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After Tony Hu, is there a more recognizable Chinatown celebrity than Liu Chang Ming? You may not know his name, but if you’ve strolled past Hing Kee in the mall over the last few years, you’ve probably seen him in action in the front window, his brawny, tatted forearms pulling, twisting, bouncing, and folding long, thick ropes of dough into dozens of strands of perfect fresh noodles. It was kind of weird that the pan-Asian Hing Kee, which still has its front-of-the-house soup dumpling maker, employed a specialist like Liu, even though he had top billing (his likeness also graced a banner hanging on a fence at the corner of Wentworth and Archer). But now, after a short absence, he’s resurfaced as the star of his own show at nearby Sing’s Noodle House.
You can order decent pot stickers and steamed dumplings, plus an assortment of appetizers like spicy pig ears, shredded kelp, and, ma la noodles, but the real attraction—even more so than the noodles—is the normally stoic’s Liu’s mesmerizing game of cat’s cradle, during which he’s not above breaking character and mugging for the crowd.
- Mike Sula
- Sing’s Noodle House
