Sister Wah 華姐清湯腩 @ Hong Kong

I had the pleasure of eating at Sister Wah when she was still around. This trip I brought along Princess to try one of my favourite noodle store in Hong Kong.

Beef brisket is no stranger to those who frequent Chinese restaurants and noodle joints. You can find it served in various ways in Hong Kong, such as in a Teochew-style galangal-rich broth, marinated in five spices, braised with chu hou sauce, or in a clear broth. 

Located along Electric Road in Tin Hau, a quiet residential neighbourhood just a stone’s throw from bustling Causeway Bay, Sister Wah has been featured in the Michelin Guide since 2012.

Founded at the onset of SARS in 2003 by the late Mdm Chan Yee Wah, aka Sister Wah by her fans, she had spent her younger days cooking at a clubhouse restaurant and other beef brisket shops until she retired. She was brought out of retirement to help the family and introduced her signature clear broth beef brisket in the eatery.

She did not get to see how big it has grown since 2012 when she passed away. Determined to carry on their mother’s legacy, Wong Shu Wah and Wong Kwok Wah, the second-generation owners of Sister Wah, still serve their famous beef brisket in clear broth exactly the way their mother would.

清湯牛三寶 （牛腩・牛筋・牛肚）Beet Brisket, Tendon & Tripe in Soup

Sister Wah also offers different cuts of beef, such as boneless short ribs and butterfly brisket. But due to the limited supply of fresh meat, whether you can find your favourite cut on every visit is up to your luck. 清湯牛三寶 （牛腩・牛筋・牛肚）beet brisket, tendon & tripe in soup comes with three different parts of the beef, and is an excellent choice if you are dining alone.

Diners are pleasantly surprised by the uniqueness of Sister Wah’s broth from the moment they take their first sip. The clear broth is non-greasy and exudes a distinctive aroma from the herbal ingredients, without overpowering the palate with a medicinal taste – a common issue found in other establishments.

Firstly the signature beef brisket. The 坑腩 pit brisket was well seasoned but not in an overwhelming manner. They were delightful bouncy and chewy but not at all resilient to the teeth.

To the Hong Kongers there are three types of beef briskets – 爽腩 crunchy brisket, 坑腩 pit brisket and 崩沙腩 sandy brisket. If you do not ask specifically which type you want, you will be served the pit brisket. Some like the chewiness of the crunchy brisket, and the sandy brisket is like striking jackpot as there are only seven portions per cow.

牛肚 Beef tripe refers all the four chambers of the cow’s stomach but this one has a very auspicious Chinese name called 金錢肚 honeycomb tripe, because it is shaped like a money bag. And when you flip over what essentially is the second chamber of the cow’s stomach, it has a honeycomb like structure hence its English name.

牛筋 Beef tendon is my favourite part of the cow if cooked correctly, a very nutritious eat with almost no cholesterol and full of collagen. It requires hours of soaking, boiling and stewing to get it to an edible state.

咖哩牛腩 Curry Beef Brisket

Besides their signature clear broth brisket, they also sell the curry version of the beef brisket. 咖哩牛腩 Curry Beef Brisket is cooked the usual way and then just before they are cooked, curry powder is added to give it that distinctive taste.

Although it looks like something that you would get in Padang stores here in Singapore, the flavour isn’t something familiar. The flavours of the curry distinctively “Hong Kong” with that Indian curry taste but flavoured with Chinese herbs and condiments. Curry came with the British and became a local flavour during the colonial days. The same curry mix is used in 星洲米粉 Singaporean vermicelli, something you will not find in Singapore.

伊面 E-fu noodle is a variety of flat Cantonese egg noodles made from wheat flour. They are known for their golden brown colour and chewy characteristics. Because it was deep-fried, the noodle is known for its absorbent nature and perfect for eating with the clear beef soup.

腩汁蘿蔔 Radish In Beef Sauce

Radish is used to enhance the sweetness of the broth and in itself a delicious eat because it has absorb all the highlights of the brewing broth. It is similar to eating the daikon in an oden restaurant, a definitive moment of the beautiful broth.

炸雞中翼 Deep Fried Chicken Wings

Besides beef brisket, Sister Wah offers various Shanghainese dishes like drunken chicken, pork dumpling in chilli oil, and pork rib noodles. When Sister Wah took over the shop’s venue, she decided to continue serving the Shanghainese dishes offered by the preceding tenant and introduced a few of her own, like this 炸雞中翼 deep fried chicken wings; it has a nice lemongrass flavour and succulent on the inside while crispy on the outside.

The flavour was exactly how I remembered it when I first ate it in 2010. The chicken wings were under seasoned and I prefer Kau Kee version of the curry brisket. However the clear broth brisket is still the best in Hong Kong IMHO. With only six tables, it fills up as soon as it opens. There’s only one store in Hong Kong that is Sister Wah. No reservations, just join the queue outside the store.

Sister Wah Beef Brisket 華姐清湯腩
Shop A1, 13 Electric Road, Hong Kong 天后電氣道13號A地下
Tel : +852 2807 0181

Visited Dec 2023

Michelin Hong Kong and Macau Guide Bib Gourmand 2012-2023

@sisterwah2013 @sisterwah #華姐清湯腩 #sisterwah #華姐清湯牛腩粉 #michelin #米芝連 #sisterwahbeefnoodles #tinhau #天后 #米其林推薦

Types of Beef Briskets

• 崩沙腩 Sandy brisket is the most sought after in beef brisket universe. It is the diaphragm of a cow. There is a layer of diaphragm connected to the brisket meat on the surface. The fascia is soft and fragrant, and the fat and thin are just right. It can be said to be the best in the beef brisket.

• 坑腩 Pit brisket is the meat between the ribs of the beef and has a strong flavour. Pit brisket is a more common type of beef brisket. It is more affordable than sandy brisket, which can be said to be the best choice for briskets.

• 爽腩 Crunchy brisket is also called the white brisket. It is located directly below the abdomen of the cow and is connected to the brisket. Its flesh is connected to the fascia, and its texture is slight chewing. The surface is attached to a thin layer of soft collagen, and the marbling is very obvious.

Types of Beef Tripes

BTW, all four chambers are edible and referred to by different names.

• 毛肚 blanket tripe is the first chamber of the cow’s stomach and often served in mala hotpot.
• 金錢肚 honeycomb tripe is the second chamber of the cow’s stomach and so named because it is shaped like a money bag.
• 牛柏葉 book tripe, the third chamber of the cow’s stomach, so called because it looked like an open book, is often used in dim sum.
• 牛胃 reed tripe is the fourth and last chamber of the cow’s stomach and is usually only found in 牛雜湯 beef offals stew and in Italian cooking for its funky taste and texture.