shop in one of the most
historical food streets in Kuching. Carpenter Street is very lucky to have had
them within its company for the 20 years it has been here.
Nyan Shin is currently open every day from 6:30AM to 1:00PM if
they do not sell out early – which they usually do, mind you!
