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I t’s soup season, and I know where I want to go—Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle. It opened at Pearlridge last August with a fun take on hot pot: You toss 10 ingredients into boiling broth all at once, so everything cooks in 10 seconds. As far as I know, we don’t have any Yunnan-style food on island, and my Hong Kong-born dad is unfamiliar with the cuisine as well, so on my second visit, I invite him along. Low Cal Noodles
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Hawai‘i Food Blog • Locally Owned + Written (@frolichawaii)
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A post shared by Hawai‘i Food Blog • Locally Owned + Written (@frolichawaii)
Ten Seconds is big: The restaurant is part of a chain with more than 750 shops in China and 70 in the U.S.; this one is its first Hawai‘i franchise. You choose your broth—including soups made with pork bone, tomato, chicken and pickled peppers—plus add-on proteins of fatty beef, beef brisket or fish fillet. My dad opts for the Golden Hot and Sour soup with fatty beef ($17.99). I tried this on my first visit, so this time, I order the Szechuan Mala Spicy Soup with fish fillet ($17.99).
Of the appetizers, mantou buns (“fried golden buns” on the menu, $6.99) are a must for me because they’re childhood favorites. They taste just as good as I remember, crispy on the outside and pillowy inside, with condensed milk for dipping. My dad notes the soft dough doesn’t pull apart in strips like we’re used to. Other appetizers range from salt and pepper chicken wings or calamari to garlic popcorn chicken, spicy beef tripe or pig ear, and preserved egg with tofu.
Our hot pot ingredients, neatly arrayed on 10 small plates, and side meats arrive, followed closely by steaming broths. Their large bowls are tucked into insulated stands, preserving the heat while providing some protection from it.
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The insulated bowls are part of the lore behind Yunnan’s famous rice noodle soup. A woman living in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), it goes, prepared meals for her husband while he studied for the imperial examination. He loved rice noodles, but getting them to him—over a long bridge to an island in a lake where he studied—would leave them cold and soggy. The solution his wife thought up involved delivering the broth in an insulated, fire-heated ceramic vessel and adding noodles and vegetables to the piping-hot soup once she reached the island. That’s why the dish is known as 過橋米線 or crossing-the-bridge noodles.
At our table, the steaming broths quickly cook all the ingredients. Some are familiar, like chives, onion, green onion, wood ear fungus and bean curd. Others—quail egg, goji berries, meat paste, ham, corn and lettuce—are less so, and it’s fun fishing them out in a soupy treasure hunt. My dad’s fatty beef is tasty, though the Golden Hot and Sour Soup is sourer than the hot and sour we’re used to.
My Szechuan Mala Spicy Soup is that style of spicy and tangy. It’s marked with three chile peppers on the menu (the spiciest level; my dad’s soup gets only two peppers), but I’d say it’s a medium spiciness—just enough heat to make things interesting and leave a tingle on my lips. It goes well with the delicate and mild fish fillet, which soaks up the spicy flavor. My favorite ingredient, bean curd, is the only one that soaks up even more broth. The rice noodles, softer and lighter than wheat noodles, keep appearing on my chopsticks, making this flavorful hot pot a good value.
My dad eats all of his Golden Hot and Sour Soup, but mine is enough for two meals for me. At home, they reheat well, the ingredients soaking up even more flavor and the noodles not soggy, just slightly softer.
If you can, save room for dessert. Ten Seconds’ owner Anna Tam also runs Cloud Nine Café, so you’ll find those same soufflé pancakes in four varieties, as well as sweet teas. I’m too stuffed, so I get a bubble waffle (original $7.99) to go, and we end up munching on it in heavy traffic back to town. It’s still crispy too.
If you love hot pot, noodles or spicy food, Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle is worth the drive to Pearlridge. Getting to try a different style of Chinese cuisine is another draw. Tam tells me rice noodles are China’s signature noodles, like pho in Vietnam. Because of my dad’s tastes, the Chinese food I know is Cantonese and Hong Kong-style, but I like to branch out now and then, especially for something spicy.
Ten Seconds Yunnan Rice Noodle is in Pearlridge Uptown on the second floor across from Satellite City Hall. Just walk in since you can only make reservations for parties of six or more.
Open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., 98-1005 Moanalua Rd., Space 801A, ‘Aiea, (808) 892-6888 or (808) 892-7888, tensecondshi.com, @tensecondshi
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We celebrated National Take a Hike Day (Nov. 17), with a round up of our top picks for the best hikes on the Island.
Not willing to change her identity to be part of the industry, Mahina Florence is at the height of her career because of her flawless Hawaiian complexion, strong athletic build, and friendly aloha spirit.
Spicy Chili Noodles These restaurants and cafés hold themselves to a higher eco-standard that make deciding where to eat for ocean-minded people an easy decision.