Home-style recipes from around the world, written for real kitchens

EN
Hong Kong cart noodles: oil noodles topped with chu hou brisket and radish, satay fish balls, shrimp wontons and choy sum
Serves4 servings
CuisineHong Kong
East Asia

Hong Kong Cart Noodles (車仔麵): Oil Noodles with Chu Hou Brisket and Radish, Satay Fish Balls, Shrimp Wontons and Choy Sum

How to make Hong Kong cart noodles (車仔麵) at home: Cantonese oil noodles warmed in leftover steamed-chicken broth and choy sum water, topped with chu hou braised beef brisket and radish, satay fish balls, shrimp wontons and choy sum. Covers the two topping pots, the assembly order, safe thawing and cooking temperatures, and what the recipe leaves unspecified.

Cooking flow

Cooking steps

STEP 11 / 14

Thaw and blanch the brisket

Beef brisket blanching in a pot of water with scallions and ginger
Start the brisket in cold water with scallions and ginger, then drain and discard the water

Thaw the 2 lb frozen brisket completely in the refrigerator at 0–4°C. Don't leave it at room temperature, and don't wash the raw meat with water. Put the brisket in a pot of cold water with the 3 scallions and the 4 blanching slices of ginger. Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover, and leave for 5 minutes. Drain and discard the water. Keep raw beef and the tools that touched it away from cooked food.

STEP 22 / 14

Parboil the radish and keep its water

White radish parboiling in 300ml water with a little rock sugar
Parboil the radish on its own and save the water for the braising liquid

Peel the radish and cut it into evenly sized chunks. Cook it in 300ml water with a little rock sugar over medium heat for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat, cover, and leave for 10 minutes. Lift out the radish and set it aside, and keep the radish water for the braise.

STEP 33 / 14

Build the chu hou braise

Pouring liquid into blanched brisket coated with ginger and chu hou paste in the cooker pot
The water goes into the chu hou-coated brisket; the oyster sauce and rock sugar follow

The author uses the Saute function of an Instant Pot IP-DUO60V2. Fry the 4 frying slices of ginger in a little oil, then add the 3 tbsp chu hou paste and stir-fry. Add the blanched brisket and mix well. Pour in the reserved radish water topped up with clear water to 700ml in total. Only then add the 2 tbsp oyster sauce and the 10g rock sugar.

Keep the 300ml used for the radish parboil separate in your mind from this 700ml total. The 10g of rock sugar here is separate from the little used for the radish, so don't add both amounts at once.

STEP 44 / 14

Pressure-cook in two stages

Tender brisket and radish sitting in chu hou braising liquid
After both pressure stages, the brisket and radish rest in their chu hou braising liquid

Cook at high pressure for 30 minutes. For the author's model, the pressure is then released by venting. Never open the lid while pressure remains inside.

Add the parboiled radish and cook at high pressure for 5 more minutes. Then press cancel and let the pressure release naturally for 20–25 minutes, as the author describes. These are two different release methods, so keep them separate.

The manufacturer's current manual list links to the Duo V5 manual. Compatibility with the older IP-DUO60V2 named in the recipe has not been confirmed. Don't borrow the V5's minimum liquid or valve steps for the V2. If you use a different cooker, follow its own manual. This recipe gives no conversion for stovetop pressure cookers or other models.

STEP 55 / 14

Make the satay fish balls

Fried fish balls simmering with onion in satay sauce
Onion first, then garlic and satay sauce, then the water, sugar and fish balls

Wash the 1 lb fried fish balls, blanch them in boiling water, and rinse off the surface oil. If they are frozen, follow the package instructions; the Centre for Food Safety notes that small items like fish balls may be cooked straight from frozen when the product allows it.

Heat half of the 2 tbsp oil and cook the onion with the 1/2 tsp salt until soft, then push it to one side. Add the remaining oil, the 1 tsp minced garlic and the 40g satay sauce, and fry over low heat. Add the 200ml water and 2 tsp sugar and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Add the fish balls and bring the sauce to a boil. When the fish balls swell, turn off the heat, cover, and leave for 1 hour to absorb the flavor.

