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PrintNo Chang in Chicago, No Problem: Pho Xua's Fried Duck Noodle Soup
In Chicago, we have not yet been blessed with a noodle god like Momofuku’s David Chang. We’ve instead had to settle for noodles from a handful of lower level deities, like Tony Hu at Chinatown’s Lao Szechuan or Vanna Gumtrontip at Spoon Thai. Last week, I discovered a new star to add to the mix. I may not actually know the star, as I didn’t get the chef’s name, but his fried duck noodle soup speaks quite well on his behalf.
Served at a new Argyle St./Little Vietnam storefront named Pho Xua, this bowl of soul is filled with a fresh nest of pliant egg noodles, a deep, rich ducky broth, and a fat, fried, crunchy-skinned duck leg, along with a garden of bok choy, scallions, and little earthy mushroom rafts. Slurping it down banished the seasonal mood swings I’d been indulging after a string of weeks of ubiquitous overcast, slate gray days of drizzle and chafing wind.
A bowl like this makes you wonder if we even need a high end chef to make great noodles. Sure, it would be nice to have the same bowl with a chunk of locally raised Gunthorp farm duck breast from Indiana, but the upside is there’s never a shortage of reservations and the noodles are always cheap.
About the author: Michael Nagrant writes for Serious Eats from Chicago, where he also publishes Hungry magazine. Michael never met an organ meat he didn't like. He hopes to meet many more.
Pho Xua
Address: 1020 W Argyle Street, Chicago, IL 60640 (map)
Phone: 773-271-9828
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2 Comments:
I can remain silent no longer. David Chang, in my opinion (as someone who grew up eating a wide variety of noodle soups, including ramen), is not a noodle god or anywhere near it. He's a pork god, if anything, but his noodles are consistently soft and overcooked (criminal!) and his broth overly salty, peppery, greasy and heavy. Heavy broths, if done well, are excellent, but I was unable to finish a third of Chang's ramen broth. I've yet to see anyone who is a ramen-fancier or who has had an average bowl of ramen in Japan list Momofuku as a good place to get ramen in NYC. Chang doesn't make ramen, he makes a generic noodle soup, and unfortunately a noodle soup that isn't even that good. Why, why make the noodles so mushy David Chang?!
However I will say his pork is excellent, and it's clear with his other food that he is a pretty decent chef. What a pity a slice of berkshire pork does not a bowl of ramen make.
comestibles at 2:29PM on 05/02/08
Thanks for the find, Michael. Argyle Street could always use more annotation.
I must, however, disagree with the notion that we don't need Chang. Perhaps we don't necessarily need haute street food, but this town seriously needs a great ramen and soup dumpling place. NYC and the Cali have it; we do not.
lostfourwords at 9:03PM on 05/02/08