By Steve Cooper
The Foodie Foursome
Steve Cooper
Our Foodie Foursome travels have brought us to different styles and regional culinary treats in the greater Milford/Orange area, from traditional American fare to pub style, Indian to Italian, Columbian to Jewish deli to Peruvian.
With Asian restaurants taking on rapid growth and popularity in our area, we now venture into this popular cuisine with our visit to Ji Bei Chuan. Opening earlier this year, partners chefs Jin and Lin Yang Kang share a passion for authentic Chinese cuisine and believe that the traditional taste of rice noodles should be shared with Connecticut foodies. The two decided to open a restaurant dedicated to showcasing the true flavors of rice noodles.
According to the restaurant’s website, they take “great care in sourcing only the freshest and highest-quality ingredients to ensure that each dish is authentic and packed with flavor. From the classic chicken noodle soup to the spicy mala rice noodles, every dish will transport your taste buds straight to the streets of China.”
Ji Bei Chuan started in China in 2018 and has grown into a popular franchise. It is like authentic street food with the care of a home cooked meal. Their menu is based on the two main ingredients, mi xian and chicken broth.
Mi xian is a type of rice noodle from Yunnan Province in China. It is made from ordinary non-glutinous rice, and it is generally used fresh rather than dried. The noodle is wide, up to two inches, slightly flat yet medium thin and cut into long ribbons. The soup they make daily at the restaurant is made with tasty chicken thighs and cooked for a long time with Chinese vegetables and spices to give a rich and tasty broth.
Cindy and I were with longtime friends and foodies, Stephanie and Lance. We started off with the spicy garlic cucumber, as it was different from the ordinary appetizers and we wanted to try something unexpected and different. The cucumbers fit that bill perfectly, with a subtle level of spice that prepared our palates for the rest of our feast. The chunks of cucumber, prepared fresh each morning, were marinated in a Szechuan garlic sauce with Chinese spices taking on a fresh crunchy pickled flavor that tasted awesome and left a gentle tingle in your mouth.
Our next appetizer was the Taiwan fried chicken. This was a basket of petite, bite-sized pieces of chicken breast seasoned with Chinese five spice. It was then dusted with a micro-thin coating of rice starch before giving it a quick fry. This plentiful treat was, in spite of the small stature of each piece, tender and juicy with a nice crunch due to the seasoned coating. It kept us reaching for more.
Our next choice was JBC’s take on pan fried dumplings. The spinach-based wrappers encased a tasty combo of veggies, done with a beautiful bite, and were extra tasty when dipped into the soy-based sauce.
Our last starter completely caught us by surprise. We went with fried coconut shrimp, expecting the normal restaurant or steakhouse version. We were wrong. This was a plating of sizable fresh shrimp with a delicate coating of tempura batter fried perfectly and served with shredded coconut and a creamy coconut puree that was nothing short of spectacular.
Our main courses started with a classic Vietnamese pho, a recognized staple. This soup, called the House of Pho, was a chicken base with fresh onion, cilantro, fresh basil leaves, lime and beansprout with noodles. Ours was adorned with rare beef, brisket and meatballs. This tasty soup was filling and a perfect start to our meal, especially on this chilly evening. Next was a side of chicken fried rice, which had the perfect texture and taste with wok fried onion, egg and scallion.
If you like a dish with a bit of a kick, then the dry tossed rice noodle is the ticket. This noodle dish has wonderful levels of texture, flavor and heat. Once you take a few bites you keep diving in for more. We had both chicken and beef brisket; however, you also can choose minced pork or beef shank. It had cucumber, crushed peanut, scallion and cilantro. This dish was so tasty with levels of flavor and texture that did not disappoint.
Next up was the original bone soup. We chose the original beef brisket rice noodle made with the bone broth, rice noodles, wood ear and other mushrooms, tofu puff, corn, lettuce and scallions. Noodles are pure comfort food. But what makes noodles slurpable and delicious is the broth – a flavorful part of many complex and delicious recipes.
Next we had our second side dish. The vegetable stir fry noodles with ho fun noodles, onion, egg, scallion, baby bok choy and bean sprouts was awesome and, between the four of us, seemed to just disappear. Our last two dishes were the signature JBC rice noodle soup and of course a ramen dish.
The soup was an incredibly beautifully designed selection, tasty and filling with chicken, wood ear mushroom, bean curd, corn, enoki mushrooms, lettuce and scallion and of course rice noodles and broth. This dish is a definite all-star.
The last main dish was the roast duck ramen. This popular Japanese noodle dish consists of Chinese-style noodles served in a broth with a variety of toppings. In this incredible JBC bowl, the broth and rice noodles were topped with onion, nori, scallion, mushrooms, radish, fresh basil, bean sprout, corn, a marinated hardboiled egg and bok choy – and of course the roast duck. The duck was perfectly prepared and inserted into the dish as pieces of meat and a roasted leg. This was a mini feast and one of the best ramen bowls I have had anywhere.
We completed the evening with Thai tea, which was perfectly flavorful and thirst quenching, and two wonderful and light desserts. The mochi ice cream was a smooth and classic confection with fresh whipped cream. The mango crepe cake was divine, made up of multitudes of layers of sweet subtleness and fruity mango.
Ji Bei Chuan is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. It is located at 519D Boston Post Rd. (in the Orange Ale House plaza). You can call in for a reservation or order for pickup at 203-553-9125.
Steve Cooper is a local, national and international award-winning photographer, culinary influencer and executive director of the Milford Performance Center. Contact him at 203-723-3672.