The 1-hour rest is for flavor only, and it does not keep the fish balls safely hot. Swelling is not a doneness test, so use a thermometer to confirm the core temperature.

STEP 66 / 14

Steep the choy sum and measure its water

Lifting steeped choy sum out of the pot while setting its cooking water aside
Lift out the choy sum after its 5-minute off-heat steep, then measure 200ml of the water

Pick off the choy sum flowers and wash the stems. Bring a fresh pot of water to a boil and add some oil and salt; the recipe gives no amounts for either. Add the choy sum, turn off the heat, and leave it for 5 minutes. Only after that steep is finished, lift out the choy sum, then measure 200ml of the cooking water and set it aside. Don't add extra water to make up the amount.

STEP 77 / 14

Cook the shrimp wontons

Boiling store-bought fresh shrimp wontons and checking one at its center
Check the thickest part of a wonton with a thermometer rather than relying on floating

Cook the 10 ready-made fresh shrimp wontons according to the package. The author boils them for 2 minutes until they float, then lifts them out. Treat that time as a guide only. Floating alone does not show they are done, so check that the center reaches at least 75°C for 30 seconds. Discard the wonton water; it is not used for the broth.

STEP 88 / 14

Rinse the oil noodles

Oil noodles rinsed under cold water and draining in a sieve after the hot-water rinse
A hot rinse to remove surface oil, then cold water and a thorough drain

Pour hot water over the 1200g oil noodles to wash off the surface oil. Then pass them through cold water and drain well. If the package gives cooking instructions, check them too.

STEP 99 / 14

Heat the noodles in the chicken broth and choy sum water

Heating oil noodles in a pot of chicken broth and choy sum water
Only the chicken broth and choy sum water go into this pot, in a modest amount

Put the 200ml choy sum water and the 200ml already-cooked leftover chicken broth in a pot. Add the noodles and bring to a boil over high heat, then turn off the heat. Add no other liquid at this point, not even the brisket or fish-ball sauce. Divide the noodles among 4 bowls and share the remaining broth between them.

This is a small amount of liquid, not a deep soup. The author does not give a per-bowl amount, so there is no set figure for each bowl.

STEP 1010 / 14

Layer the toppings and finish with chu hou sauce

STEP 10

On top of the noodles and broth in each bowl, add the following in order:

STEP 1111 / 14

Brisket and radish

STEP 11
STEP 1212 / 14

Satay fish balls

STEP 12
STEP 1313 / 14

Cooked shrimp wontons

STEP 13
STEP 1414 / 14

Choy sum

Topping oil noodles and broth with brisket and radish, satay fish balls, shrimp wontons and choy sum
Toppings first, then a small spoon of chu hou braising liquid; no extra satay sauce

How much of each goes into a bowl is up to you; the recipe does not set amounts.

Once all the toppings are on, add a little of the brisket's chu hou braising liquid to taste as the finishing sauce. Leave the satay sauce on the fish balls, and don't pour extra over the whole bowl.

