Although Hometown Traditional Delicious Seafood Noodles was established in 2010, its history really begins in 1999.
The owner Chen Chiu-li (b. 1969) was born in Tuchengzai, Annan District. After marrying and moving to the Sangu district, she got a job at the Yicheng Spanish Mackerel Chowder Store in Tainan. Working for long hours, she was unable to care for her children, so she quit working there and instead opened a stall in front of Longde Temple selling mackerel noodle chowder. Her stall was very busy, so she asked her sister-in-law Chen Yu-hsia to help care for her children.
Originally, Chen Chiu-li only sold fish noodle chowder, but some customers didn’t like the thick soup. Chen Chiu-li realized that local Tainan milkfish were easy to obtain and fresh, so she began selling seafood noodles, seafood rice, and more.
In 2010, Chen Chiu-li moved back to Tuchengzai while continuing to sell noodles in Sangu. Picking up her children from school was still a problem, so she sold her stall in Sangu to her sister-in-law. She set up a new stall in front of Tuchengzai Market, and thus began Hometown Traditional Delicious Seafood Noodles.
Her seafood noodle dish uses yellow noodles; she adds clams, milkfish skin, milkfish filets, milkfish paste, squid paste, crab sticks, and oysters. First, she places cut noodles into a bowl. She adds pepper, sesame oil, celery, and fried shallots, then sets that aside. She scoops some broth into a small pot, then puts the ingredients into the small pot and brings it all to a boil. Finally, she pours the pot into the noodle bowl and serves up the delicious dish. It is worth mentioning that milkfish bones are added to the broth; there’s no additional seasoning, so it is sweet and delicious. She substitutes white shrimp for oysters when they are in season; but she doesn’t scrimp on oysters, even when they’re super expensive (like they were in 2016). That is the principle she upholds. The fixings and method for seafood congee are the same as seafood noodles.
Hometown Traditional Delicious Seafood Noodles has a different menu every day. If she’s selling chowder, she’ll also sell noodles, but not congee. If she’s selling rice, she won’t sell noodles or chowder. Whether she’s selling chowder or rice depends on the farmers who are ordering the snacks for their workers. But whatever’s for sale today, seafood noodles or seafood congee, it's all worth a try, and worth coming back for.
