At Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine, a World of Street Food Noodles

If you’re like me, Chinese food when you were growing up was mostly Cantonese food. Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine is not of that world. The flavors are unique, many featuring the mala numbing spiciness you get from Sichuan peppercorns, though you can choose your level of heat. The menu of favorites from owner Lulu Sie’s hometown has a variety of dishes—including appetizers like garlic cucumbers and spicy beef tendon, mapo tofu and other dishes served with rice—and there are some options for vegetarians and vegans.

But the focus at this hole-in-the-wall in McCully is noodles. There are wheat noodles and rice noodles, noodle soups and dry noodle dishes, some spicy, some not, some with familiar ingredients. All of them were completely new to me. I still need to try the duck noodle soup with Chinese pickles and maybe one day Grandma’s Pig Trotter noodles, but I keep going back to my favorites.

SEE ALSO: The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Food in Honolulu

One thing about Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine is how customizable the ordering is. You scan a QR code at your table and order and pay online. For each choice, you can add toppings like a fried egg, minced pork, bok choy, bean sprouts; you can choose your spice level; you can even specify how chewy you want your noodles cooked. Regular spicy isn’t too spicy if you’re used to eating Shin instant ramen, but it does have a kick.

Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine has been my favorite Chinese restaurant since the first time I tried it. Now my friends and I visit at least once a month. Here are some of my favorite dishes:

Mixed Beef Noodles, $15.99

Photo: Maddy Chow

The bowl is huge, with coils of wheat noodles and plenty of beef, and is almost enough for two people. The beef is slowly cooked and rich with star anise and five spice, falling apart in your mouth at the first bite. Matchsticks of cucumber are mixed in with the beef and noodles and create a cooling crunchiness. This is a dry noodle dish, not spicy, and very craveable.

I am also in love with the soupy version in a steaming broth topped with cilantro and bok choy. 

Spicy Beef Fried Rice, $18.99

Photo: Maddy Chow

This new addition to the menu joins other fried rice choices, including braised pork and the house special fried rice. It has a little bit of a twist—the minced beef has a rich, salty, umami flavor that is almost sausage-like. Diced carrots, pickles and peas combine for a unique flavor compared to the fried rice most of us make at home or order at Cantonese restaurants. The pickled cabbage makes me think of kim chee fried rice, except this doesn’t take over the flavor, adding just a touch of sourness and crunch.

Boiled Fish With Pickled Cabbage & Chili, $17.99

Photo: Maddy Chow

My new favorite dish is one I will order every time until I get sick of it. This is mistyped as “Booed Fish” on the menu, and I have heard people call it that, but don’t let it confuse you. The broth is like nothing I have ever tasted. Despite the wealth of dried red chiles and Sichuan peppercorns (this bowl is regular spicy; you can choose no red chiles if you want), the spice is not overwhelming and mild, just slightly sour, deep flavors comes through. The tender fish leaves no fishy taste in the soup. Personally, I like to opt for less oil or “light oil.” If I ate all the peppers, my mouth would catch on fire, in a good way of course, so I just eat some.

You can order this as pictured with thick rice noodles or as soup in a steaming iron bowl with a side of rice.

Street parking can be found fronting the restaurant on South King Street across from Washington Middle School, and there is a small parking lot behind the building (turn left onto Pāwa‘a Lane at Aloha Donut). I usually find parking in the lot because as I mentioned, Wu Wei Chong Qing Cuisine is a hole-in-the-wall—only 18 people at a time can fit at its 4.5 small tables.

Even if you see people waiting on the sidewalk, it’s so worth it. I recommend you get in line.

Open daily 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., 1738 S. King St. #101, (808) 741-2297, @wuweicuisine