0 / 0
Ingredients

Ingredients

1 / 1

Ingredients

Ingredient Amount Role
Cantonese oil noodles (油麵) 1200g Main bowl: the noodles, rinsed and then heated in the broth
Ready-made fresh shrimp wontons (現成鮮蝦雲吞) 10 Main bowl: topping, cooked in their own water
Choy sum (菜芯) 1 lb Main bowl: green topping; its cooking water becomes part of the broth
Cooking oil and salt for the choy sum water Not specified Main bowl: added to the choy sum pot; the recipe gives no amounts
Leftover broth from home-steamed chicken (自家製蒸雞剩下雞湯) 200ml Main bowl: already-cooked clear broth for heating the noodles
Choy sum cooking water (烚菜芯水) 200ml Main bowl: measured from the choy sum pot; the other half of the broth
Frozen beef brisket strips (急凍牛腩條) 2 lb Brisket batch: the main meat topping
White radish (白蘿蔔) 1 (600g) Brisket batch: parboiled, then finished with the brisket
Scallions (青蔥) 3 Brisket batch: for blanching the beef
Ginger (薑), for blanching 4 slices Brisket batch: for blanching the beef
Water, for parboiling the radish 300ml Brisket batch: radish parboil; keep this water
Rock sugar (冰糖), for the radish A little Brisket batch: radish parboil
Ginger (薑), for frying 4 slices Brisket batch: fried at the start of the braise
Cooking oil, for frying the ginger Not specified Brisket batch: the recipe gives no amount
Chu hou paste (柱侯醬) 3 tbsp Brisket batch: the main braising sauce
Reserved radish water plus clear water 700ml in total Brisket batch: braising liquid; the split between the two is not specified
Oyster sauce (蠔油) 2 tbsp Brisket batch: seasoning, added after the liquid
Rock sugar (冰糖), for the braise 10g Brisket batch: seasoning, added after the liquid
Fried fish balls (炸魚蛋) 1 lb Fish-ball batch: second topping
Onion (洋蔥) 1 Fish-ball batch: softened first
Salt (鹽) 1/2 tsp Fish-ball batch: cooked with the onion
Cooking oil (煮食油) 2 tbsp, divided in half Fish-ball batch: half for the onion, half for the garlic and satay sauce
Minced garlic (蒜蓉) 1 tsp Fish-ball batch: fried with the satay sauce
Satay sauce (沙嗲醬) 40g Fish-ball batch: the sauce for the fish balls
Water (清水) 200ml Fish-ball batch: satay sauce liquid, not for the noodle broth
Sugar (砂糖) 2 tsp Fish-ball batch: satay sauce
0 / 0

Cart Noodles: A Bowl Built from Pots Prepared Side by Side

What this bowl should keep

Two toppings are cooked in their own pots and kept apart: chu hou brisket with radish, and satay fish balls. The noodles go into a small amount of broth at the very end, and the toppings are layered on in a set order.

Yellow oil noodles have their surface oil rinsed off in hot water, pass through cold water, and are then brought to a boil in a modest pot of chicken broth and choy sum cooking water. Beside the stove, a braise of beef brisket and radish in chu hou sauce and a pan of fish balls in satay sauce wait in separate pots. The noodles go into bowls first, and the toppings are stacked on one by one.

This dish is called 車仔麵 in Hong Kong and cart noodles in English. The name points back to the mobile wooden carts where customers chose the toppings for their noodles.

The Hong Kong Tourism Board describes cart noodles as noodles served from mobile wooden carts, with toppings picked by the eater, and explains that the same pick-your-own style carries on in today's sit-down noodle shops. At Man Kee Cart Noodle, the menu still lets diners choose their noodles, toppings and vegetables.

A home kitchen can't hold a cart's worth of choices, and home versions often narrow the selection. This recipe fixes one set and does not wander off into other toppings: Cantonese oil noodles, beef brisket and white radish braised in chu hou sauce, satay fish balls, shrimp wontons, and choy sum. It follows a four-serving home recipe by AA mama, along with the same author's linked recipes for the brisket and the fish balls. Sekai Gohan has not kitchen-tested the recipe as a whole.

Ingredients: Main Bowl for 4, Plus Two Topping Batches

Oil noodles, beef brisket, white radish, fried fish balls, choy sum, shrimp wontons and seasonings for cart noodles
The noodle, wonton and choy sum components, plus the brisket and fish-ball batches, with raw beef kept apart

The main recipe serves 4. The brisket and fish balls are made as full batches using the author's linked recipes: 2 lb brisket with 600g radish, and 1 lb fried fish balls. The main recipe leaves the amount of brisket and fish balls in each bowl to your taste. It does not say the whole batch goes into four bowls, and it gives no per-bowl amount.

