Hong Kong: A Bowl of Wonton Noodles Sets My Life in Motion

1990, Sham Shui Po. The Chen Family Dessert Shop.

Sixteen-year-old Chen Nianqiao is reborn.

In her previous life, she was alone. Only after her parents and siblings had all passed away did she find the yellowed Imperial Chef’s Notes tucked between the bricks of the old shop’s wall.

The last page held just one line: “For wonton noodles, the broth is the soul, the noodles are the bones, and the wontons are the heart.”

Drawing on the memory of that bowl of noodles, she went from a street stall to Michelin fame, becoming Hong Kong’s last recognized “heir to the imperial chefs.”

Yet she regretted to her dying day that she had never made a bowl of noodles for her family.

Now that she’s back, there’s still time.

Her father is still simmering sweet soup at the stove, and her mother is still keeping the books behind the counter.

Her eldest sister, Chen Qiurong, leaves every day in a suit, skirt, and high heels, skillfully navigating between the president of a trading company and its clients. She is the pride of the family.

Her second brother, Chen Sheng’an, has just put on his police uniform. He patrols the streets of Sham Shui Po every day, dreaming of solving a major case.

Chen Nianqiao is just an ordinary girl carrying a schoolbag and attending Secondary Four.

This time, she goes straight into the kitchen and makes one bowl after another.

When she serves her parents the first bowl of wonton noodles, with golden broth and silken noodles, her father is stunned. “This flavor... Is it a recipe from your great-grandfather’s time?”

Starting from a dessert shop in Sham Shui Po, with a bowl of noodles, a spoonful of broth, and a single wonton,

she will make the Chen family’s wonton noodles a Hong Kong legend, and help her whole family live their best lives.

When she opens the first page of the recipe book, a line of small writing brings tears to her eyes:

“This recipe is passed down to my descendants. May these words bring us face to face. A good bowl of noodles can nourish a family.”

But... it was all nothing more than a dream of golden grain...