Equipment

  • Instant Pot IP-DUO60V2 electric pressure cooker (the model named in the brisket recipe), or your own cooker used according to its own manual
  • A pot for blanching the beef, plus a sieve for draining
  • A small saucepan for parboiling the radish, and a jug for the reserved radish water
  • A saucepan for the satay fish balls, with a lid
  • A pot for the choy sum, and a measuring jug for its cooking water
  • A pot and a slotted spoon for the wontons
  • A large sieve or colander for the noodles
  • A pot for heating the noodles in the broth
  • A food thermometer
  • Four serving bowls
  • Separate boards and utensils for raw beef

Shopping and Choosing: Keep Each Ingredient and Sauce Distinct

Look for 油麵 (oil noodles), 菜芯 (choy sum), 炸魚蛋 (fried fish balls), 現成鮮蝦雲吞 (ready-made fresh shrimp wontons), 柱侯醬 (chu hou paste) and 沙嗲醬 (satay sauce) at Chinese grocers. Check product names and package labels as you go. For the noodles, wontons and fish balls, read the storage and cooking instructions on each package and follow them.

The three sauces do different jobs. Chu hou paste and oyster sauce season the brisket pot. Satay sauce seasons the fish balls only. These recipes contain no light or dark soy sauce, and chu hou paste is not the same as soy sauce or oyster sauce, so don't swap one for another.

This recipe does not establish substitutes or ratios for any of these items. That includes local noodles or greens that look similar, and any stand-in for the leftover steamed-chicken broth. If an ingredient can't be found, the recipe offers no confirmed replacement.

Allergens

Allergens differ from product to product. Check the labels on the wontons, fish balls, noodles, satay sauce and chu hou paste, including any shared-facility statements, before cooking for someone with allergies.

Method: Two Topping Pots, Then a Quick Finish for the Noodles

Recipe amounts, safety edits, and what is left open

The amounts and order come from the author's recipes. Two of the author's directions are replaced here with Hong Kong Centre for Food Safety guidance: thawing at room temperature, and rinsing raw beef. Thaw in the refrigerator instead, and don't rinse raw meat. Some amounts are not given in the recipes: oil and salt for the choy sum water, oil for frying the ginger, the split of the 700ml braising liquid, and per-bowl toppings, broth and finishing sauce. Those are left to you rather than guessed.

Cooking temperature

For food in general, the Centre for Food Safety advises cooking until the core reaches at least 75°C and holds there for 30 seconds, checked with a thermometer. Cook large pieces of meat through to the center. Fish balls swelling, wontons floating, or a change in color does not prove they are cooked through. Also follow the cooking instructions on each package.

Troubleshooting: When Something Seems Off

Situation What it means What to do
The broth looks shallow The recipe uses only 200ml chicken broth and 200ml choy sum water for four bowls That is how this version is built. Don't add water or stock to make a deeper soup
The fish balls have swollen, but you're unsure they're done Swelling is not a safety test Check the core with a thermometer: at least 75°C for 30 seconds, and follow the package
The wontons are floating Floating is not a safety test Check the center with a thermometer before serving
Your pressure cooker isn't an IP-DUO60V2 The author's times and release steps are for that model Follow your own cooker's manual, and never open it while pressure remains inside
You don't have leftover steamed-chicken broth The recipe calls for it as an already-cooked leftover No method for making it and no substitute is confirmed in the recipe
The flavor seems doubled up or heavy Both sauces may have been added to the bowl Finish with chu hou braising liquid only, and keep the satay sauce on the fish balls

Variations: What the Recipe Itself Leaves Open

The author's main recipe lets you choose the finishing sauce: brisket liquid or fish-ball liquid, to taste. This version picks the chu hou brisket liquid and does not add both. If you prefer the satay liquid, use it in place of the chu hou liquid, not in addition to it.

The cart tradition is about choice, so at the table each person can take more or less of each topping from the set prepared here. Other toppings belong to other recipes and aren't covered here.

Culture: From Wooden Carts to Noodle Shops

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board, cart noodles took their form from mobile wooden carts. Toppings were picked to order and placed on the noodles. That pick-your-own style continues in sit-down shops today, where menus such as Man Kee's let diners choose noodles, toppings and vegetables.

At home, the choices narrow to what fits on the stove. Cooking the toppings in separate pots, as in this recipe, is how a home kitchen keeps the spirit of the cart: each eater still builds their own bowl.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much brisket, fish balls and broth go in each bowl?

The author doesn't say. The main recipe leaves the amount of brisket and fish balls to taste. The broth is simply 200ml chicken broth and 200ml choy sum water shared among four bowls, with no per-bowl amount. The brisket and fish-ball recipes are full batches, and the recipe does not say you must use them up in four bowls.

Can I season the brisket with soy sauce?

These recipes use chu hou paste and oyster sauce for the brisket, and satay sauce for the fish balls. They contain no light or dark soy sauce, and chu hou paste is a different product from soy sauce.

Can I make the brisket on the stovetop or in another pressure cooker?

The author's times and release steps are for the Instant Pot IP-DUO60V2. No conversion to a stovetop pot or another model is given. If you use another cooker, follow its own manual.

Can I thaw the brisket on the counter, as some recipes say?

No. Following the Centre for Food Safety, thaw meat in the refrigerator at 0–4°C, and don't rinse raw beef. Keep raw meat apart from cooked foods.

Why rinse the noodles in hot water and then cold?

The hot water washes off the surface oil, and the cold water follows before the noodles are drained. They are heated again in the broth just before serving.

Sources

Red-brown Dainagon azuki amanattō with a thin sugar coating on a white plate, each bean still whole, served as a home tea snack
Japan

Amanattō: Japanese Sweet Beans Made from Dainagon Azuki (甘納豆)

How to make amanattō (甘納豆), the Japanese tea-time sweet of whole beans steeped in syrup, using large Dainagon azuki beans. Covers sorting and parboiling the beans, gentle simmering, two overnight syrup soaks, drying, and the optional sugar coating, plus the dish's history as Eitaro tells it and how it differs from fermented natto.

Beondegi-tang in a small pot: silkworm pupae, red broth, sliced garlic, scallion and Cheongyang chili
South Korea

Beondegi-tang: Spicy Korean Silkworm Pupa Soup Made from a Can (번데기탕)

How to make beondegi-tang (번데기탕), a quick, spicy Korean soup of canned silkworm pupae with sliced garlic, gochugaru, scallion and Cheongyang chili. Follows one home cook's written recipe for 2, with the exact order of additions, how much can liquid goes back in, what the 150g on the can means, and allergy notes to read before you eat.

Golden-brown bungeoppang baked in a fish-shaped mold, one broken open on a plate to show the sweet red bean filling
South Korea

Bungeoppang: Korean Fish-Shaped Pastry with Sweet Red Bean Filling (붕어빵)

How to make bungeoppang (붕어빵), the Korean fish-shaped pastry filled with sweet red beans, using a six-piece batter of flour, water, sugar, salt and baking soda. Covers straining the batter, greasing the mold, placing the filling, turning the pan over low heat, troubleshooting, newer fillings, and how it compares with Japanese taiyaki.

A steaming bowl of black sesame soup with three white tangyuan and a light sprinkle of black sesame seeds, in the style of a Hong Kong dessert shop
China

Black Sesame Soup (Zhima Hu, 芝麻糊): A Hong Kong-Style Sweet Soup with Tangyuan

How to make black sesame soup (zhima hu, 芝麻糊), the warm, thick sweet soup loved in Hong Kong dessert shops. Toast raw black sesame with glutinous rice flour, blend it smooth, whisk it thick in the pot, and serve it with plain tangyuan. Includes how to avoid bitterness and lumps, adjust thickness and sweetness, choose the flour, and handle leftovers.